Uncontrolled Spice Allergy Likely to Develop

Spices are one of the most widely used products found in foods, cosmetics and dental products. The spices are not regulated, meaning they often are not noted on food labels, making spices possibly the most difficult allergen to identify or avoid. According to rough estimates, spice allergy is responsible for 2 percent of food allergies. However it is underdiagnosed, particularly due to the lack of reliable allergy skin tests or blood tests. According to allergists at the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology(ACAAI) 2 to 3 percent of population lives in a world where you could never dine away from home, wear makeup, smell of sweet perfumes or eat a large percentage of food on store shelves, lives with a spice allergy.

While spice allergy seems to be rare, with the constantly increasing use of spices in diets and a variety of cosmetics more people will develop this allergy. Women are more likely to develop spice allergy due to the wide use of spice in cosmetics. Makeup, body oils, toothpaste and fragrances can all include one or more spices. Those with birch pollen or mugwort (a traditional herbal medicine used to relieve inflammatory conditions) allergy are also more prone to spice allergy.

Common spice allergy triggers include cinnamon and garlic, but can range from black pepper to vanilla. Several spice blends contain anywhere from three to 18 spices, and the hotter the spice, the greater the chance for allergy.

Boiling, roasting, frying and other forms of applying heat to spices may reduce allergy causing agents, but can also enhance them depending on the spice. Because of this allergy’s complexity, allergists often recommend a treatment plan that includes strict avoidance which can be a major task.

An allergic reaction can be caused from breathing, eating or touching spices. Symptoms range from mild sneezing to a life-threating allergic reaction known as anaphylaxis. Spice allergy should be suspected in individuals that have multiple reactions to unrelated foods, or those that react to foods when commercially prepared but not when cooked at home.

Even someone that is allergic to only one known spice can have a reaction to several spice blends. There are several unique characteristics about spice blends, including:

• A Five-Spice blend has seven spices, yet Allspice has one
• The same blend name doesn’t mean same components
• There are several types of Curry, each is a different blend of many spices

Food Allergy

Food Allergy is a growing concern in food industry. Awareness of the food allergies is a key factor in solving the problem. It is important to understand consequences caused by allergens.

Food Allergy is an adverse immune response to a food protein. They are distinct from other adverse responses to food, such as food intolerance, pharmacological reactions, and toxin-mediated reactions. A protein in the food is the most common allergic component. These kinds of allergies occur when the body’s immune system mistakenly identifies a protein as harmful. Some proteins or fragments of proteins are resistant to digestion and those that are not broken down in the digestive process are tagged by the Immunoglobulin E. These tags fool the immune system into thinking that the protein is harmful. The immune system, thinking the organism (the individual) is under attack, triggers an allergic reaction. These reactions can range from mild to severe. Allergic responses include dermatitis, gastrointestinal and respiratory distress, including such life-threatening anaphylactic responses as biphasic anaphylaxis and vasodilation; these require immediate emergency intervention.

Food Allergens defined by EU are:

• Cereals containing gluten
• Crustaceans
• Eggs
• Fish
• Peanuts
• Soybeans
• Milk (including lactose)
• Nuts i.e. almond, hazelnut, walnut, cashew, pecan nut, brazil nut, pistachio nut, macademia nut and queensland nut
• Celery
• Mustard
• Sesame seeds
• Sulphur dioxide and sulphites at concentrations of more than 10mg/kg or 10 mg/litre expressed as SO2
• Lupin
• Molluscs

Food allergens identified by FDA:-

• Milk
• Eggs
• Fish (e.g., bass, flounder, cod)
• Crustacean shellfish (e.g. crab, lobster, shrimp)
• Tree nuts (e.g., almonds, walnuts, pecans)
• Peanuts
• Wheat
• Soybeans

These eight foods, and any ingredient that contains protein derived from one or more of them, are designated as “major food allergens” by FALCPA.

Food Allergen incidents dramatically increased in the last years. Most of the cases were related to mislabelling of products.  

Food labelling rules

Labelling rules in European Directives 2003/89/EC and 2006/142/EC ensure that all consumers are given comprehensive ingredient listing information and make it easier for people with food allergies to identify ingredients they need to avoid. The EU rules will be changing in December 2014 when the food information regulation 1169/2011 comes into force. These pages will be updated to reflect the new rules.

Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act (FALCPA) of 2004 (FALCPA) is an amendment to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and requires that the label of a food that contains an ingredient that is or contains protein from a “major food allergen ” declare the presence of the allergen in the manner described by the law.

I will be continuing with introduction to each individual allergen for the next weeks.