The INFORMALL database is being developed to provide a credible source of information on allergenic food materials of both plant and animal origin. The first release is now available online at http://foodallergens.ifr.ac.uk. It contains searchable technical information about plant foods. Version 2 of the database is currently being compiled and will include technical information on allergenic foods from plants and animals (such as egg, milk etc.) together with summaries about each food suitable for a non-technical readership. This version is due to be completed by the end of 2005.

The InformAll database will be based on our previous PROTALL database (http://www.ifr.ac.uk/protall/) which was set up in 2001. However, it will differ in that PROTALL only included data related to identified molecular allergens from plants and the data was aimed at scientific researchers. InformAll will be aimed at a wider audience and will contain data on all allergenic foods. We anticipate the first version of the InformAll database will be available for searching in autumn 2004. In the meantime the PROTALL database is still live.