The epidemiology of favism

Favism is a potential obstacle to the use of the fava bean in the development of a locally produced, inexpensive weaning food for the Middle East and North Africa. The purposes of this study were to define the epidemiology of favism, to evaluate the advisability of using the fava bean in a weaning food, and to suggest ways of avoiding or eliminating the toxic factor in the bean. Field observations, locally acquired data, and a literature review suggested that the use of the fava bean in a weaning food would be hazardous, but that the hazard might be overcome by using certain strains of the bean or, more particularly, by using old dried beans. The disease is usually directly related in time to the harvesting and availability of fresh beans, but it is also associated with fresh dried beans. On the basis of the age distribution of the disease, patterns of bean consumption, and local food taboos it appears that the toxic factor is concentrated in the skin of the bean, that it is heat-stable, that in dried beans it decreases with age, and that it crosses into the breast milk of lactating mothers. It also appears that disease expression may be a result of the interaction of several host factors, such as nutritional status and the consumption of other foods. These observations are consistent with the results of laboratory studies, which incriminate vicine, divicine, and DOPA in the etiology of favism.