Peanut butter kisses?
With Valentine’s Day nearly upon us, I thought it fitting to have a brief PSA on PDA… or even discrete displays of affection. Avoidance of peanuts is a cornerstone of therapy for peanut allergy. But inadvertent exposures are more common than you might think. Take, for example, a kiss. 5.3-12% of patients with food allergy report reacting to their partner’s kiss. [1-2] One group, albeit studying a relatively small sample of 30 patients, measured one particular peanut protein, Ara h 1, in the saliva of volunteers 5 minutes after eating 2 tablespoons of peanut butter. They estimated that passionate kissing at the 5-minute mark could amount to the transfer of approximately 1/5 to 1/10 of a peanut kernel. [3] The same group reported that 26/30 participants had undetectable levels of peanut protein in their saliva if they waited 60 minutes to sample the saliva. So, if you’re lucky enough to share your Valentine’s with another this year, kiss with caution!
1. Hallett R, Haapanen LA, Teuber SS. Food allergies and kissing. N Engl J Med. 2002; 346: 1833–1834.
2. Eriksson NE, Moller C, Werner S, Magnusson J, Bengtsson U. The hazards of kissing when you are food allergic: a survey on the occurrence of kiss-induced allergic reactions among 1139 patients with self-reported food hypersensitivity. J Investig Allergol Clin Immunol. 2003; 13: 149–154.
3. Maloney JM, Chapman MD, Sicherer SH. Peanut allergen exposure through saliva: Assessment and interventions to reduce exposure. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2006; 118: 719-724
