If you have a legume or peanut allergy and eat gluten free foods, there’s a new ingredient for you to watch out for: lupin or lupine.
Last week, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released a warning about this legume, stating that it can cause allergic reactions ranging from a mild case of hives to full-blown anaphylaxis, and it mostly affects people with existing legume allergies, especially peanut allergies.
In response to all of the new gluten-free foods available, more U.S. food makers have introduced lupin as a substitute for wheat in flour.
“Lupin is popping up in an increasing amount of foods, thanks to the onslaught of gluten-free products (apparently it makes a great substitute for gluten-containing flours), yet people still have no idea what it is or that it may cause them harm,” said Dr. Stefano Luccioli, a senior medical advisor at the FDA.
The good news (for most of us) is that lupin is safe for the majority of people and healthy because it’s low in fat and is good source of protein and fiber.
Luckily lupin is required by law to appear on the ingredient list as either “lupin” or “lupine.”
If you do have a peanut allergy, it important to be extra diligent about reading your ingredient labels. Lupin is one of the ‘top eight allergen’ that must be bolded on nutrition labels, so it should be easy to spot.
For the full FDA consumer update: http://1.usa.gov/1pRagHl.
Photo Credit: Jean-sebastien Evrard, AFP/Getty Images