Peanut, soy, and emerging legume allergy in Canada

Individuals with 1 legume allergy may be cosensitized to other legumes and thus may potentially have other legume allergies as well. Although the use of emerging legumes (eg, pea, lentils, chickpeas) in commercial food production is increasingly common, the literature has largely focused on peanut and soy, both of which are priority allergens in Canada.

We aimed to describe the distribution of priority and emerging legume allergies in Canada, with consideration for patient age.

Cross-sectional survey data collected between 2019 and 2021 from families who follow food allergy-related social media platforms were queried for demographics, as well as for food allergy (including by type and number of foods and by age [0-5 vs ≥6 years]). Data were described and then analyzed by using logistic regression and adjusted for sex, age at diagnosis, and number of food allergies.

Of the 115 participating children, the majority (64.6%) were boys. Nearly all of the children (109 of 115 [94.8%]) had peanut allergy, whereas soy and emerging legume allergies were reported by 15.7% and 13.0% of the children, respectively. Of these 115 children, 85 had mono-peanut allergy, 6 had mono-soy allergy, none had emerging legume allergy in the absence of peanut or soy, 12 had peanut and emerging legume allergy, 9 had peanut and soy allergy, and 3 had peanut, soy, and emerging legume allergy. Compared with children aged 0 to 5 years, children aged 6 years or older were significantly less likely to have peanut plus soy or emerging legume allergy (odds ratio = 0.22 [95% CI = 0.05-0.94]; P = .04).

Of the children with peanut allergy, a considerable number also had peanut allergy and soy allergy and/or another legume allergy. Younger children have higher odds of multiple legume allergy.