Sesame allergy
Sesame allergy | |
---|---|
Causes | Type I hypersensitivity[3] |
Risk factors | Childhood in Middle East, where sesame is a traditional food, and increasingly in developed countries[4] |
Diagnostic method | Medical history and standard allergy tests[5] |
Differential diagnosis | Peanut allergy, Tree nut allergy[6] |
Prevention | Introduction to allergenic foods during infancy[7] |
Treatment | Epinephrine[8] Antihistamines (mild)[9][10] |
Prognosis | 70% to 80% persist into adulthood[4] |
Frequency | 0.1–0.2% (higher in Middle East countries)[11][12] |
A
The allergic reaction is an
In addition to water-soluble allergenic proteins, sesame seeds share with peanuts and hazelnuts a class of allergenic proteins known as
Signs and symptoms
Food allergies in general usually have an onset of symptoms in the range of minutes to hours for an IgE-mediated response, which may include anaphylaxis.[17] Symptoms may include rash, hives, itching of mouth, lips, tongue, throat, eyes, skin, or other areas, swelling of lips, tongue, eyelids, or the whole face, difficulty swallowing, runny or congested nose, hoarse voice, wheezing, shortness of breath, diarrhea, abdominal pain, lightheadedness, fainting, nausea, or vomiting.[1] Non-IgE-mediated responses occur hours to days after consuming the allergenic food, and are not as severe as IgE-mediated symptoms. Symptoms of allergies vary from person to person and incident to incident.[1]
Potentially life-threatening, the anaphylactic onset of an allergic reaction is characterized by respiratory distress, as indicated by wheezing, breathing difficulty, and
Causes
Eating sesame
Sesame allergy typically results from the eating of foods containing sesame seeds, sesame flour[4] or sesame seed oil.[21] The immune system overreacts to proteins found in sesame-containing foods, initiating the allergic reaction. Once an allergic reaction has occurred, it remains a lifelong sensitivity for 70–80% of people.[4]
Cross-contact
Cross-contact exposure, also referred to as cross-contamination, occurs as a result of foods being processed in factories or at food markets, or are being prepared for cooking in restaurants and home kitchens. The allergenic proteins are inadvertently transferred from one food to another.[25] Bakeries can be sites of cross-contact exposure because sesame seeds are used as ingredients in various baked goods.[26] Assessment of food products purchased from Middle Eastern grocery stores and bakeries in Montreal, Canada, found that 16% of packaged products with Precautionary Allergen Labelling may contain sesame. This finding indicates that products can have measurable sesame content, causing inadvertent cross-contamination.[27]
Occupational exposure
Exposure to inhaled sesame dust by bakery workers has resulted in sesame allergy in an occupational setting.[11]
Cross-reactivity to other plant foods
The 2S albumin proteins in sesame seeds partially share amino acid sequence and structure with 2S albumin proteins from other plants. These are likely the proteins responsible for cross-reactive allergic reactions to peanuts, almonds, and hazelnuts.[6][28] Allergic reactions to oleosins from hazelnut and peanut oils have been confirmed as cross-reactive to sesame oil.[21] Protein analysis suggests allergy to chia seeds may cross-react with sesame allergy.[29]
Mechanisms
Allergic response
Causes of food allergies can result from three mechanisms of the allergic response:[20]
- IgE-mediated (classic) – the most common type, manifest as acute changes that occur within minutes to an hour or two after eating, and may progress to anaphylaxis
- Non-IgE mediated – characterized by an immune response not involving immunoglobulin E; may occur hours to days after eating
- IgE and non-IgE-mediated – a hybrid of the above two types
In the early stages of acute allergic reaction,
After the chemical mediators of the acute response subside, late-phase responses can often occur due to the migration of other
Allergenic proteins
Eight sesame seed allergens have been characterized (Ses i 1 to Ses i 8). Ses i 1 and Ses i 2 are of the biochemical type 2S albumins; these partially share amino acid sequence and structure with 2S albumins from other plants, and are likely the proteins responsible for cross-reactive allergic reactions to peanuts and certain tree nuts, specifically almonds and hazelnuts.[6] Ses i 3 is a vicilin-like globulin. Ses i 4 and Ses i 5 are oleosins, associated with oil bodies, which appear to contribute to cross-reactivity to hazelnut and peanut oils.[11] Ses i 6 and Ses i 7 are globulins. Ses i 8 is a profilin.[11][38]
Allergic reactions to oleosins from sesame, hazelnut and peanut oils have been confirmed, ranging from contact dermatitis to anaphylactic shock.[21][39][40] The sesame oil body associated proteins are at ~17 and ~15 kDa, named, respectively, Ses i 4 and Ses i 5.[11][39] Standardized sesame extracts used for allergy diagnosis do not contain oleosins, so the results of skin prick tests can present a false negative whereas using freshly ground seeds elicits a true positive.[21] Commercial-grade peanut oil is highly refined, so the oleosins are removed, but commercial-grade sesame oil intended for food consumption is typically an unrefined product with a measurable protein content.[40]
