Abstract
Presented here are emerging capabilities to precisely measure endogenous allergens in soybean and maize, consideration of food matrices on allergens, and proteolytic activity of allergens. Also examined are observations of global allergy surveys and the prevalence of food allergy across different locales. Allergenic potential is considered in the context of how allergens can be characterized for their biochemical features and the potential for proteins to initiate a specific immune response. Some of the limitations in performing allergen characterization studies are examined. A combination of physical traits of proteins, the molecular interaction between cells and proteins in the human body, and the uniqueness of human culture play a role in understanding and eventually predicting protein allergy potential. The impact of measuring food allergens on determining safety for novel food crops and existing allergenic foods was highlighted with the conclusion that measuring content without the context of clinically relevant thresholds adds little value to safety. These data and findings were presented at a 2012 international symposium in Prague organized by the Protein Allergenicity Technical Committee of the International Life Sciences Institute’s Health and Environmental Sciences Institute.
Highlights
In April 2012, an international symposium titled “Sensitizing Properties of Proteins” was held in Prague, Czech Republic, bringing together over 70 scientists from academia, government, and industry
As noted in existing regulatory safety guidance and numerous publications, food allergy safety relies on an accumulation of characterization studies rather than a single test
Endogenous allergens in some food crops have come under scrutiny with regard to potential increases due to the prevalence of GM food crops and, new technology has been developed to support this aspect of addressing potential sensitization through exposure assessments
Summary
In April 2012, an international symposium titled “Sensitizing Properties of Proteins” was held in Prague, Czech Republic, bringing together over 70 scientists from academia, government, and industry. In contrast to GM varieties, new non-GM soybean varieties can be and are introduced into the food supply with no requirement for a pre-market safety assessment and no required information on whether allergen levels have been altered If this were a pertinent question unique to GM crops, understanding natural variability of in vivo allergen content (in seed/grain) would be important. It is currently not possible to correlate individual protein allergen concentrations with the risk of eliciting a clinically relevant response in sensitized individuals (i.e., allergy risk) relative to the exposure to the protein through food because of the limited availability of data on quantitative thresholds for sensitized individuals This applies to most allergenic foods which include the important commodity crops such as soybean. The question, “What makes an allergen an allergen?”, has not yet been answered, but proteolytic activity certainly contributes as a co-factor under certain conditions
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