Caution: ‘Do not open, sesame’

Sesame seeds are an excel­lent source of cop­per, cal­cium, Vit­a­min A, pro­tein and healthy fats but to some peo­ple they can be dan­ger­ous. Sesame seed aller­gies are on the rise.

In Aus­tralia, a sesame seed allergy is fourth behind milk, eggs and peanuts. In Israel, there are more peo­ple with a sesame seed allergy than a peanut allergy.

Today sesame seeds are not only found on top of a ham­burger bun. They are ground into a paste and are included in hum­mus, falafel, gra­nola, bread sticks, salad dress­ings, Asian noo­dles and even some spices.

Sesame seeds can also be found in unex­pected places such as lip­stick, hand cream, cook­ies and tomato sauce. The scary thing about a sesame seed allergy is that although it may cause the sinuses to drip and skin to itch, it can also make breath­ing dif­fi­cult and become life threatening.

The bio­chem­i­cal struc­ture of sesame is sim­i­lar to the peanut. Those with a sesame allergy are at risk for hav­ing aller­gic reac­tions from peanuts. This is called cross-reactivity. One sub­stance is so much like another that the immune sys­tem treats them both the same.

There is also a cross reac­tiv­ity between sesame aller­gens and rye, kiwi, poppy seed, hazel nut, black wal­nut, cashew, macadamia and pis­ta­chio nuts. There­fore, peo­ple with a peanut allergy should pay atten­tion to their symp­toms when eat­ing sesame and any of the other foods men­tioned above.

There are as many adults with a sesame allergy as chil­dren so experts sus­pect that it is not one of those aller­gies that dis­ap­pear as peo­ple get older.

Sesame seeds are the old­est condi­ment known to man. They have been used to add fla­vor to dishes for the past 5,000 years. The oil does not turn ran­cid quickly and can last a long time mak­ing it very valu­able for food storage.

The phrase “Open, Sesame” comes from the tales of the Ara­bian Nights. The pods of seeds actu­ally pop open on the plant when ripe.

Sesame seed is not one of those foods that peo­ple eat alone. Even the sesame paste is spread onto a cracker or a piece of pita bread. You don’t find sesame seeds on the rack at the gas sta­tion next to the cashews or trail mix. It is one of those hid­den ingre­di­ents that enhance fla­vor and boost nutrition.

Pin­point­ing a sesame seed allergy may be like find­ing a nee­dle in a haystack with­out spe­cific allergy test­ing. Some­one with nag­ging aller­gic symp­toms may need to con­sider this seed as a clue to their health prob­lems. A health sleuth may need to declare, “Do not open, Sesame” to avoid trou­ble­some aller­gic reactions.

Aller­gies have affected peo­ple for years and in the past peo­ple may have reacted from aller­gies with­out real­iz­ing that they should avoid cer­tain foods. New sci­en­tific research is alert­ing more peo­ple to sub­stances than can be harm­ful to them. If an allergy to sesame seeds is sus­pected, con­tact a physician.

Bob­bie Ran­dall is a cer­ti­fied dia­betes edu­ca­tor, reg­is­tered, licensed dietit­ian. She super­vises a dia­betes self-management train­ing pro­gram at Aultman-Orrville Hos­pi­tal, Orrville. Con­tact her at bobbie.randall@aultmanorrville.org or 330–684-4776.

Posted by Bobbie Randall on Aug 8 2012. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS Feed. Comments can be made below.