alert! Eight allergens hidden in the kitchen

Let’s get straight to the point: the high-frequency allergens hidden in most household kitchens are concentrated in eight categories: wheat and its products, nuts (including peanuts), dairy products, poultry eggs, soybeans and their products, fish, crustacean aquatic products, and mold-prone kitchen and bathroom products. These eight categories alone cover more than 90% of food allergy-related cases in the world. Many people experience inexplicable rashes, gastrointestinal cramps, tight throats, and even breathlessness after eating. If no trigger can be found, they are probably at work.

Don’t think that allergies can only be triggered by “eating”. A while ago, I accompanied a friend from the allergist department for a consultation, and met a 10-year-old boy who just ate an apple cut by his grandmother on a cutting board with freshly cut walnuts. Within half an hour, his mouth swelled into a small sausage, and he couldn’t even speak clearly. The mother of the child had repeatedly told her grandma not to touch nuts. Grandma thought I had washed the cutting board clean, so what could happen? In fact, trace amounts of allergens remaining in the gaps of kitchen utensils are enough to infect people with severe allergies. This is also the core reason why many people cannot find the source of their allergies - it is not eating specific allergenic foods, but cross-contamination in the kitchen that cannot be prevented.

Many people's understanding of wheat allergy is still "can't eat pasta". In fact, there is another type of wheat allergy, which is inhaled wheat allergy. There used to be a young man who was working out who had a cough and runny nose on Sundays for three months in a row. After checking the allergens, he found that he used high-gluten flour to make bagels every Sunday morning. He inhaled the flour dust that floated up when kneading the dough. He had never thought about it before. There is also a controversial point here: many people with gluten intolerance will ask, can they eat fermented bread and steamed buns? Research in the field of nutrition indeed shows that allergenic proteins in wheat products that have been fermented for a long time will be decomposed by 60% to 80%. Many people with mild gluten intolerance are fine if they eat them. However, allergists generally recommend that people with severe wheat allergies should not even touch fermented products. After all, everyone has different tolerance thresholds, so there is no need to risk your body.

There are also eggs and milk, two common foods in the kitchen, that more people take advantage of. There was a girl who was allergic to milk. She went straight to the emergency room after eating tomato scrambled eggs made by her boyfriend. The two of them checked the ingredients for a long time, and finally discovered that when the young man beat the eggs, he added a spoonful of creamer that he usually uses to make coffee. He always thought that the creamer was non-dairy and did not contain milk. In fact, many cheap creamers contain milk powder. Even a small amount can be fatal to people with severe milk allergies. There are even more pitfalls with eggs. Eggs are added to many prepared dishes, semi-finished noodles and even salad dressings. If you don't look at the ingredient list carefully, you won't be able to find it.

Many people think that few people are allergic to soybeans, but this is not true. I have a friend who cannot even touch soy sauce and gets hives whenever he eats it. There is also a long-debated point here: Will fermented soy products such as soy sauce, fermented bean curd, and tempeh cause allergies? The evidence provided by those who support that it can be eaten is that the fermentation process will break down the main allergenic protein of soybeans into small molecules, and the allergenicity will be reduced by more than 90%. The opponent believes that many fermented soybean products on the market are not uniform in technology, and there is no guarantee that there will be no allergenic components left. In fact, this completely depends on the individual's tolerance level. People with mild allergies can try a small amount, but if they are severely allergic, it is safer to avoid them honestly. As for fish and crustacean aquatic products, they are the hardest hit areas for cross-contamination. In many families, the cutting boards do not distinguish between raw and cooked. After cutting the shrimp and fish, the knife is washed twice before cutting the salad. The trace juice of the seafood remains on the cutting board, which can easily stain other foods. People who are allergic to shrimp have become allergic to the cold cucumber at home for this reason.

Oh, by the way, there is another allergen that 90% of households ignore: mold in the kitchen. Don’t think that only moldy food can cause mold. The black dirt on the sealing strips of the refrigerator, the mold spots in the gaps of the cutting board, the fungus that has been soaked for two or three days, the dry goods growing mold in the corners of the cupboard, and even the food residue left in the dishwasher filter are all the hardest hit areas for mold. Many people suffer from allergic rhinitis and cough when it comes to rainy days. They can't find the reason. It is probably because mold spores in the kitchen float into the air and are inhaled by you. Here’s a reminder, don’t believe that “you can eat moldy food by digging out the mold”. The mycelium of mold has already penetrated into the food, especially loose food such as fruits and bread. If mold grows, just throw it away. Don’t feel bad.

In fact, there is no need to panic just because there are these allergens at home. After all, most people are not allergic to these things, so there is no need to throw away all the nuts and milk at home. If you have people with allergies at home, you don’t have to worry about whether to pack the kitchen utensils separately or just wash them. It depends on the severity of the allergy: it’s just a mild allergy, and you will only get a rash after eating. After cutting the allergenic food, wash the kitchen utensils carefully with dish soap, and separate raw and cooked food. ； If you have severe allergies and are out of breath when you touch them, it is best to prepare a separate set of special cutting boards, knives and tableware, and store them separately from ordinary kitchen utensils, which is more secure.

I have come into contact with many people who have allergies. At first, they thought they were suffering from allergies out of nowhere. In fact, looking back, I found that most of them were caused by small details in the kitchen that I didn't notice. If you really have allergic symptoms that appear out of nowhere one day, and you can't find the cause, you might as well start with these eight categories of things to investigate, and you'll be able to find the source nine times out of ten.