"peanut allergies" news and stories

Airline passengers, buckle up: Peanut snacks may soon go the way of friendly security lines and hot in-flight meals. The U.S. Transportation Department is considering a ban on the little bags of nuts, once ubiquitous on the nation's flights. The move has nothing to do with terrorists, or even budget cuts. It's a concession to the 1.8 million Americans who suffer from peanut allergies.

This ban was briefly considered back in 1998, but after a massive uproar from peanut lovers, the measure was reconsidered. But peanut allergies continue to pose a serious threat, however, triggering potentially life-threatening reactions in people who consume even trace amounts. And in an airplane, where all of the air is re-circulated, breathing in peanut dust is virtually unavoidable.

The peanut industry obviously isn't keen on losing such a huge revenue stream. "The peanut is such a great snack and such an American snack," Martin Kanan, CEO of the King Nut Companies, an Ohio company that packages the peanuts served by most U.S. airlines, told the Associated Press. "What's next? Is it banning peanuts in ballparks?"

Thanks to the work of a North Carolina food scientist, help is on the way for the more than half million U.S. residents who suffer from life-threatening peanut allergies.

Dr. Mohamed Ahmedna of North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University has devised a way to deactivate peanut allergens. The allergens are removed by processing rather than by breeding. All of this has no effect on the peanut's taste or quality, and may actually make them easier to process.

Ahmedna's discovery is also a boon for peanut farmers, who produce the U.S.' 12th largest crop valued at some to $1 billion a year. His work is good news for folks with other food allergies, too. Ahmedna is tweaking his process to remove allergens from other foods.

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