Dry-roasting process may turn harmless peanuts into allergy nightmares

Peanuts are one of the most common foods that trigger allergies in people, but a new study suggests that it’s not peanuts that are the problem — it’s the dry-roasting process.

Researchers from Oxford University and the University of Pennsylvania injected mice with samples of peanut protein from nuts that were either raw or dry roasted. The mice who got the dry-roasted samples mounted a much more vigorous immune system response than the mice who got raw samples, according to a study published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. An intense immune system reaction is a sign of an allergy.