Are Allergen-Free Peanuts A Reality?
Dr. Mohamed Ahmedna, a researcher from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, claims to have developed a simple process to make allergen-free peanuts.
Dr. Ahmedna is now refining the process to remove allergens from other foods.
I hope it’s true. But as someone who’s suffered from “call 9-1-1″ allergies for years, the evidence isn’t strong enough for me to believe it yet.
Also, for sensitive individuals, how do we know his process won’t introduce new allergens?
I didn’t see any details on exactly how Dr. Ahmedna did it (not that I would necessarily understand it anyway), but he hasn’t actually tested his peanuts on people as far as I know.
His proof of an allergen-free peanut consists of:
- Immunoassays that show complete inactivation of peanut allergens in whole roasted kernels…
- In tests of the processed peanuts, no reaction on human serums from severely allergic individuals…
As anyone who’s had prick skin tests for food allergies probably knows, the allergy tests for foods can be notoriously inaccurate.
You may get false positives (showing an allergic reaction for a food you can safely eat) and false negatives (showing no reaction for a food you’re allergic to).
I realize it’s not exactly the same test, but the point is that allergic individuals can’t know for sure until they EAT the peanut. Until then, it’s theory.
A patent on the allergen-free peanut is pending. Food companies are showing strong interest in licensing the process.
But I think before anyone rushes this processed peanut to market, they’d better do the equivalent of a clinical trial to test it — just as you would with a new medicine.
In the past 5 years, the number of U.S. children suffering from peanut allergy has doubled.
Up to 150 deaths occur annually among the 3 million Americans affected by peanut and tree nut allergies.
If they bring this peanut to market without proper testing and they’re wrong, a lot of people could be hospitalized or even die.
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