Global perceptions of food allergy thresholds in 16 countries.
Background: Food allergy is a growing global health issue that affects daily life and food purchasing habits. Quality data on the global consumer perspective of food allergy is limited, particularly about thresholds and food labeling risk. Many individuals with food allergy are counseled that small amounts of allergen can potentially cause life-threatening reactions, and to avoid foods with Precautionary Advisory Labeling (PAL). The purpose of this study was to understand attitudes of consumers about food allergy thresholds and food purchasing habits related to PAL in sixteen countries. Methods: A questionnaire was distributed by patient support groups in 16 countries to consumers with food allergy. The questionnaire gathered opinions about food allergy thresholds and PAL purchasing habits. Results: 9,689 respondents from 16 countries completed the survey.19% of respondents stated they would purchase a food containing their allergen if the amount present would not cause a reaction and 3% would purchase a food if the amount of allergen present would cause a mild reaction. When asked about labeling, 16% of respondents reported that they would purchase food with a "may contain" statement, 25% would purchase food labeled "may contain traces of allergen", and 41% would purchase products labeled "manufactured in a facility that also processes allergen". Conclusions: Findings suggest that understanding of food allergen thresholds and precautionary allergen labelling is limited and consumers may develop their own risk assessment based on labels, which are not based on clinical validation. Improved awareness of thresholds, standardization of PAL, and clinical validation are needed globally.
A retrospect study into the utility of allergen components in walnut allergy.
Walnut (Juglans regia) and Pecan (Carya illinoinensis) are members of the Juglandaceae family. Walnut and pecan appear similar and share high protein homology with the result that most walnut allergic individuals are also allergic to pecan nut. Walnut is a common allergy in tree nut allergic individuals in the United States and the United Kingdom (1) and has been associated with severe and fatal reactions. The diagnosis of a nut allergy has been shown to negatively influence quality of life (2). However, walnut and pecan nut are a healthy source of protein and found in a variety of foods. Unlike many other nuts, walnut and pecan are easily shelled and therefore free from contamination with other nuts and safe for consumption if walnut and pecan tolerant. It is important therefore to accurately diagnose the presence of allergy or tolerance to walnut and/or pecan in individuals where food allergy is suspected.
Food allergy in children.
Food allergy represents a highly up-to-date and continually increasing problem of modern man. Although being present in all ages, it most often occures in children aged up to three years. Sensitization most often occurs by a direct way, but it is also possible to be caused by mother's milk, and even transplacentally. Predisposition of inadequate immune response to antigen stimulation, reaginic or nonreaginic, is of non-selective character so that food allergy is often multiple and to a high rate associated with inhalation and/or contact hypersensitivity. Also, due to antigen closeness of some kinds of food, cross-reactive allergic reaction is also frequent, as is the case with peanuts, legumes and tree nuts or cow's, sheep's and goat's milk. Most frequent nutritive allergens responsible for over 90% of adverse reactions of this type are proteins of cow's milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, wheat, soy, fish, shellfish, crustaceans, and cephalopods. Allergy intolerance of food antigens is characterized by a very wide spectrum of clinical manifestations. Highly severe systemic reactions, sometimes fatal, are also possible.The diagnosis of food allergy is based on a detailed personal and family medical history, complete clinical examination, and corresponding laboratory and other examinations adapted to the type of hypersensitivity and the character of patient's complaints, and therapy on the elimination diet. A positive effect of elimination diet also significantly contributes to the diagnosis. Although most children "outgrow" their allergies, allergy to peanuts, tree nuts, fish, shellfish, crustaceans, and cephalopods are generally life-long allergies.
Thermal processing effects on peanut allergen Ara h 2 allergenicity in mice and its antigenic epitope structure.
Ara h 2 was purified from peanuts that were thermally treated by various processes, including boiling, glycation, frying and roasting. The allergenicity of Ara h 2 in Balb/c mice and the influence of thermal processing on the structural characteristics, and binding capacity of three core antigenic epitopes were studied. The results demonstrated that boiling, glycation and frying induced the down-regulation of the allergenicity of Ara h 2 in Balb/c mice, the collapse of its tertiary/secondary structure, and a reduction in the core epitope binding capacity; roasting showed a comparable allergenicity and the weakest inhibitory effect on core epitope binding capacity. These results indicate that thermal processing causes alteration of the protein structure and core epitopes of Ara h 2, and may affect its allergenicity.
Impact of packaging atmosphere, storage and processing conditions on the generation of phytoprostanes as quality processing compounds in almond kernels.
The thermal processing of almond kernels implies the use of techniques that produce chemical changes such as oxidation. Phytoprostanes (PhytoPs) are considered biomarkers of the oxidative stress in plants. We studied the PhytoP profile in kernels of almond cultivars under different conditions, in relation to packaging, temperature and time of storage and processing. The most abundant PhytoP was the F1t series. The PhytoP levels increased significantly with the time of storage (3 and 6months) and the total PhytoP concentration was higher under air than in a vacuum packaging atmosphere. Storage at 24°C raised the concentrations of individual PhytoPs and the total sum of PhytoPs. The frying and roasting processes led to a strong reduction of the original concentration of most PhytoPs and promoted the synthesis of specific PhytoPs that were not detected in raw kernels and thus could be biomarkers of the degree of oxidative degradation of almonds.
Aflatoxins in hazelnuts and dried figs: Occurrence and exposure assessment.
