Peanut allergy is one of the most common food allergies in the world. It affects about one in every 250 people. A peanut allergy can cause many symptoms, from mild reactions like skin rash or hives to life-threatening anaphylaxis. If you are allergic to peanuts, you should avoid eating them.
Peanut allergies are one of the most important causes of severe allergy attacks. Even a tiny amount of peanut can cause a serious or life-threatening reaction (anaphylaxis) among people suffering from peanut allergy. It is found that peanut allergy is the most common allergy among children below 18 years of age and the third most common allergy among adults.
In children, peanut allergies tend to develop at four months and mostly within the first two years of life. Only 20% of children naturally outgrow peanut allergy, while the rest live with it. 40% of children with a tree nut allergy may have a chance to develop a peanut allergy. Moreover, infants with an egg allergy or eczema are also at severe risk of developing peanut allergies.
What is Peanut Allergy?
Peanut allergy occurs when your body identifies peanuts as a harmful substance. When an individual with a peanut allergy comes in contact with peanuts (by oral ingestion), proteins in the peanuts attach to specific IgE antibodies produced by their immune system. When they are exposed to peanut protein again, it can activate their immune system, resulting in a range of symptoms that may vary in intensity from mild to severe.
Peanut Allergy Symptoms
An allergic response to peanuts usually occurs within minutes of exposure. Peanut allergy signs and symptoms can include:
- Skin reactions, such as hives, redness, or swelling
- Itching or tingling in or around the mouth and throat
- Digestive problems, such as diarrhea, stomach cramps, nausea, or vomiting
- Tightening of the throat
- Shortness of breath or wheezing
- Runny nose
In case of a life-threatening reaction, the symptoms of food-induced anaphylaxis, the symptoms include:
- Airways constriction
- Throat swelling causing breathing difficulty
- Severe drop in blood pressure leading to shock
- Rapid heartbeat/pulse
- Dizziness, lightheadedness, or fainting
What Causes Peanut Allergy?
Food allergies can run in the family or may be directly acquired from parents. When your body identifies peanut protein as an enemy, your immune system responds accordingly and releases chemicals such as histamine into your bloodstream. You can be exposed to peanuts in various ways:
Direct contact: Direct skin contact with peanuts and eating peanuts or peanut-containing food may trigger an allergic reaction
Cross-contact or Cross-contamination: During food processing or handling, the unintended peanut exposure to food triggers an allergic reaction
Inhalation: Inhaling dust or aerosols containing peanuts from sources such as peanut flour or peanut oil cooking spray may cause an allergic reaction
Peanut Allergy Risk Factors
People with certain risk factors are more likely to develop a peanut allergy than others. The following are the risk factors
- Family history: If your parents or siblings suffer from a peanut allergy, you are more likely to develop the allergy.
- Other allergies: You are more susceptible to peanut allergy if you have eczema or hay fever.
- Age: Peanut allergy is more common in children than adults but can develop at any age.
- Early exposure: Some evidence suggests that introducing peanuts to infants before 6 months old may reduce the risk of developing a peanut allergy.
- Geography: Peanut allergy is more common in Western countries than in Asia and Africa.
- Gender: Boys are more affected by peanut allergy than girls.
Management and Treatment
Labelling Requirements for Peanut Products
Peanut is one of the eight allergens with specific labeling requirements under the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act of 2004. This means that manufacturers of packaged food products containing peanuts as an ingredient sold in the U.S. must include the word “peanuts” in clear language on the ingredient label.
Avoiding the Risk of Anaphylactic Shock
People suffering from peanut allergy must be very careful about their food choices to avoid the risk of anaphylactic shock. Candies, cereals, and baked goods such as cakes, pies, and cookies are a few potential products that may contain peanuts. If you are dining out, ask the restaurant staff about ingredients – for example, peanut butter may be an ingredient in a sauce or marinade.
In Asian or Mexican cuisines, the peanut is mostly used. Be extra careful while eating it. Even ice cream parlors may be a source of accidental exposure since peanuts are a common topping.
Avoid following ingredients in food:
- Artificial nuts
- Beer nuts
- Ground nuts
- Lupin (or lupine)— A common flour substitute in gluten-free food, peanut shows cross-reactivity to lupin.
- Mandelonas (peanuts soaked in almond flavoring)
- Mixed nuts & monkey nuts
- Nut meat or nut meal
- Nut pieces
- Peanut butter & flour
- Peanut protein hydrolysate
Modifying Recipes
If you’re cooking from scratch, modifying recipes to remove peanut ingredients and substitute ingredients that aren’t allergens, such as toasted oats, raisins, or seeds, is easy. Most people who can’t tolerate peanuts or eat peanut butter can consume other nuts or seed butter. Remember that these products may be manufactured in a facility that also processes peanuts – so check the label carefully and contact the manufacturer with any questions.
Peanuts grow underground and belong to the family of legume plants. Examples of legumes include beans, peas, lentils, and soybeans. It is not necessary that if you are allergic to peanuts, you must be allergic to soybeans.
Peanut Oil
Unrefined peanut oil contains peanut protein and should be avoided. However, refined peanut oil is safe to use as it has been purified, refined, bleached, and deodorized to remove the peanut protein from the oil. Products containing the phrase “Arachis oil” on their ingredient lists mean peanut oil, as it is another name for it.
Inhaling Peanut Protein
While some people report symptoms such as skin rashes or chest tightness when they are near or smell peanut butter, a placebo-controlled trial of children exposed to open peanut butter containers documented no systemic reactions.
Medications
- Epinephrine injections immediately reverse the anaphylaxis reaction.
- Palforzia is oral immunotherapy that exposes a peanut-allergic child to peanut protein that prevents severe reaction if the child is later exposed to peanuts accidentally.
- Antihistamines are medicines that reduce itching or congestion.
- Corticosteroids are medicines that reduce swelling if you have an allergic reaction.
Consulting an Allergist
If your child is struggling with peanut allergies, take control of the situation and consult an allergist today.
