First of all, check out this satirical Onion article on salmonella! It's hilarious and right on the money. Kidding aside, though, the recent pistachio salmonella outbreak is already having an effect on the FDA. According the story I read in the Chicago Tribune today, they started trying to find/eliminate the problem without waiting for a bunch of sickness reports. The story even discussed how cross-contact (my least favorite aspect of FA to explain to people) is responsible for the outbreak. If cross-contact could become part of our everyday vocabulary, think how much easier that would make life for all of us.
Next, more research on finding a "non-allergenic" peanut has been completed. This article discusses how scientists are trying to remove allergenic proteins from peanuts, making them less harmful in small amounts to the severely allergic.
This is great news, but I'm sure they have a lot more to learn. They are concerned that taste may be lost when removing some of the allergens and of course no one will eat non-allergenic PB if it doesn't taste good.
Doesn't it seem as if food allergy research has really increased in the past year? I'm very hopeful--more research is the first step to a cure.
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