Sensitive to peanuts or eggs? Scientists may have found a new antidote.

People who are allergic to, say, pollen or animal dander can receive allergy shots, in which they are injected with small amounts of the substances that make them itch and sniffle.

Similarly, researchers at National Jewish Medical and Research Center are feeding small amounts of the proteins from peanuts and eggs to the allergic patients, to see if their immune systems can tolerate the food. They will consume increasing amounts of the proteins until they get to a "maintenance" level (much like how allergy shots work).

The researchers' hope is to eventually find an actual preventative treatment for people with peanut and egg allergies, instead of just telling them to try their best to avoid the foods that might make them react. And for people with serious allergies like these, this will hopefully be encouraging news.

If you're tired of the typical dips (and we don't mean that weirdo who chatted you up at the bar last night), check out a lighter, spicier alternative: peanut chili dip from The 15-Minute Gourmet: Vegetarian, by Paulette Mitchell.

Peanut Chili Dip
Makes: 2/3 cup

You will need: 1/3 cup organic or natural peanut butter, smooth or crunchy
3 Tbsp. water
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
2 tsp. honey
1 tsp. minced garlic
1 tsp. chili powder
Optional dash of cayenne

Combine pb and water in a bowl, stir to make a paste. Stir in remaining ingredients and serve. You can keep this baby in the fridge until you're ready to eat - it's great hot or cold.

And don't forget dippers - forgo boring tortilla chips for homemade pita crisps.

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.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has just issued a salmonella warning for some batches of Peter Pan peanut butter after linking more than 280 cases of food poisoning in 39 different states to the product. Con Agra, the manufacturer of the peanut butter, has already called for a recall, but unlike with the fresh veggies that were affected by an E. coli contamination last fall, the long shelf-life of peanut butter means that people who fail to check their jars at home could face problems at a later time. Fever, diarrhea and abdominal cramps are common effects, but for those with autoimmune disorders or other serious medical conditions, salmonella infections can be life threatening.

All of the peanut butters in question are under the brand names "Peter Pan" and "Great Value" and bear the number 2111 at the beginning of the product code on the lid. They were all made at a single factory in Georgia. The first consumer that was affected by the peanut butter-borne salmonella became ill in August of 2006, so if you bought your peanut butter (assuming it's Peter Pan brand) around that time, or even a bit before, it is wise to throw it out and start with something fresh.

Peanut butter preference can be a very personal thing. Some people like theirs chunky, others prefer theirs to be creamy and smooth. Some would rather have natural, others enjoy the familiarity of commercial brands that they ate growing up. Growing up, my family solved the problem of preference by having multiple jars of peanut butter on hand at all times, ensuring that everyone had something they liked for toast and sandwiches, in addition to making sure there was something to use for baking peanut butter cookies.

If you just want one jar in your kitchen, Food and Wine listed their three favorite brands for consideration: Peanut Butter & Co. Smooth Operator (ultra­creamy), Skippy Natural Creamy (unusually thick, natural) and Santa Cruz Organic Dark Roasted Creamy (deeply flavored, made with Spanish nuts). No chunky peanut butters made their list, unfortunately, but all three of these sound worth a try for those who like it smooth.

Whichever peanut butter you eventually opt for, don't forget to try it out in your favorite peanut butter sandwich recipe.

At Duke University, researchers have been engaged in an experiment that could change the lives of those with severe food allergies. Those allergies trigger approximately 30,000 emergency-room visits each year and are sometimes the result of an exposure to a very tiny amount of allergen. This new study suggests that gradually increasing exposure to even smaller amounts of the allergen can build up a resistance - especially in children - and prevent one mouthful of the wrong food from becoming deadly.

