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Peanut Dust
Did you know that peanut allergies can sometimes be prevented? New research has shown that giving bits of peanut butter to infants helped to reduce their chances of becoming allergic. However, kids who have already developed the allergy shouldn’t try to cure themselves by eating tiny amounts of peanuts – this could be deadly!
Unfortunately, peanut allergies have been rising sharply in the United States, from 0.4 percent in 1997 to 2 percent in 2010. And it can be pretty hard to avoid peanuts, especially in restaurants and processed foods. Sometimes ingredients touch each other or accidentally get mixed in, even when the chef or the label says “no peanuts”.
Can you guess how researchers were able to tell whether children in the study were really eating or avoiding peanuts, as instructed? By collecting dust from their beds to analyze it for evidence of peanut protein! Think about that: particles from the foods you eat end up as dust in your bed!