CAROB IS NOT ALLERGENIC IN PEANUT ALLERGIC SUBJECTS
Clin Exp. Allergy - 1999 Mar, 29(3):402-6
Fiocchi A., et. al. Dept. Pediatrics San Paolo Biomedical Institute, Milan Italy.
Study was conducted to see if carob (a member of the legume family which shares proteins with peanut) was allergenic in peanut allergic children. 12 children in the study. All 12 kids positive to peanut on skin test and RAST. They tested carob in different forms on the kids. On skin test, 3 were positive for carob pulp, and 6 for raw carob bean. On RAST, 9 of 12 negative for carob. They found the least allergenic form of carob was cooked. CONCLUSION: Cooked carob can be ingested by kids with peanut allergy, as the heat processing deactivates the allergenic potential of the carob protein.
HMMMMMM.... makes you wonder - what if peanuts were cooked?
Roasted, say? I haven't notice raw peanuts being marketed...
Liz -
I'm assuming that when you buy peanuts in bags still in the shells, that's how they come off the plant - "raw"- or are those already roasted in the shell? Do they roast them before they turn them into peanut butter? Just curious!