A total of 300 samples of hazelnuts and dried fig were analysed for the incidence of any aflatoxins (AFs). High-performance liquid chromatography coupled with fluorescence detection (HPLC-FLD) method was used to quantify the amounts of AFs. The limit of quantification varied from 0.21 to 0.30μgkg(-1). No AFs were detected in shells of the hazelnuts, while six raw hazelnut kernel samples (12%) and five roasted hazelnut kernel samples (8.3%) contained AFs ranging from 0.09 to 11.3μgkg(-1) and from 0.17 to 11.2μgkg(-1), respectively. Sixteen dried fig samples (12.3%) contained AFs ranging from 0.1 to 28.2μgkg(-1) and a mean value of 3.8μgkg(-1). Three hazelnuts and six dried fig samples exceeded the European maximum limits (MLs) of 5 and 2μgkg(-1) for aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), respectively. The contribution of hazelnuts to AFs exposure is higher than that of dried figs.
Fatty acids determination in Bronte pistachios by gas chromatographic method.
A gas chromatographic with flame ionization detector (GC-MS FID) method for the identification and quantification of fatty acids based on the extraction of lipids and derivatisation of free acids to form methyl esters was developed and validated. The proposed method was evaluated to a number of standard FAs, and Bronte pistachios samples were used for that purpose and to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed method. In this regard, repeatability, mean and standard deviation of the analytical procedure were calculated. The results obtained have demonstrated oleic acid as the main component of Bronte pistachios (72.2%) followed by linoleic acid (13.4%) and showed some differences in composition with respect to Tunisian, Turkish and Iranian pistachios.
Consumption of Walnuts in Combination with Other Whole Foods Produces Physiologic, Metabolic, and Gene Expression Changes in Obese C57BL/6J High-Fat-Fed Male Mice.
BACKGROUND: Although a reductionist approach has sought to understand the roles of individual nutrients and biochemicals in foods, it has become apparent that there can be differences when studying food components in isolation or within the natural matrix of a whole food. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to determine the ability of whole-food intake to modulate the development of obesity and other metabolic dysfunction in mice fed a high-fat, Western-style obesogenic diet. To test the hypothesis that an n-3 (ω-3) polyunsaturated fatty acid-rich food could synergize with other, largely polyphenol-rich foods by producing greater reductions in metabolic disease conditions, the intake of English walnuts was evaluated in combination with 9 other whole foods. METHODS: Eight-week-old male C57Bl/6J mice were fed low-fat (LF; 10% fat) and high-fat (HF) control diets, along with an HF diet with 8.6% (wt:wt) added walnuts for 9 wk. The HF control diet contained 46% fat with added sucrose (10.9%, wt:wt) and cholesterol (1%, wt:wt); the added sucrose and cholesterol were not present in the LF diet. Other groups were provided the walnut diet with a second whole food-raspberries, apples, cranberries, tart cherries, broccoli sprouts, olive oil, soy protein, or green tea. All of the energy-containing whole foods were added at an energy level equivalent to 1.5 servings/d. Body weights, food intake, and glucose tolerance were determined. Postmortem, serum lipids and inflammatory markers, hepatic fat, gene expression, and the relative concentrations of 594 biochemicals were measured. RESULTS: The addition of walnuts with either raspberries, apples, or green tea reduced glucose area under the curve compared with the HF diet alone (-93%, -64%, and -54%, respectively, P < 0.05). Compared with HF-fed mice, mice fed walnuts with either broccoli sprouts or green tea (-49% and -61%, respectively, P < 0.05) had reduced hepatic fat concentrations. There were differences in global gene expression patterns related to whole-food content, with many examples of differences in LF- and HF-fed mice, HF- and walnut-fed mice, and mice fed walnuts and walnuts plus other foods. The mean ± SEM increase in relative hepatic concentrations of the n-3 fatty acids α-linolenic acid, eicosapentanoic acid, and docosapentanoic acid in all walnut-fed groups was 124% ± 13%, 159% ± 11%, and 114% ± 10%, respectively (P < 0.0001), compared with LF- and HF-fed mice not consuming walnuts. CONCLUSIONS: In obese male mice, walnut consumption with a high-fat Western-style diet caused changes in hepatic fat concentrations, gene expression patterns, and fatty acid concentrations. The addition of a second whole food in combination with walnuts produced other changes in metabolite concentrations and gene expression patterns and other physiologic markers. Importantly, these substantial changes occurred in mice fed typical amounts of intake, representing only 1.5 servings each food/d.
Pistachios for Health: What Do We Know About This Multifaceted Nut.
Human beings have known about pistachio nuts since 6000 bc. Since then, pistachios have been systematically incorporated into the diet of various cultures. They are nutrient-dense nuts with a healthy nutritional profile that contains fiber, unsaturated fatty acids and antioxidant compounds.
Nuts and their co-products: The impact of processing (roasting) on phenolics, bioavailability, and health benefits - A comprehensive review.
Nuts serve as important healthful snacks worldwide. They are highly desirable due to the presence of numerous essential macro- and micronutrients and health-promoting phenolic compounds (polyphenols). Nuts are usually consumed either as raw (natural) or as roasted. In addition, nuts and their co-products have been demonstrated to be rich sources of phenolic compounds that possess various health-beneficial properties. Therefore, inclusion of these phenolic compounds from nut co-products into the human diet is highly recommended as these may provide inexpensive sources of natural antioxidants for use as functional food ingredients and nutraceuticals. Hence, the phenolic compositions and antioxidant activities of nuts (natural and roasted) and their co-products (such as skin, hard shell, hull, and pellet) are discussed in detail. The impact of processing (roasting) on nut phenolics and antioxidant activities are highlighted. The bioavailability and health benefits of the phenolic compounds from nuts, especially their co-products are also discussed. Research findings from the existing literature published within the last 10 years have been compiled and summarised.