The allergy world is a-buzz with news of a hypoallergenic peanut being developed by some researchers at North Carolina's Agricultural and Technical State University. To me, this means nothing but trouble. I am left with nothing but bothersome questions about why something like this is being done, how this could ever be considered safe, and why there's money being poured into studies like this when there are clearly far more important areas to focus upon.
Those involved in the project have demonstrated that their process eliminates the potential allergen by approximately 98%, but 98% is 2% too far to ever be considered an option for the peanut allergic folks. Even trace amounts of an allergen can be deadly. And what about wider use? The hypoallergenic peanuts look and taste exactly like the run-of-the-mill peanut, so how could this ever be safe on a large scale?
"Treated peanuts can be used as whole peanuts, in pieces or as flour to make foods containing peanuts safer for many people who are allergic," stated lead researcher Jianmei Yu. But no, this is absolutely not the case at all. With a margin of error of 2%, these "hypoallergenic" peanuts are absolutely not safe, and advertising them as such is so dangerous to allergic people and so detrimental to the message those of us in the allergy community try so hard to communicate.
Absolutely no amount of allergen is safe for an allergic person. None. No confusion, no margin of error. To me, this study (at least at its current state) is unsafe, and I think it's negligent to promote it.
Peanut-allergic patients have a wide variety of replacement options available to them (assuming they're not allergic to those, too). There is no need for them to have a "hypoallergenic" peanut. Absolutely none.
Dr. Ruchi Gupta, author of The Food Allergy Experience, also warns against this "new" peanut, saying, "Even a small amount of the allergenic proteins in peanuts can cause very severe allergic reactions," indicating that the product should absolutely not be praised.
What do you think about this new "hypoallergenic" peanut?
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