Roasting may trigger peanut allergy

Monday September 22nd, 2014

Dry-roasted peanuts may be tastier than normal peanuts - but they are also more likely to trigger the development of serious allergies, researchers revealed today.

A study in Oxford, UK, found that the roasting of peanuts releases extra chemicals which can "prime" the immune system to reject nuts in the future.

The researchers say their findings may help explain the growing rate of peanut allergy in western countries - where roasted peanuts are common.

The findings, reported in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, come from a study of laboratory mice.

Researchers compared the impact on the immune system of proteins from raw peanuts and those from dry-roasted peanuts.

Researcher Professor Quentin Sattentau said the researchers were now studying ways to eliminate these chemicals from roasted peanuts.

He said: "Our research is at an early stage and we think that it would be premature to avoid roasted peanuts and their products until further work has been carried out to confirm this result.

"This is the first time, to our knowledge, that a potential trigger for peanut allergy has been directly shown."

Fellow researcher Dr Amin Moghaddam added: "Allergies in people are driven by multiple factors including family genetic background and exposure to environmental triggers.

"In the case of peanut allergy, we think we may have discovered an environmental trigger in the way that peanuts are processed by high-temperature roasting."

Dry roasting enhances peanut allergic sensitization across mucosal and cutaneous routes in mice. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology 22 September 2014

Tags: Allergies & Asthma | Diet & Food | UK News

Printer friendly page