Liz et al.,
The most comprehensive source of information on food allergies can be found
at the Food Allergy Research and Resource Program
(http://www.farrp.org/farrp2.htm) run by Sue Hefle and Steve Taylor at the
University of Nebraska. Sue has mentioned in her talks that food allergenic
proteins can in fact survive the rigors of frying and remain in detectable
and antigenic amounts in frying oils.
FWIW,
Doug
********************************************
Douglas L. Marshall, Ph.D.
Professor, Mississippi State University
http://www.msstate.edu/dept/fst
Contributing Editor, Food Microbiology
http://www.elsevier.com
Department of Food Science & Technology
Room 110 Herzer, Stone Blvd (courier)
Box 9805 (mail)
Mississippi State, MS 39762-9805 USA
Ph 1-662-325-8722
Fax 1-662-325-8728
********************************************
“One of the sure signs someone is taking a mental vacation is when they want
to speculate about what the future will bring. We can act responsibly and
prudently in the present, on an intimate and community present. We can’t act
responsibly and prudently in the abstract future.” Scott Burns, April 11,
2002
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-seafood@ucdavis.edu [mailto:owner-seafood@ucdavis.edu]On
Behalf Of Liz Best
Sent: Tuesday, March 25, 2003 6:26 PM
To: 'Otwell, Steve'; 'George Chang'; Gene Buck
Cc: seafood@ucdavis.edu
Subject: RE: shrimp/crab allergies
In order to realize the severity of what you are determining here, you must
understand that for some of us "shellfish challenged", breathing shellfish
fumes has caused my throat to swell up and not be able to breath and just
touching or splashing of shellfish or water/shellfish has caused temporary
paralyses in that area of contact.
If I can have an allergic reaction just from smelling or touching the stuff,
cooking oil (without detectable food particles) as a means of transfer does
not sound that far fetched to me!
I don't leave home without my epi-pen and antihistamines.
Liz Best, AGS
-----Original Message-----
From: Otwell, Steve [mailto:Otwell@mail.ifas.ufl.edu]
Sent: Tuesday, March 25, 2003 4:01 PM
To: 'George Chang'; Gene Buck
Cc: seafood@ucdavis.edu
Subject: RE: shrimp/crab allergies
The transfer of the actual allergen from a seafood to the another food item
has not been proven with analytical certainty. Speculation still rest with
limited illnesses following consumption of foods fried at home or in food
services. In many of these incidences, it is most likely that portions of
the fried foods were 'commingled' rather than a true transfer of the
allergen through the hot oil. Support for this opinion is based on the vast
multitude of foods that are fried in food processing operations that
subsequently filter and cleaned the oils prior to frying another food.
Evidence of allergen transfers due to frying practices in processing plants
appears nil. Similar filtering practices could be incorporated in food
service, but they are often not practical and still do not limit errors in
commingling by careless employees, i.e., one piece of shrimp mixed with an
order of chicken nuggets, etc.
-----Original Message-----
From: George Chang [mailto:gwchang@uclink4.berkeley.edu]
Sent: Tuesday, March 25, 2003 4:11 PM
To: Gene Buck
Cc: seafood@ucdavis.edu
Subject: Re: shrimp/crab allergies
Gene Buck writes from the Congressional Research Service...
> Looking for information on how shrimp/crab waste or byproducts
>may be entering the human diet. I'm trying to obtain information on
>how people who avoid eating shrimp/crab products might somehow be
>unknowingly exposed through diet so that they develop an allergic
>reaction to shrimp/crab. Any suggestions, citations, articles?
>
> Gene Buck, senior analyst
> Congressional Research Service
>
> <mailto:gbuck@crs.loc.gov>gbuck@crs.loc.gov
Hi Gene,
I can share a personal observation... that it's very common
to get a shrimp flavor in fried foods. I assume that these have been
fried in the same oil that was used for shrimp. I don't know if this
is enough antigen to trigger an allergic response.
Be sure to share some of your findings with our mailing list.
We'd all like to know a little more about this subject!
Best regards,
George Chang, Associate Professor of Food Microbiology
University of California, Berkeley
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Wed Mar 26 2003 - 06:26:31 PST