Gene Buck (GBUCK@crs.loc.gov)
Tue, 21 Dec 1999 08:19:58 -0500
Interesting note I thought useful to pass along...
attached mail follows:
Packaged salmon - allergic risk
Publisert: 20.12.1999 07:00
People who are allergic to milk may also be allergic to
pre-packed
salmon.
Dutch investigators are cautioning in a letter published in
the December 18/25th
issue of The Lancet.
The type of salmon implicated in the allergic reaction is
vacuum-packed,
"restructured" fish, where smaller pieces of fish have been
bound together using
the binding protein casein. This protein is also found in
milk, hence the potential
risk to individuals with milk allergy.
The report does not implicate canned salmon as an allergy
risk for these
individuals.
Dr. Stef Koppelman and colleagues from the University
Medical Centre of
Utrecht, the Netherlands, describe a 30-year-old woman who
had a number of
allergies including allergies to milk. Within one hour of
eating salmon bought at
the supermarket, she developed itchy ears, severe swelling
in the face, nausea
and stomach pain. "She had never before experienced an
adverse reaction to
salmon or any other kind of fish," the investigators note.
On testing a sample of the same salmon that had caused the
patient's reaction,
the researchers detected small amounts of casein in the
salmon, which was not
found in fresh salmon that they also tested. Manufacturers
have recently started
using casein to restructure meat and fish products.
In eating the salmon, the patient would have consumed only
a small amount of
casein, but that small amount is "capable of inducing an
allergic reaction in
allergic patients," the authors indicate.
He also noted that manufacturers do have an alternative to
casein that they could
use in the processing of food and thus avoid "unexpected
allergic reactions."
SOURCE: The Lancet
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