Genetically modified foods and new varieties of fruit and vegetables may increase the risk of allergies, European specialists have warned.
The 30th Congress of the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (EAACI) in Istanbul heard that new food technology had to be carefully evaluated to see the effect on humans.
Dr Jean-Michel Wal from INRA, the French National Institute for Agricultural Research, told delegates: “This situation is completely new – we have no history of allergy to genetically modified foods and the potential for allergy should be assessed case-by-case.
“The development of genetically modified plants and foods derived from those plants is rapidly increasing worldwide.”
Most genetically modified plants (GMPs) are grown to generate a particular characteristic, such as insect resistance or herbicide tolerance. Others, which have had their composition changed, have been claimed to have extra nutritional value.
Dr Wal said it was incumbent on scientists to investigate how digestible newly expressed proteins in the GMPs are and how they may interact with a person’s immune system.
“The plant or food product must be tested to ensure that the potential for allergy has not been enhanced due to the genetic modification that has changed the overall composition of the plant, now and in future generations of GMPs,” he added.
Proteins found in new varieties of fruit and vegetables, such as kiwi fruit, may cause reactions, from mild, unpleasant symptoms to severe life-threatening reactions, the conference heard.
The key is to understanding how each separate protein works, said Dr Karin Hoffmann-Sommergruber, from the Medical University of Vienna, Austria, who has studied individual purified kiwi proteins.
Her work has helped to increase sensitivity of the diagnostic test for kiwifruit allergy.
“We can now discriminate between sensitisation to single and multiple kiwifruit proteins,” she said. “This helps us to fine-tune our advice to patients and their dietary management.”
Bublin M, Pfister M, Radauer C, Oberhuber C, Bulley S, Dewitt AM, Lidholm J, Reese G, Vieths S, Breiteneder H, Hoffmann-Sommergruber K, Ballmer-Weber BK: Component- resolved diagnosis of kiwifruit allergy with purified natural and recombinant kiwifruit allergens. J Allergy Clin Immunol;125:687-94, 94 e1.
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