Feel free to discuss any topic of general interest, so long as nothing you post here is likely to be interpreted as insulting, and/or inflammatory, nor clearly designed to provoke any individual or group. Please be considerate of others feelings, and they will be considerate of yours.
The USDA is apparently sponsoring some interesting research projects to address peanut and wheat allergies.
Dr. Jianmae Yu, a food and nutrition researcher at NC A&T’s School of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, and her team found a way to treat peanuts and reduce their allergens by 98 to 100 percent. The treatment is effective whether peanuts are whole, broken into pieces, or ground into flour. Their research, which has proven effective in peanuts and shows promise in wheat, also has the potential to reduce foodborne allergens in tree nuts.
USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) supported the research with funding through an Agriculture and Food Research Initiative grant. Based on the discovery, NC A&T has signed an agreement with a company to research the marketing potential of hypoallergenic peanut products and get them on store shelves in the near future.
Peanut allergies are triggered by proteins, some of which are more powerful than others, Yu said. “Our research focused on reducing these allergenic proteins. We found that treating peanuts with protein-breaking enzymes reduced allergenic proteins.”
It will be interesting to see if this will prevent all anaphylactic reactions to peanuts.
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
My grandson is allergic to peanuts. It would be nice to know that if he got a peanut product by accident, it wouldn't kill him. I can see this as a real plus for people who have allergies and worry about accidental exposure. I can't imagine anyone knowing they were allergic and choosing to eat a "hypoallergenic" allergen.
I definitely agree. It bothers me that they say that their process can "reduce their allergens by 98 to 100 percent", though. 98 % reduction probably wouldn't be good enough for the most sensitive cases (those who need it the most).
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
Wish I could get behind this, but it sounds like more tinkering with our food. The last thing the world needs is more hybridized, genetically engineered, or scientifically modified "food". My mom is allergic to wheat, but if you asked her, she'd tell you she'd rather do without than eat something science has "improved" on. Instead of manipulating peanuts and wheat, why not focus efforts on finding out why some people can't tolerate them (or any other allergen) and develop ways to fix the root cause instead?
Oh, that's right…… not enough $$$ in it……..
Cindy
2008 Celiac disease
2012 Collagenous Colitis
Family history includes ALS, ulcerative colitis, Lyme disease, mild epilepsy
Cindy wrote:Oh, that's right…… not enough $$$ in it……..
Yep. It appears that they have their sights sight on developing an enzyme that can be used to break down the proteins that trigger reactions, as part of the processing steps to produce low-allergen products.
This will allow some people to eat those foods, while guaranteeing that they will be maintaining a state of inflammation in the background, below the threshold at which a reaction is triggered, but probably high enough to ensure that it will increase their odds of developing AI diseases in the long run.
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