In the study, children were given amounts of defatted peanut flour or an egg powder - very common, but serious, allergens - as small as 1/3,000th of a peanut or about 1/1,000th of an egg (under supervision at the Duke Hospital). Taken in pill form daily, the dosage was increased bi-weekly until the children were consuming the equivalent of 1/10th of an egg or 1 peanut, which became a maintenance dose that they took daily throughout the study, which lasted about 2 years. At that point, 4 of the 7 egg-allergic children could eat two scrambled eggs without any type of reaction (2 more could eat that much before reacting) and many of the peanut-allergic children could eat up to 15 peanuts before starting to experience a reaction.

At this time, researchers strongly recommend that you do not try this type of treatment at home, because it can be dangerous without careful monitoring. To the parents who joined in, however, the success could prove to be a lifesaver for their children and, as a result, researchers are optimistic that there could be a highly effective treatment available to parents and children within five years.

I first discovered this eminently cravable snack food at a Mexican grocery store/taqueria. Cacahuates Estilo Japonés, or Japanese-style peanuts, usually come in clear blue bags. I've always been fascinated by the imagery on the small packages, which ranges from a geisha to a Mr. Peanut-type character dressed in a baseball uniform.

The nuts themselves are sweet and salty all at once. They're coated with a thin shell, that's got a hint of soy sauce. That flavor may very well be this snack's only link to Japan. Hours of Googling, yielded plenty of places to buy them online, but no definitive answer as to whether they're actually from Japan. I did, however, turn up this really cool video blog. Check out the closeups!

The largest commonly eaten nut is the brazil nut. The 4-5cm nuts grow on one of the largest species of rainforest tree, which reaches about 30–45-m tall and 1–2 m in diameter. The nuts are grown in coconut-like shells that weigh approximately 4.5-lb and contain up to two dozen brazil nuts. The coco de mer, the fruit of a palm tree grown in the Seychelles, is usually considered to be the largest nut in the world. Also grown in a coconut-like shell, the mature fruit can reach up to 65-lbs and contains several seeds, which are also the world's largest.

The rest of the world's largest nuts tend to be of the inedible variety. The world's largest pecan, for example, is located in Brunswick, Missouri and is 7-ft. high. x 12-ft. long, and weighs about 12,000-lbs. The world's largest peanut is in Ashburn, Georgia

Incidentally, the world's largest nutcracker is located in Germany. The device stands about 19 ft high and can crack any nut up to the size of a coconut (which is a drupe, not actually a true nut).

For anyone new to Thai cooking, pad Thai seems like a good dish to start with. There are many variations of the dish and even an inexperienced cook can throw together a simple peanut sauce to toss with some noodles, which provides a great starting point to expand on later. After all, doing some seriously "authentic" cooking is all well and good, but it's nice to know how to make a relatively quick dinner, too. This pad Thai, from What do I know? was described as an "on the fly" recipe, so it seems to fall into that latter category. The recipe is actually quite easy and it sounds delicious. It has sauteed tofu, garlic, broccoli, onions and carrots mixed in with noodles, bean sprouts, cilantro and peanuts. The whole thing is tossed with a very easy peanut sauce before serving and, from start to finish, it probably takes a lot less time than ordering takeout.

Back-to-school season means that more kids will be packing sandwiches with them on a daily basis and, more often than not, the sandwich of choice is peanut butter and jelly. Between nut allergies and simply growing bored with the same old sandwich, non-peanut butters are growing in popularity - which also means that they are more widely available than ever before. A few years ago, almond butter was relegated to health food stores, and now it appears on the regular shelf with cashew butter, soy butters and sunflower seed butter, which is completely nut-free for those with allergies.

These non-peanut butters can be substituted for peanut butter in more than just sandwiches. They make excellent cookies and work well in what would ordinarily be peanut flavored sauces and dressings. Most of the butters come in crunchy and smooth versions, as well.

Do you use non-peanut butters? If you can't find any at a store near your, you can try making your own cashew butter, but once you have a good source, you can branch out into other recipes. And don't forget to try them on toast or in pb&j!

