Creating hypoallergenic peanuts

Peanut allergy is one of the ‘big eight’ food allergies that accounts for 90% of all food-related reactions. For those with a peanut allergy, complete avoidance of any foods that potentially contain peanuts is the only treatment - but what if there was a different way?

US researchers say they’ve developed a process that reduces allergens in peanuts by 98% - a process that could see hypoallergenic peanuts, peanut butter and other peanut products available to consumers in the near future.

North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University has signed an exclusive licensing agreement with Xemerge, a Canadian firm that commercialises emerging technologies.

To reduce peanuts’ allergenic components, peanuts are removed from the shell and skin and soaked in a solution containing food-grade enzymes commonly used in food processing. This treatment reduces two key allergens. Ara h 1 is reduced to undetectable levels, while Ara h 2 is reduced by up to 98%.

The effectiveness of the process was demonstrated in human clinical trials at the University of North Carolina using skin-prick tests. The treated peanuts look and taste like roasted peanuts.

The treated peanuts could also be used in immunotherapy, where a doctor exposes an allergic patient to the hypoallergenic peanuts to build up their resistance to the allergens.

This particular process does not involve chemicals or irradiation, unlike other approaches, and uses commonly available food-processing equipment.

“This is one of the best technologies in the food and nutrition space we have seen,” said Johnny Rodrigues, chief commercialisation officer of Xemerge.

“It checks all the boxes: non-GMO, patented, human clinical data, does not change physical characteristics of the peanut along with maintaining the nutrition and functionality needed, ready for industry integration from processing and manufacturing to consumer products.”