Dr. Mohamed Ahmedna, a food scientist at the North Carolina A&T School of Agriculture and Environmental Science, has reportedly developed a “simple” yet mysterious process to produce allergen-free peanuts.
Along with tree nuts such as walnuts and cashews, peanuts rank among the nastiest food allergens. I’ve been allergic to peanuts since I was a kid and my revulsion to them is such that I don’t think I’d want to eat an allergen-free peanut even knowing it wouldn’t make my throat swell shut. But I’m still intrigued by Dr. Ahmenda’s work; he sounds like a modern-day George Washington Carver, having developed “a process to remove a common mold toxin from peanuts, a low-fat, high protein meat substitute, an infant formula, and antioxidants from red peanut skins.”