Dry-roasted peanuts likelier to trigger 'allergic reactions' than raw counterparts

A new study has revealed that dry-roasted peanuts may pose bigger allergy threats as compared to raw peanuts.

The high temperatures involved in dry-roasting causes chemical changes that could sensitize the immune system to peanut proteins, the Independent reported.

Dry-roasted peanuts are a popular snack in the UK and other Western countries, whereas in the East they are more often used in cooking and eaten raw, boiled or fried.

Dr Amin Moghaddam, from Oxford University, said that allergies are driven by multiple factors including family genetic background and exposure to environmental triggers and in the case of peanut allergy; they think they might have discovered an environmental trigger in the way peanuts are processed by high-temperature roasting.