Peanut Allergies: What You Need to Know

Anaphylaxis is a severe, often life-threatening allergic reaction that can be triggered by bug bites, bee stings and certain foods. Among the food triggers for anaphylaxis are some nuts and legumes, like peanuts. Due to the potential severity of peanut allergies, it is imperative to practice meticulous diligence with regard to safeguarding an allergic person from potential contact with peanuts.

With the resulting stress from peanut caution, certain misconceptions about peanut allergies may arise. One such misconception is that simply breathing in the aroma of peanuts can trigger an allergic reaction. According to The Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network and a report authored by Dr. Michael C. Young, allergic reactions to food are triggered by specific food proteins. Without contact with these proteins, there cannot be an allergic reaction.

Normal situations, such as a child sitting in a cafeteria where a peanut butter sandwich is present, cannot produce a reaction, despite misconceptions suggesting otherwise. Food aromas do not contain any of the allergic trigger proteins.

That isn't to say that inhalation of airborne peanut proteins can't occur. However, these instances are rare and usually cause mild dermatologic or respiratory effects because of the relatively small dispersed amount of proteins in the air. Airborne exposure can occur by peanut particles being released through the mass-shelling of peanuts, as might happen in a factory atmosphere. Also, the simultaneous opening of peanut packages in a pressurized environment, such as in an airplane cabin, could release peanut particles into the air. Food proteins also can be aerosolized into a vapor phase from the high heating conditions of cooking, such as when steaming, boiling or frying. This is one of the more common ways for food protein to become airborne.

In terms of documented cases where the smell of peanuts was enought to trigger a reaction, experts surmise that this is a physiological response to smelling the peanuts. Much in the way Pavlov's dogs learned to salivate at the ringing of a bell that would signal food, those with peanut allergies can have reactions merely at the sight or smell of peanuts. These reactions can seem very real and similar to an actual case of anaphylaxis.

It's important to keep in mind that severe allergic reactions to peanuts are caused by consumpion or skin contact with peanuts, not simply by breathing in peanut aromas.

Peanut Allergy Facts in a Nutshell

• Peanuts are the leading cause of severe food allergic reactions, followed by shellfish, fish, tree nuts and eggs.
  
• The American Peanut Council says that there are currently no cures for peanut allergies.
  
• Reactions can begin and proceed rapidly, in extreme cases proving fatal within minutes. Severe sufferers must use epinephrine (i.e., adrenaline) to help prevent anaphylactic shock, says the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology.
  
• There are many hidden sources of peanuts in the foods we eat. Here are just some of the places you may find peanut products: Worcestershire sauce, Chinese egg rolls, curry sauces, bakery products (prepared on mixing equipment that has traces of peanuts), crackers, cakes, various snacks and desserts, vitamin tablets (peanut oil), and candy (peanut oil).
  
• As many as 1.5 million Americans have a peanut allergy.
  
• PeanutAllergy.com reports that 25 percent of children grow out of their peanut allergies. HM091697

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