Mitigation of soybean allergy by development of low allergen content seeds

With the increasing incidence of food allergy in the industrialized world, public awareness and concern has prompted intensified efforts to treat and mitigate allergic reactions. Much of the effort has been directed at avoidance by better labeling and awareness in conjunction with various forms of medical intervention. An alternative approach is to alter the allergen content of the food which is essentially a variation of avoidance, avoiding the allergen not the food. Soybean is one of the "big eight" food allergens difficult to avoid because of its wide use in processed food. Eliminating most of the allergens identified by IgE cross-reactivity appears feasible. This presents the potential to produce low allergen variants of otherwise significantly allergenic foods. Discussed here is the process of producing low allergenic soybeans and the implications that may result from their testing and use.