Product Code Database
Hypoallergenic, meaning "below average" or "slightly" allergenic, is a term meaning that something (usually cosmetics, , , food, etc.) causes fewer allergy reactions. The term was first used in 1953 in an advertising campaign for cosmetics or perhaps as early as 1940. A 2017 study of the top-selling from Amazon, Target, and Walmart found 83% of those marketed as "hypoallergenic" contained at least one potentially allergenic chemical.
The term is also commonly applied to pet which are claimed to produce fewer allergens than other breeds of the same species, due to some combination of their coat type, absence of fur, or absence of a gene that produces a certain protein. All breeds still produce and a 2011 study failed to find a difference in allergen concentrations in homes with dogs of "hypoallergenic breeds" and other breeds.
In some countries, there are allergy interest groups that provide manufacturers with a certification procedure including tests that ensure a product is unlikely to cause an allergic reaction, but such products are usually described and labeled using other but similar terms. So far, public authorities in no country provide an official certification that an item must undergo before being described as hypoallergenic.
Dog breeds which have been claimed to be hypoallergenic include Yorkshire Terriers, Portuguese Water Dogs, and Poodle hybrids. Common rationalizations for these claims include that a breed does not shed its fur, sheds very little, or has fur with the same pH as human hair. Cat breeds such as the LaPerm, Sphynx, Peterbald, Devon Rex and Cornish Rex, which lack some or all of the normal layers in cats' fur, are claimed by some to be hypoallergenic. Siberian cats and are also believed by some to have such properties.
The Bashkir Curly is the only horse breed which has been claimed to be hypoallergenic, because it has a uniquely textured coat that lacks the protein (present in all other horse fur) believed to be the primary source of allergic reactions to equines.
Some species of pets such as the domestic pig are claimed to be hypoallergenic as a whole, regardless of breed.
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