Boston - Inulin, an increasingly popular food additive extracted from artichokes and the herbs chicory and salsify, may cause a severe allergic reaction, three doctors warn in today's New England Journal of Medicine.
The warning is based on the case of a 39-year-old man who developed breathing difficulties, a cough and other allergic symptoms on four occasions within two years. His symptoms appeared just minutes after eating artichoke leaves, salsify (also known as black oyster plant or viper's grass), inulin-containing candy and a margarine made with the inulin found in chicory.
"Because of its expanding use in processed foods, allergic reactions to this dietary ingredient may be or may become more frequent than currently recognised," said the authors, Ms Fabienne Gay-Crosier and Mr Conrad Hauser of the University Hospital in Geneva, Switzerland, and Mr Georges Schreiber of Annemasse, France.