COMPARE Timeline
Each year, the COMPARE process starts with an evaluation of the learnings from the previous year’s allergen selection cycle. Considerations for process refinements and improvements are discussed in a face to face meeting with the steering team and peer review panel (Q1). The automated screening for identification of “candidate sequences” and supporting literature occur during Q1. The process of independent peer review, by a panel of allergy experts from the public sector, is conducted in Q3 to finalize the list of “approved allergens” based on the evaluation of the literature associated with candidate sequences. The allergens approved by the expert panel are added to the previous version of the database in Q4, which is released to the public each January and labeled by its year of release.
HESI and the COMPARE steering team are committed to COMPARE being a comprehensive database of known protein allergens. It is critical to have a parallel commitment to continuously review and improve in a transparent manner the functionality and completeness of the database throughout the year. Comments and suggestions can be communicated via the “Contact us” page. We appreciate your feedback!