An “explosion” in a food allergy poses a particular risk to vegans and vegetarians, one of Britain’s leading experts said.
Cases of pollen food syndrome (PFS) have risen markedly in the past few years as a result of global heating, worsening pollution and changes in pollen patterns, said Isabel Skypala, the only consultant allergy dietician in the British National Health Service.
Attacks of PFS are usually triggered by eating raw nuts, fruit and vegetables.
However, they can also be prompted by foods popular among people who avoid animal products, such as soya milk, avocados, jackfruit, edamame beans and smoothies.
The estimated 13 million Britons who are allergic to pollen and have hay fever are most at risk. PFS is caused by unstable pollen antibodies in proteins in some raw fruits and vegetables, nuts and soya.
“The last research into the prevalence of PFS in Britain, which I undertook in 2008, showed that 2 percent of adults had it, including 4 percent of people in London,” Skypala said. “I suspect that it has probably doubled since then.”
“In my clinic at the Royal Brompton hospital in London, about five out of every 10 people I see has PFS, whereas 10 years [ago] it might have been two, she said. “There’s a perfect storm of increasing PFS at the same time as you have a very great increase in people eating fruits and vegetables.”
It is an inherent sensitivity to pollen, rather than a meat-free diet, that puts them at risk, Skypala said.
Most people with PFS experience only mild symptoms such as itching or tingling in or around their mouth.
However, growing numbers experience nausea, vomiting and even difficulty breathing because their throat swells up.
“While a lot of people with PFS are having a mild reaction, severe reactions are more frightening and more dangerous,” Skypala said.
People with PFS often end up very nervous about what they eat, she said.
“A PFS reaction, mild or severe, makes people extremely anxious, and they often cut out all fruit and nuts, because they are worried about having another reaction,” she said.
The Anaphylaxis Campaign said foods that can trigger PFS include apples, pears, kiwifruit, strawberries, plums, cherries, cherry tomatoes, celery and carrots.
REBUILDING: A researcher said that it might seem counterintuitive to start talking about reconstruction amid the war with Russia, but it is ‘actually an urgent priority’ Italy is hosting the fourth annual conference on rebuilding Ukraine even as Russia escalates its war, inviting political and business leaders to Rome to promote public-private partnerships on defense, mining, energy and other projects as uncertainty grows about the US’ commitment to Kyiv’s defense. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy were opening the meeting yesterday, which gets under way as Russia accelerated its aerial and ground attacks against Ukraine with another night of pounding missile and drone attacks on Kyiv. Italian organizers said that 100 official delegations were attending, as were 40 international organizations and development banks. There are
The tale of a middle-aged Chinese man, or “uncle,” who disguised himself as a woman to secretly film and share videos of his hookups with more than 1,000 men shook China’s social media, spurring fears for public health, privacy and marital fidelity. The hashtag “red uncle” was the top trending item on China’s popular microblog Sina Weibo yesterday, drawing at least 200 million views as users expressed incredulity and shock. The online posts told of how the man in the eastern city of Nanjing had lured 1,691 heterosexual men into sexual encounters at his home that he then recorded and distributed online. The
TARIFF ACTION: The US embassy said that the ‘political persecution’ against former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro disrespects the democratic traditions of the nation The US and Brazil on Wednesday escalated their row over US President Donald Trump’s support for former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, with Washington slapping a 50 percent tariff on one of its main steel suppliers. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva threatened to reciprocate. Trump has criticized the prosecution of Bolsonaro, who is on trial for allegedly plotting to cling on to power after losing 2022 elections to Lula. Brasilia on Wednesday summoned Washington’s top envoy to the country to explain an embassy statement describing Bolsonaro as a victim of “political persecution” — echoing Trump’s description of the treatment of Bolsonaro as
CEREMONY EXPECTED: Abdullah Ocalan said he believes in the power of politics and social peace, not weapons, and called on the group to put that into practice The jailed leader of a Kurdish militant group yesterday renewed a call for his fighters to lay down their arms, days before a symbolic disarmament ceremony is expected to take place as a first concrete step in a peace process with the Turkish state. In a seven-minute video message broadcast on pro-Kurdish Medya Haber’s YouTube channel, Abdullah Ocalan, the leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), said that the peace initiative had reached a stage that required practical steps. “It should be considered natural for you to publicly ensure the disarmament of the relevant groups in a way that addresses the expectations