The proponents of drinking peanut milk, a small buy loyal bunch, credit it with everything from improving general health to curing baldness. Jack Chang, 58, came up with the drink as a way to enjoy his favorite food - peanuts - after his gum disease progressed to the point he was no longer able to chew solid foods at all. There is no proof that his peanut milk, which is non-dairy and made of made from peanuts, grains, herbs and spices, does any of the things he claims, though his customers swear by it. One, Donna Cooke, insists that it keeps her eyes "clear of infection." Others report "it strengthens patients with AIDS and cancer, reverses baldness, heals wounds faster, prevents colds, reduces symptoms of menopause and soothes psoriasis. It's also said to be a hangover cure. Some drink it at bedtime to help them sleep, others as an alternative to caffeine."

The drink now sells 240,000 bottles each year and will soon be on the shelves in Whole Foods markets. Health and nutrition experts are skeptical and believe that the "miracle" product, as it is termed by Chang, does nothing more than take advantage of a rising health anxiety of consumers, a modern snake oil.

No, I didn't actually eat dinner with Rachael Ray, but I did use a version of one of her dishes. I wanted to make something Thai-inspired that involved a peanut sauce and so I started hunting around for recipes. I actually settled on this one from Rachael Ray because it seemed straightforward and along the lines of what I had in mind: an easy chicken dish with a peanut sauce. "Authentic"? Perhaps not, but the finished dish tasted great and I would guess that it is something even Rachael's detractors could enjoy.

Hungry Girl has a great roundup of some peanut buttery snacks that will still allow you to slip into your swimsuit before heading out to the beach this summer. Peanuts are an excellent source of protein and also contain a good amount of fiber. Unfortunately, peanuts are also quite high in fat and, as a result, high in calories. The serving size for peanut butter is only 2 tablespoons, and it has (approximately) 180 calories and 16 grams of fat. While it is healthy, it can also be hazardous to your diet, especially if you have been known to sneak an extra spoonful or two from the jar. Hungry Girl's picks all have a good peanut butter flavor and nowhere near the fat and calories of the peanut butter alone, so they're a great way to have a snack and get some peanut butter flavored goodness.

Her picks include: Dreyer's Slow Churned Light, Peanut Butter Cup; South Beach Diet, 100 Calorie Snack Bars, Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip; 100 Calorie Packs, Planters Peanut Butter Cookie Crisps; Blue Bunny Sweet Freedom Supremes, Peanut Butter Cup; and Barbara's Bakery, Peanut Butter Puffins Cereal.

[Image Taquitos.net]

There's a lot of banning of foods going on these days - first sodas from school campuses to help fight childhood obesity, and now...nuts. With the seeming increase in peanut and other tree-nut allergies, schools, restaurants and airlines are banning foods that contain peanuts, almonds, walnuts, and other tree nuts.

I understand the idea behind "banning" say, sodas from schools. Sodas and junk foods are blamed for the decline in nutrition and increase of childhood obesity, so they must be removed from school campuses, where the target audience is likely not able to make wise, informed choices. They are children.

But peanuts? I do not particularly love peanuts, almonds, walnuts, or things that contain them like peanut butter. And I certainly understand the severity and gravity of nut allergies. In schools, removing nuts might be a good idea based on the same idea with sodas - that children with allergies don't always know what they're eating. However, it seems somewhat extreme to ban these foods from restaurants and airplanes, as if adult consumers weren't smart enough to make the choice not to eat something that is potentially life threatening to themselves.

If you have a peanut allergy, don't you know that you do? If you have a peanut allergy, you are careful about what you eat and don't have a problem asking what's in a certain food. If you have a life-threatening allergy, you're probably carrying an epi-pen, too.

 

The girl who supposedly died of an allergic reaction caused by the exposure to peanut butter after kissing her boyfriend did not die from her allergy. The coroner who examined the girl said that the cause of Christina Desforges' death was something different, though he would not yet reveal what that cause was. The girl reported feeling unwell, which prompted her friends to call an ambulance. She collapsed before it arrived and died four days later. The coroner said that he came forward to prevent an allergy group from using her death as the central case in an awareness campaign.