54I-2 |
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L. S. JACKSON, F. Al-Taher, T.-J. Fu, and S. M. Gendel. National Center for Food Safety and Technology, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, IIT Moffett Campus, 6502 S. Archer Rd., Summit-Argo, IL 60501 At present, the only successful method to manage food allergies is to avoid foods containing allergens. However, allergens can be inadvertently introduced into a food by cross-contact during manufacture. Cross-contact can occur through use of common processing lines, improper production sequencing, and inadequate cleaning of processing equipment. Cross-contact can also occur when foods are processed or cooked in media (water or oil) previously used to process allergen-containing foods. We decided to (1) determine the level of transfer of peanut allergens into oil used to roast peanuts, (2) quantify peanut allergen levels in tree nuts (almonds, cashews, hazelnuts) roasted in oil previously used to roast peanuts, and (3) determine if filtration removes peanut allergens from used roasting oil. Batches (250 g) of raw, blanched peanuts were roasted (182 °C; 5 min) in peanut or blended vegetable oils (2 L). Equal-size batches by weight of almonds, hazelnuts, and cashews (tree nuts) were subsequently roasted in the used oils. Levels of residual peanut proteins in the roasting oil and tree nuts were measured with an ELISA kit. The amount of peanut protein detected in both types of roasting oils was > 400 ppm. Tree nuts roasted in the used oils contained up to 12 ppm peanut protein. Filtering peanut protein-contaminated oil through a cellulose filter reduced peanut allergen levels to < 12 ppm. This work demonstrates that reuse of cooking/roasting oil can result in carryover of allergen proteins. Filtering treatments are effective at reducing the peanut allergen content of contaminated oils.
Session 54I, Toxicology & Safety Evaluation: General
2005 IFT Annual Meeting, July 15-20 - New Orleans, Louisiana |