b'SENSE, NONSENSE AND SCIENCEBY: JOE SCHWARCZA TARIFF ON PEANUTS YOU SAY?S lap a tariff on peanuts! That wasremain in the soil and serve as nutrients forthe immune system less busy. With fewer the decision arrived at by the U.S.subsequent plantations. Soybeans and pea- infectious agents to fight, the immune Congress in 1921 after hearing testi- nuts were ideal for this soil enrichment. system may unleash its weaponry against mony about how American peanut farmersGeorge Washington Carvers name istargets that do not actually pose a risk. were being undercut by imported peanutsintimately and justifiably linked with pea- These are only theories, but what has from China. The witness was Georgenuts, but contrary to many accounts, he didbecome clear, is that delaying exposure to Washington Carver who also expoundednot invent peanut butter. Centuries earlierpeanuts does not reduce the risk of allergy.on all the uses to which peanuts couldthe Incas were already grinding peanutsI have no personal experience to be put. It was unusual at the time for aninto a paste, and in 1884, Montreal chem- recount here because peanut butter was African American to appear in front ofist Marcellus Gilmore Edson filed a patentunknown in Hungary when I was growing a Congressional committee, but Carver,for the manufacture of a peanut paste thatup. However, its popularity, inexplicable born around 1864 and raised by Missourihad a consistency like that of butter, lard,to my palate, did prompt me to look into farmers who had owned his mother as aor ointment. It was to be combined withthe history of this American favourite that slave, had made a name for himself as ansugar to make a candy, but there is no evi- introduced me to the exploits of George agricultural expert. After graduating fromdence the paste was ever sold as a butter.Washington Carver. I now understand-the University of Iowa he had taken upWhile there is no significant nutri- ing his epitaph that reads: He could have a position as head of the Department oftional issue with peanut butter, allergy toadded fortune to fame, but caring for nei-Agriculture at the Tuskegee Institute inpeanuts can affect up to 3% of childrenther, he found happiness and honour in Alabama. To underline the importance andin westernized countries. Peanut allergy,being helpful to the world.versatility of peanuts, Carver had broughtalthough not as prevalent as allergies to along samples of ice cream, candy, instanteggs or milk, is outgrown in fewer thanJoe Schwarcz PhD is Director, McGill coffee, milk, oil, ink and a face cream, all20% of cases and can have deadly conse- University Office for Science and Society, made from peanuts. Indeed, in his careerquences. The most severe reaction is ana- Montreal, QC, Canada.he would go on to formulate more thanphylaxis that can lead to life-threatening 300 items from peanuts, including soup,respiratory failure unless reversed with anEditors Note: This is an abbreviated ver-doughnuts, shaving cream, laxatives andintramuscular injection of adrenaline (epi- sion. For the full version, see our website.laundry soap. nephrine). Anyone with a peanut allergy Here is a breakfast food, Carvermust always have an Epi-Pen within reach pointed to the table in front of him. I amin case of accidental exposure.very sorry that you cannot taste this, so IWhy food allergies, especially to will taste it for you he quipped, elicitingpeanuts, have risen significantly in recent much laughter. The Peanut Man, as hedecades is unknown. One clue may come would eventually be known, concluded byfrom the discovery that sensitization may saying that he was unaware of a single casenot require ingestion but may occur of anyone being hurt by peanuts. That isfrom exposure through the skin. not surprising given that mentions of foodThis can happen if peanut prod-allergy did not appear in the medical lit- ucts in a house inadvertently erature until the 1920s. Only in the 1990scontact a babys skin. It has would peanut allergy be recognized as abeen suggested that wash-serious problem. ing babies every day, a rel-At Tuskegee, Carver had carried outatively recent practice, may research on crop rotation that changed thechange the skins permea-face of southern agriculture. Cotton, thebility to foreign proteins.dominant crop in the south, presented dif- Other possibilities ficulties because it depletes soil nutrientsthat have been raised and requires a lot of fertilizer, which mostto explain the increase farmers could not afford. But Carver foundin food allergies include that rotating cotton with legumes solvedchanges in the intesti-this problem. Legumes harbour microbesnal microbiome during in their root nodules which can fix nitro- infancy,anddecreased gen, meaning that they can convert nitro- exposure to infectious agents gen in the air into nitrogen compounds thatduring childhood that makes 24ISEED WORLD EUROPEISEEDWORLD.COM/EUROPE | FEBRUARY 2025'