The little-known ingredient blamed for a woman's near-fatal allergic reaction
A Perth singer has raised the alarm over a relatively unknown and potentially deadly ingredient that nearly claimed her life.
When Fiona Cooper-Smythe’s began to vomit in the lead-up to a gig, she knew straight away that it wasn’t nerves.
Experiencing a rash and a sore throat she looked at the package of a cookie she had just consumed, there was only one ingredient she didn’t recognise – lupin.
While lupin has been around for centuries, in more recent years the legume is making its way into more products as a popular substitute for wheat flour.
“It's almost like a secret product being introduced into our mainstream foods - for me that's a worry,” Ms Cooper-Smythe told Today Tonight.
“Every day now I’ve got to check… when I got into a bakery I say 'has this got lupin in it?’.”
As lupin becomes more popular, clinical immunologist Dr Jack Bourke says he's seeing more patients with an allergy.
“I think lupin has been recognised as an emerging allergen,” Dr Bourke told Today Tonight.
“Often it comes out of the blue and it's quite sudden, it can be a food that people have eaten many times in the past and for some reason which we really don't understand, suddenly develop a new allergy.”
"There are a lot of health benefits being recognised of lupin so it's high in protein and fibre, and so that is part of the reason it's being used more commonly."
Reactions can range from mild symptoms such as skin rashes or an itchy mouth right through to anaphylaxis where the breathing is affected.
Earlier this year, lupin was added to the list of mandatory allergens that need to be declared on food packaging by food standards Australia and New Zealand.
The rule won't be enforced until May next year, allowing manufacturers time to get rid of old stock.
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