Rare, medium, or well done? The effect of heating and food matrix on food protein allergenicity.
OBJECTIVE
To review recent advances in the area of food allergen processing and the effect on protein allergenicity.


RESULTS
Heating generally decreases protein allergenicity by destroying conformational epitopes. In peanut and shrimp, heat-induced Maillard reaction (glycation) may increase allergenicity. The majority of milk and egg-allergic children tolerate extensively heated (baked with wheat matrix) milk and egg. Introduction of extensively heated milk and egg proteins is associated with decreasing sizes of skin prick test wheals and increasing serum food-specific IgG4 levels.


CONCLUSIONS
Heating and other methods of food processing have different effects on food allergens, even those contained in the same complex food. Structural homology does not reliably predict the effect of processing on allergenicity, and individual food allergens have to be tested. Interactions with other proteins, fat, and carbohydrates in the food matrix are complex and poorly understood. Introduction of extensively heated milk and egg proteins into the diet of allergic children may represent an alternative approach to oral tolerance induction. Better characterization of these aspects of food allergy is critical for elucidation of food protein interactions with the gut-associated lymphoid tissue, the ability to induce IgE sensitization, the potential to trigger hypersensitivity reactions, and different clinical phenotypes of food allergy with regard to severity and persistence.
Nowak-Wegrzyn
Anna
A
Jaffe Food Allergy Institute and Department of Pediatrics, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA. anna.nowak-wegrzyn@mssm.edu
Fiocchi
Alessandro
A
D000485:Allergens / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000276:immunology; D003296:Cooking / Q000379:methods*; D004044:Dietary Proteins / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000276:immunology; D000939:Epitopes / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology; D005512:Food Hypersensitivity / Q000209:etiology*; D006358:Hot Temperature; D006801:Humans; D007073:Immunoglobulin E / Q000276:immunology; D011487:Protein Conformation
D000485:Allergens; D004044:Dietary Proteins; D000939:Epitopes; D007073:Immunoglobulin E