Soy allergy is a type of food allergy. It is a hypersensitivity to dietary substances from soy causing an overreaction of the immune system which may lead to severe physical symptoms for millions of people. The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America estimates soy is among the eight most common food allergens for pediatric and adult food allergy patients. It is usually treated with an exclusion diet and vigilant avoidance of foods that may be contaminated with soy ingredients. The most severe food allergy reaction is called anaphylaxis and is a medical emergency requiring immediate attention and treatment with epinephrine.
Video Soy allergy
Diagnosis
Soy allergy can be diagnosed by a prick test or a blood test for immunoglobulin E (IgE) antibodies.
Maps Soy allergy
Treatment
Some people who are allergic to soy protein may have an extreme allergic reaction and go into anaphylactic shock (anaphylaxis). In cases of anaphylaxis, emergency medical personnel typically administer epinephrine (available as an autoinjector, such as EpiPen) and an antihistamine such as Benadryl (diphenhydramine). In event of an allergic reaction, the victim should see a physician or immediately go to the emergency room, as anaphylaxis can be fatal if not treated immediately.
Food sources of soy protein
Many fast-food restaurants commonly use soy protein in hamburger buns (soy flour), hamburger meat (soy protein) and hydrolyzed vegetable protein (HVP) in sauces. On their respective websites, McDonald's and Burger King list soy flour as an ingredient in their hamburger buns. U.S. Nutrition Information Multi-grain breads, doughnuts, doughnut mix and pancake mix commonly contain soy flour. Nearly all bread products available in the US now contain soy. Soy can now be found in nearly all types of foods, from meat to ice cream, to cheese, to french fries. Many foods are contaminated with soy due to being cooked in soy oil. At the Jack in the Box fast food chain for example, everything fried is cooked in a soy oil. At Baskin Robbins, over half of all ice creams offered contain soy. Canned tuna may contain vegetable broth which contains soy protein.
Some products [for reasons having to do with national regulation of soy products] don't list soy protein or soy flour on their ingredients labels, yet they still contain soy. There are still many latent issues resolving how soy should be regulated, as well as its long-term effects on human health.
Products containing soy protein include:
- edamame
- miso
- natto
- shoyu sauce
- soy (soy albumin, soy fiber, soy flour, soy grits, soy milk, soy nuts, soy sprouts)
- soybean (curd, granules)
- soybean butter
- soy protein (concentrate, isolate)
- soy milk
- soy sauce, tamari
- tempeh
- textured vegetable protein (TVP)
- hydrolyzed vegetable protein (HVP)
- tofu
The following food additives may contain soy protein:
- flavoring (including natural and artificial)
- prepared broths, including chicken broth, vegetable broth, and bouillon cubes
Dosage tolerance
Many people with soy allergy can tolerate small or moderate amounts of soy protein: the typical dose needed to induce an allergic response is about 100 times higher than for many other food allergens.
Society and culture
Whether food allergy prevalence is increasing or not, food allergy awareness has definitely increased, with impacts on the quality of life for children, their parents and their immediate caregivers. In the United States, the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act of 2004 causes people to be reminded of allergy problems every time they handle a food package, and restaurants have added allergen warnings to menus. Soy is one of the eight foods with mandatory labeling required. The Culinary Institute of America, a premier school for chef training, has courses in allergen-free cooking and a separate teaching kitchen. School systems have protocols about what foods can be brought into the school. Despite all these precautions, people with serious allergies are aware that accidental exposure can easily occur at other peoples' houses, at school or in restaurants. Food fear has a significant impact on quality of life. Finally, for children with allergies, their quality of life is also affected by actions of their peers. There is an increased occurrence of bullying, which can include threats or acts of deliberately being touched with foods they need to avoid, also having their allergen-free food deliberately contaminated.
Genetically modified food concerns
There are concerns that genetically modified foods, also described as foods sourced from genetically modified organisms (GMO), could be responsible for allergic reactions, and that the widespread acceptance of GMO foods may be responsible for what is a real or perceived increase in the percentage of people with allergies. One concern is that genetic engineering could make an allergy-provoking food more allergic, meaning that smaller portions would suffice to set off a reaction. Of the food currently in widespread GMO use, only soy is identified as a common allergen. However, for the soybean proteins known to trigger allergic reactions, there is more variation from strain to strain than between those and the GMO varieties. The same review quoted a 2016 U.S. National Academy of Sciences report that concluded, "The committee did not find a relationship between consumption of GE foods and the increase in prevalence of food allergies."
A second concern is that genes transferred from on species to another could introduce an allergen in a food not thought of as particularly allergenic. Research on an attempt to enhance the quality of soybean protein by adding genes from Brazil nuts was terminated when human volunteers known to have tree nut allergy reacted to the modified soybeans. At present, prior to a new GMO food receiving government approval, certain criteria need to be met. These include: Is the donor species known to be allergenic? Does the amino acid sequence of the transferred proteins resemble the sequence of known allergenic proteins? Will the transferred proteins be in the part of the plant to be eaten (as opposed to roots, stems or leaves)? Are the transferred proteins resistant to digestion - a trait shared by many allergenic proteins? Finally, there are requirements in some countries and recommendations in others that all foods containing GMO ingredients be so labeled, and that there be a post-launch monitoring system to report adverse effects (much there exists in some countries for drug and dietary supplement reporting). According to a 2015 report from the Center for Food Safety, 64 countries require labeling of GMO products in the marketplace.
See also
- Allergy (has diagrams showing involvement of different types of white blood cells)
- Food allergy (has images of hives, skin prick test and patch test)
- List of allergens (food and non-food)
- Milk soy protein intolerance
References
External links
- Soy Allergy information page. Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America
- Soy Allergy at Food Allergy Initiative
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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