Allergy Break-Through

30 November -0001

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Research scientists have identified how to neutralise the proteins in food that are the of cause allergic reactions.

The breakthrough could change the lives of millions of people worldwide and prevent at least 30 deaths annually in Britain.

The team discovered that when a series of electric pulses are passed through sesame seeds, the structure of the seed proteins change and with the changes around 95 per cent of the proteins' allergic qualities disappear.

The researchers have commenced experiments with both peanuts and milk, which are notorious for the number of people that suffer allergic reactions to them. The scientists are confident that similar results will be obtained for these products too.

In the experiments small quantities of liquidised seeds are subjected to pulses of 70,000 volts of electricity. Each pulse lasts for just three thousandths of a second, long enough to alter the structure of the sesame proteins, without changing the taste and texture of the product.

A professor of toxicology and food chemistry at the Technion Israel Institute of Food and Technology, where the experiments are taking place admitted they did not fully understand why the treatment work.

The presumption was that between pulses of electricity, an extreme high pressure is created inside the protein molecules and they thought that the pressure did something to the molecular protein.

Allergic reaction is the result of the body’s response to normally harmless substances. The body reacts to a specific protein molecule, or allergen, producing antibodies that attach to the molecules similar to pieces of a jigsaw puzzle and destroy them. This stimulates the body to release other chemicals such as histamine, resulting in symptoms such as wheezing and shortness of breath, by changing the shape of the protein molecule, this process cannot occur as the allergen no longer links to with the antibody.

The sesame seeds can only be treated in a liquidised form, but the aims is to treat solid seeds in a few months time. Tests show the treated sesame’s colour, taste and texture are indistinguishable from untreated products, though tests have not taken place on people allergic to the seeds.

It is estimated that one in four of the UK population is affected by allergies, and that half of sufferers are children. Nuts, eggs, seafood and milk are the most common foods that cause allergic reactions. Extreme cases lead to around 30 deaths in Britain each year from food allergies. source: Sunday telegraph

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