Diagnosis
Diagnosis is usually based on a
Prevention
Reviews of food allergens in general stated that introducing solid foods to infants at ages 4–6 months may result in the lowest subsequent allergy risks for eczema, allergic rhinitis and more severe reactions, with the best evidence for peanuts and chicken eggs.[7][42] As of March 2022, one clinical trial attempted to determine whether introducing sesame to the diets of infants early or delaying until older would affect the risk of subsequent allergy, but there were too few confirmed subsequent sesame allergy subjects in the test or control groups to conduct a statistical analysis.[42]
Foods to avoid
A wide variety of foods may contain whole sesame seeds, seeds ground to sesame flour, and/or sesame oil. Food-grade sesame oil typically contains protein content sufficient to trigger allergic reactions. Traditional food recipes from the Middle East and Asia, including tahini, tempeh, baklava, hummus, baba ghanoush and halva, plus granola-type food bars, frequently contain sesame. Baked goods such as bagels may have whole sesame seeds as topping. In Japan, hard candies and snack bars often contain whole sesame seeds. People with a known sesame allergy are advised to make that information clear to staff when dining at restaurants. In addition, cosmetics, dietary supplements and drug products may contain sesame oil, although the last tends to use purified sesame oil unlikely to contain protein content sufficient to cause allergic reactions.[11][2]
Treatment
Treatment for ingestion of sesame products by allergic individuals varies depending on the severity of symptoms. For less severe symptoms, an
Prognosis
Unlike milk and egg allergies, for which more than half disappear by teenage years,[22][45][46] 70–80% of sesame allergy cases persist into adulthood.[4] Strong predictors for adult-persistence are anaphylaxis, high sesame-specific serum IgE and robust response to the skin prick test. Survey results reported in one study stated that for individuals with confirmed IgE-mediated sesame allergy, an estimated one-third has previously experienced a severe allergic reaction to sesame necessitating use of epinephrine as treatment.[13]
Epidemiology
Incidence and prevalence are terms commonly used in describing disease epidemiology. Incidence is newly diagnosed cases, which can be expressed as new cases per year per million people. Prevalence is the number of cases alive, expressible as existing cases per million people during a period of time.[47] Sesame allergy prevalence is in the range of 0.1–0.2% in the US and western Europe,[4][11][12][13] and confirmed as high as 0.8–0.9% in the Middle East and other countries where sesame seeds are used in traditional foods.[4][38][41] Reporting of sesame seed allergy has increased over recent decades, either a true increase due to exposure from more foods or an increase in awareness.[11][12][3] Self-reported allergy prevalence is always higher than food-challenge confirmed allergy. One review of a large survey conducted in the US reported 0.49% for the former and 0.23% for the latter.[13]
Regulation
Whether food allergy prevalence is increasing or not, food allergy awareness has increased, with impacts on the quality of life for children, their parents and their immediate caregivers.
Regulation of labeling
In response to the risk that certain foods pose to those with food allergies, some countries have responded by instituting labeling laws that require food products to clearly inform consumers if their products contain major allergens or if byproducts of major allergens are among the ingredients intentionally added to foods. Laws and regulations passed in the United States and by the European Union recommend labeling but do not mandate declaration of the presence of trace amounts in the final product as a consequence of unintentional cross-contamination.[15][54]
Ingredients intentionally added (U.S.)
FALCPA became effective 1 January 2006, requiring companies selling foods in the United States to disclose on labels whether a packaged food product contains any of these eight major food allergens, added intentionally: cow's milk, peanuts, eggs, shellfish, fish, tree nuts, soy and wheat.[54] In November 2020, the US Food and Drug Administration issued draft guidance recommending that food manufacturers add sesame-containing foods to labels, which would make sesame the ninth required allergy label requirement.[55]
The "FASTER Act", stipulating that sesame labeling become mandatory,
Ingredients intentionally added (other than U.S.)
In addition to the eight major food allergens, Canada added sesame seeds and all foods made from or with sesame seeds, be declared on food labeling.
See also
- List of allergens (food and non-food)
References
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