North Carolina A&T State University, the historically Black educational institution in Greensboro, has entered into partnership agreement with Xemerge, a Toronto-based firm that commercializes emerging technologies in food and agriculture. The partnership will develop food products from hypoallergenic peanuts using a process patented by researchers in the university’s School of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences. The process, which involves treating peanuts that have been removed from their shells with food enzymes, reduces allergens in peanuts by 98 percent, making them safer for people who have peanut allergies.
About 2.8 million people in the United States are allergic to peanuts. Those people who are allergic to peanuts can develop anaphylaxis, a severe allergic reaction within seconds of exposure to peanuts.
