Save your children from allergic disorders!

[KichigaiNeko]

http://www.livestrong.com/article/553348...f-peanuts/

Fungi in foods can have dangerous effects on human health. Some fungi produce a potent toxin known as aflatoxin. Aflatoxins can affect peanuts and other nuts as well as corn, cottonseed, dairy products, spices such as black pepper and soybeans. Aflatoxins most often affect peanuts, corn and cottonseed, according to the Environment, Health and Safety Online website. In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, tests crops for the presence of large amounts of aflatoxins, but the toxin still makes its way into commercially sold peanuts and peanut products in small quantities.

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Blog on the topic 2011.
Seems that Peanuts Butter/ Paste is striving to evolve
http://www.openeyehealth.com/2011/05/dan...ut-butter/

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Medical comment on the topic of aflatoxin

http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/id/QAA115491

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A bit more science on the topic..

http://scientificteaching.wisc.edu/old%2.../fungi.htm

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And some more...
http://scientificteaching.wisc.edu/old%2...uganda.htm

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And good old Wiki to the rescue!!

Health concerns

[edit]Allergies


Shelled Peanuts with skin
Main article: Peanut allergy
Some people (1-2% of the United States population) have mild to severe allergic reactions to peanut exposure; symptoms can range from watery eyes to anaphylactic shock, which can be fatal if untreated. For these individuals, eating a small amount of peanuts can cause a reaction. Because of their widespread use in prepared and packaged foods, the avoidance of peanuts is difficult. Some foods processed in facilities which also handle peanuts may carry warnings on their labels indicating such.
A hypothesis of the development of peanut allergy has to do with the way peanuts are processed in North America versus other countries, such as Pakistan and China, where peanuts are widely eaten. According to a 2003 study, roasting peanuts, as more commonly done in North America, causes the major peanut allergen Ara h2 to become a stronger inhibitor of the digestive enzyme trypsin, making it more resistant to digestion.[27] Additionally, this allergen has also been shown to protect Ara h1, another major peanut allergen, from digestion — a characteristic further enhanced by roasting.[27]
Another hypothesis, called the hygiene hypothesis, states that a lack of early childhood exposure to infectious agents like germs and parasites could be causing the increase of food allergies.[28]
Recent (2008) studies comparing age of peanut introduction in Great Britain with introduction in Israel appear to show that delaying exposure to peanuts can dramatically increase the risk of developing peanut allergies.[29][30]
Results from some animal studies (and limited evidence from human subjects) suggest that the dose of peanuts is an important mediator of peanut sensitisation and tolerance; low doses tend to lead to sensitisation and higher doses tend to lead to tolerance.[31]
Peanut allergy has been associated with the use of skin preparations containing peanut oil among children, but the evidence is not regarded as conclusive.[32] Peanut allergies have also been associated with family history and intake of soy products.[32]
Though the allergy can last a lifetime, another 2003 study indicates that 23.3% of children will outgrow a peanut allergy.[33]
Some school districts in the United States have banned peanuts.[34][35][36] There are experimental techniques which appear to have desensitized some allergic individuals.[37] The most popular technique, oral immunotherapy, works to create desensitization in those allergic by feeding them small amounts of peanuts until their body becomes desensitized. Some progress is possibly being made in the UK, where researchers at Cambridge are studying the effectiveness of the desensitization technique.[38]
Research indicates that refined peanut oil will not cause allergic reactions in most people with peanut allergies.[39] However, crude (unrefined) peanut oils are strongly flavoured, and have been shown to contain protein, which may cause allergic reactions.[40] In a randomized, double-blind crossover study, 60 people with proven peanut allergy were challenged with both crude peanut oil and refined peanut oil. The authors conclude, "Crude peanut oil caused allergic reactions in 10% of allergic subjects studied and should continue to be avoided." They also state, "Refined peanut oil does not seem to pose a risk to most people with peanut allergy." However, they point out that refined peanut oil can still pose a risk to peanut-allergic individuals if oil that has previously been used to cook foods containing peanuts is reused.[41]

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Full article : - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peanut

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This entry is a bit sensationalist BUT it would seem that between 1989-1997 many major papers were written describing the problem of "Nut" allergies.

Peanut Allergy Characteristics

Peanut allergy can be characterized by more severe symptoms, such as gastrointestinal, skin and respiratory symptoms, than other food allergies and by a high rate of symptoms on minimal contact. ("Clinical characteristics of peanut allergy," Clin. Exp. Allergy, 1997; "An evaluation of the sensitivity of subjects with peanut allergy to very low doses of peanut protein," J. Allergy Clin. Immunol., 1997)
Severe sufferers also may experience potentially life-threatening anaphylactic shock in response to ingestion of peanuts. Anaphylactic shock is an allergic reaction in which the release of histamine causes swelling, difficulty in breathing, heart failure, circulatory collapse, and sometimes death.
As many as one-third of peanut-sensitive patients have severe reactions, such as fatal and near-fatal anaphylaxis. ("Anaphylactic deaths in asthmatic patients," Allergy Proc., 1989)
Avoidance of peanuts is very difficult because peanuts are commonly used as an adulterant in the preparation of foods. (Allergic reaction to inadvertent peanut contact in a child," Allergy Asthma Proc., 1997)

Not that there hadn't been any work done prior.

Full Article here : - http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/a...ekey=15618