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Foods
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Food Allergen Detection, Allergic Mechanism and Anti-allergy Research
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Food Allergen Detection, Allergic Mechanism and Anti-allergy Research

A special issue of Foods (ISSN 2304-8158). This special issue belongs to the section "Food Quality and Safety".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2023) | Viewed by 6119

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Zhihua Wu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, Nanchang University, No. 235 Nanjing East Road, Nanchang 330047, China
Interests: food allergy; peanut allergy; structure of allergens; hypoallergens; epitope identification; allergenicity; immunologic mechanism; immunotherapy

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Food allergies (FAs) are a major health issue around the world, and are the subject of growing concern due to their increasing prevalence and significant burden on the lives of allergic patients and their families. Importantly, there is currently no effective cure for FAs, and the only way to preventing allergic reactions to certain foods is strict avoidance. It is worth noting that the implementation of and adherence to a diet that is free of allergenic foods is challenging. Thus, rapid and sensitive food allergen detection has been proposed, contributing to the labelling of packaged foods and food allergy control, and should help to overcome the effects of allergen structural modification and the cross-pollution of slight trace amounts of allergens during processing. Meanwhile, an FA is an adverse health effect arising from a specific immune-mediated response that occurs reproducibly on oral exposure to a given food. The past few years have seen advances in the mechanistic understanding of FAs and oral tolerance, which could pave the way to definitive ways for the treatment and prevention of FAs. In addition, many natural substances and treated foods are considered to have potential anti-allergic properties in FA. These studies contribute to the literature on food allergies from different perspectives, but are complementary with each other regarding anti-allergy research.

Prof. Dr. Zhihua Wu
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Foods is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • food allergies
  • allergen structure
  • food allergen detection
  • immune mechanisms
  • treatment and prevention of fas
  • anti-allergic properties

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

13 pages, 499 KiB  
Article
Assessment of the Efficiency of Technological Processes to Modify Whey Protein Antigenicity
by Vanina Andrea Ambrosi, Silvina Mabel Guidi, Debora Marina Primrose, Claudia Beatriz Gonzalez and Gustavo Alberto Polenta
Foods 2023, 12(18), 3361; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods12183361 - 7 Sep 2023
Viewed by 897
Abstract
Whey is a by-product that represents a cheap source of protein with a high nutritional value, often used to improve food quality. When used as a raw material to produce hypoallergenic infant formulas (HIF), a processing step able to decrease the allergenic potential [...] Read more.
Whey is a by-product that represents a cheap source of protein with a high nutritional value, often used to improve food quality. When used as a raw material to produce hypoallergenic infant formulas (HIF), a processing step able to decrease the allergenic potential is required to guarantee their safe use for this purpose. In the present paper, thermal treatments, high hydrostatic pressure (HHP), and enzymatic hydrolysis (EH) were assessed to decrease the antigenicity of whey protein solutions (WPC). For monitoring purposes, a competitive ELISA method, able to detect the major and most allergenic whey protein β-lactoglobulin (BLG), was developed as a first step to evaluate the efficiency of the processes. Results showed that EH together with HHP was the most effective combination to reduce WPC antigenicity. The evaluation method proved useful to monitor the processes and to be employed in the quality control of the final product, to guarantee the efficiency, and in protein antigenicity reduction. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Food Allergen Detection, Allergic Mechanism and Anti-allergy Research)
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15 pages, 287 KiB  
Article
Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices of Consumers on Food Allergy and Food Allergen Labeling: A Case of Lebanon
by Hanin Chafei, Marwa Diab El Harake, Imad Toufeili and Samer A. Kharroubi
Foods 2023, 12(5), 933; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods12050933 - 22 Feb 2023
Viewed by 2473
Abstract
The epidemiology of food allergies is increasing worldwide. International labeling standards were developed to enhance consumers’ awareness of allergen-free foods. The main objective of the present study is to assess the characteristics of allergen labeling and consumers’ knowledge, attitudes, and purchasing habits of [...] Read more.
The epidemiology of food allergies is increasing worldwide. International labeling standards were developed to enhance consumers’ awareness of allergen-free foods. The main objective of the present study is to assess the characteristics of allergen labeling and consumers’ knowledge, attitudes, and purchasing habits of food products with allergens in Lebanon. We evaluated the allergen labeling of 1000 food products form Lebanese supermarkets. A random sample of 541 consumers was recruited through an online survey (November 2020–February 2021). Descriptives and regression analysis were conducted. Results showed that wheat represents the largest group of food allergens on food labels, followed by milk and soybean. Furthermore, 42.9% of supermarket food products had a precautionary allergen labeling with “may contain traces of allergens”. The majority of food products complied with local regulations for locally manufactured and imported products. One-quarter of survey respondents had a food allergy or were caregivers of food-allergic individuals. Regression analyses showed that “previous experience of a severe reaction” was negatively associated with food allergy-related knowledge and attitude scores respectively (β = −1.394, 95% CI: (−1.827, −1.034) and β = −1.432, 95% CI: (−2.798, −0.067)). The findings of this study provide practical insights on food allergy labeling issues for stakeholders and policymakers in the food supply chain. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Food Allergen Detection, Allergic Mechanism and Anti-allergy Research)
17 pages, 3609 KiB  
Article
Effects of Lactobacillus on the Differentiation of Intestinal Mucosa Immune Cells and the Composition of Gut Microbiota in Soybean-Sensitized Mice
by Chunhua Yang, Jierui Zhu, Jing Bai, Jie Zhang, Zhihua Wu, Xin Li, Ping Tong, Hongbing Chen and Anshu Yang
Foods 2023, 12(3), 627; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods12030627 - 1 Feb 2023
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1636
Abstract
In the early stage of this study, three strains of Lactobacillus with anti-soybean allergy potential were screened: Lactobacillus acidophilus CICC 6081, Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. Bulgaricus CICC 6103 and Lactobacillus plantarum subsp. Plantarum CICC 20988. The aim of this study was to analyze the [...] Read more.
In the early stage of this study, three strains of Lactobacillus with anti-soybean allergy potential were screened: Lactobacillus acidophilus CICC 6081, Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. Bulgaricus CICC 6103 and Lactobacillus plantarum subsp. Plantarum CICC 20988. The aim of this study was to analyze the desensitization effect of three strains of Lactobacillus administered by gavage to soybean-allergic mice through the differentiation of immune cells in intestinal lymph nodes and the changes to gut microbiota. The results showed that the three strains of Lactobacillus could stimulate the proliferation of dendritic cells (DCs) and regulate the balance of Th1/Th2 differentiation in the MLNs and PPs of soybean-allergic mice. Furthermore, the Th17/Tregs cell-differentiation ratio in the MLNs of the Lactobacillus-treated mice was significantly lower than that of the allergic mice (p < 0.05). Compared to the control group, the Shannon, Sobs and Ace indexes of intestinal microbiota in the allergic mice were significantly increased (p < 0.05), and the proportion of Clostridiales was significantly higher (p < 0.05), which was reversed by Lactobacillus gavage. In conclusion, the three strains of Lactobacillus can inhibit the intestinal mucosal immune response and regulate gut microbiota balance in soybean-allergic mice. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Food Allergen Detection, Allergic Mechanism and Anti-allergy Research)
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