The food-borne oligopeptides （generally 2-10 amino acids）， derived from edible protein， can be absorbed without digestion or a little digestion. In additional， the food-borne oligopeptides with less than 1 000 u have various physiological functions including antioxidative effect， antimicrobial effect and anti-angiotensin converting enzyme activities， and in recent years， they have been widely used in food， health care products and cosmetics industries. However， at least 5 amino acids are required to form epitopes， and food-borne oligopeptides may theoretically present a potential risk of IgE-mediated allergy by forming epitopes. Accordingly， this paper analyzed the factors that may cause the allergenic risks of food-borne oligopeptides， such as the presence of antigenic epitopes and possible cross-allergic reactions， and reviewed the methods that may be used to evaluate the sensitization of food-borne oligopeptides， finally， this paper discussed how to reduce the allergenic risks of food-borne oligopeptides. This will provide a theoretical basis for the wider application of food-borne oligopeptides.