Europeans study the 'no observed adverse effect level' (NOAEL) of soy allergens

Saturday, 11 August 2007 01:00

The no observed adverse effect level (NOAEL) for soy in Europe should be two milligrams, says a European study from Switzerland, Denmark and Italy that was published in June this year.

The study, the first clinical multi-centre study on food allergy to soy in Europe, included double-blind, placebo-controlled food challenges and determination of threshold levels for clinical reactivity to soy. The researchers from three allergy centres in Zurich, Odense, and Milan took part in the study on soy allergy within the European Union Project FAREDAT.

Thirty patients were included in the study. The volunteers' blood were analysed for specific immunoglobulin E (IgE), the predominant antibody associated with an allergic response, to soy, peanut, and soy proteins. None of the patients with soy allergy reacted to the starting dose of 2 mg of soy (1 mg of soy protein).

Sensitivity towards soy was reported to be less than that observed with peanuts; the threshold doses for soy were more than one order of magnitude higher than observed in peanut allergy. Source: Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology June 2007, Volume 119 (6) pages 1489-1496.