Laboratory of Chemistry and Food Analysis, Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Agricultural University of Athens, 11855 Athens, Greece.
Allergology and Pulmonology Unit, 3rd Pediatric Department, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 12462 Athens, Greece.
Nutrients. 2023 Jun 16;15(12):2767. doi: 10.3390/nu15122767.
Ultra-processed foods' (UPFs') consumption has been positively linked to the presence of allergic symptoms, but it is yet unknown whether this is linked to their nutritional composition or allergen load. This study used the ingredient lists available in the Greek Branded Food Composition Database, HelTH, to classify foods ( 4587) into four grades of food processing (NOVA1-4) according to the NOVA System. Associations between NOVA grades and the presence of allergens (as an ingredient or trace) were studied. Overall, UPFs (NOVA4) were more likely to contain allergens than unprocessed foods, NOVA1 (76.1% vs. 58.0%). However, nested analyses among similar foods showed that in >90% of cases, processing degree was not linked to allergens' presence. Recipe/matrix complexity was more strongly linked to allergens' presence with NOVA4 foods declaring 1.3 allergenic ingredients vs. 0.4 allergenic ingredients in NOVA1 foods ( < 0.01). Exposure to trace allergens was more common for NOVA4 than NOVA1 foods (45.4% vs. 28.7%), but the extent of contamination was similar (2.3 vs. 2.8 trace allergens). Overall, UPFs are more complex mixtures with higher numbers of allergens per food and are more prone to cross-contamination. However, indicating a food's degree of processing is not sufficient to help identify allergen-free choices within the same subcategory.
超加工食品（UPFs）的消费与过敏症状的出现呈正相关，但目前尚不清楚这是与它们的营养成分还是过敏原负荷有关。本研究使用希腊品牌食品成分数据库 HelTH 中的成分清单，根据 NOVA 系统将食品（4587 种）分为四级食品加工（NOVA1-4）。研究了 NOVA 等级与过敏原（作为成分或痕量存在）之间的关联。总体而言，与未加工食品相比，超加工食品（NOVA4）更有可能含有过敏原（76.1%比 58.0%）。然而，类似食品的嵌套分析表明，在 90%以上的情况下，加工程度与过敏原的存在无关。配方/基质的复杂性与过敏原的存在更密切相关，NOVA4 食品中声明有 1.3 种过敏原成分，而 NOVA1 食品中仅声明有 0.4 种过敏原成分（<0.01）。与 NOVA1 食品相比，NOVA4 食品更容易接触到痕量过敏原（45.4%比 28.7%），但污染程度相似（2.3 比 2.8 种痕量过敏原）。总体而言，超加工食品是更复杂的混合物，每一种食品中的过敏原数量更多，更容易发生交叉污染。然而，表明食品的加工程度不足以帮助识别同一亚类中的无过敏原选择。
