Improving Diagnosis of Legume Allergy in Children

In France, almost 15% of serious food allergies in children are caused by legumes, especially peanuts. Other legumes like soy, lentils, peas, lupin, chickpeas, beans, and fenugreek can also cause allergic reactions.

But here's the problem: only peanuts, soy, and lupin are required to be clearly labeled on food packaging in the European Union. This makes it hard for families to know when other legumes-like peas or fenugreek-are hidden in processed foods.

Avoiding all these legumes is hard-especially since many of them are used in processed foods and not always listed on the label. Right now, detailed allergy tests to evaluate the probability of allergy diagnosis are only available for peanuts and soy, and not for other legumes.

LACID study has been created to find and study the proteins in lupin, fenugreek, and peas that may cause allergies and developp better allergy tests for these legumes-possibly as part of a diagnostic tool that can give clear results using just a blood sample.

The goal is to help doctors and families better understand which legumes a child really needs to avoid-and which ones are actually safe to eat.