Citric Acid

[Fawn in CA]

A while back, I read a very interesting item posted about citric acid in this forum, with an unusual name of something connected to it. I think someone did a lot of research, maybe for their father.
Didn't register at the time, but now I'd like to review it, and don't know quite how to find it!
Thank you very much for your help.

[aklap]

Hi Fawn,

Edited 5/11/07 to add:
Info from Lani @ Clan Thompson taken from Gluten Free.com's Newsletter Dated 05-11-07 about citric acid...

[Fawn in CA]

Thanks so much for your help, Al. That's exactly what I was looking for. My gfcf husband has had HIVES. Doesn't think he's been glutenized. Wondering if it might be the citric acid in a few products he's had shortly before the hives.
Does anyone know if rum has citric acid in it?
Thanks to everyone for sharing information, support, and assistance!

[skbird]

Hi Fawn -

I'm the one who brought up citric acid before. My dad had an allergic reaction to the statin that is made from aspergillis niger. He had hives all over his face and swollen lips. I haven't had hives from anything in my life but from betadine... OMG! I just looked it up and it has CITRIC ACID in it!!!! Wow!!!

OK, I'm totally on to this now.

I'm now going to search to see if there's an allergy test for aspergillis. It is very similar to penecillian, which also produces allergies.

Here's the wikipedia explanation of citric acid:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citric_acid

And aspergillis:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspergillus_niger

Hope this helps or at least validates. It's validating for me!

I'll post more on this thread when I figure it out...
_________________
Stephanie

[skbird]

According to this abstract, aspergillus niger is GRAS (generally regarded as safe) and not a particular allergy threat. Hmmm.

http://www.dsm.com/en_US/html/dfs/rnd_publ_safety_aniger_review.htm
_________________
Stephanie

[skbird]

Some info on allergy from Aspergillus Niger. It appears the mold itself can cause many problems in people. I'm not yet sure why using a toxic mold in fermentation would make it safe for human consumption. But I am not a microbiologist... (nor do I play one on TV...)

[quote] 2. Allergic Reactions to Aspergillus niger

Allergens produced by A. niger can produce allergic reactions in humans. When inhaled, A. niger can cause hypersensitivity reactions such as asthma and allergic alveolitis (Edwards and AlZubaidy, 1977). However, only a few instances ofasthma induced by A. niger have been reported. One such instance involved a manufacturing plant in which a specially selected strain of A. niger was being used to ferment molasses to produce citric acid. Both stirred tank and surface methods were being used. Eighteen workers were diagnosed as having occupational asthma; half had IgE antibody to A. niger based on skin and RAST tests. As determined by RAST inhibition experiments using a commercial extract of A. niger, the antigen that caused the sensitization appeared to be peculiar to the A. niger strain used for the fermentation (Topping et al., 1985).

In studies on 30 of 83 patients who showed symptoms of bronchial asthma, it was found that skin hypersensitivity to Aspergillus antigens with a high serum IgE to these antigens is indicative of Aspergillus sensitivity. In addition, levels of IgE protein and IgE antibodies specific for eight different allergenic extracts (including Aspergillus) were measured in the serum of persons infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and HIV negative subjects belonging to the same high risk group. Levels of IgE protein and antibodies were found to be definitively higher in the HIV infected patients (Maggi et al., 1989).

Massive inhalation of Aspergillus spores by normal persons can lead to an acute, diffuse, self-limiting pneumonitis. Spontaneous recovery taking several weeks is the usual course (Bennett, 1980). For example, Dykewicz et al. (1988) described the case of a 28-year-old man who developed fevers, cough, shortness of breath and other symptoms several hours after cutting live oak and maple trees. Fungal cultures of the wood chips yielded A. niger along with other Aspergillus species, three species of Penicillium, Paecilomyces sp., and Rhizopus sp. Several immunological techniques were used to show that the Penicillium sp. were probably responsible. Reports such as this illustrate that A. niger, while implicated by its isolation in association with some cases, is not necessarily the causative agent.[/quote]

The part about skin sensitivity is what I found interesting, in light of the hives symptoms.

I found this article at: [url]http://www.epa.gov/opptintr/biotech/fra/fra006.htm[/url]
_________________
Stephanie

[skbird]

The part about the man who developed respiratory problems after cutting oaks and maples was significant to me, too, as I have maples and oaks on my property and I most often have the worst allergies in the fall, from molds - I have been told. Especially after it rains.

Love the internet for research!

Stephanie
_________________
Stephanie

[Fawn in CA]

Thanks for all your work Stephanie.
My husband is gluten free, casein free, and is also sensitive to Yellow Dye #5, erythromycin, sulfites or something in bacon, and vinegar. All cause rashes, hives, and/or breathing difficulties.
He also has an IgA Deficiency.
Before he was gf (15 mos now!), he was on a lot of meds for asthma and allergies, which he no longer needs.
How did you find out about the aspergillis in Lovastatin? I'm wondering because I'd like to find out if it's used in the production of erythromycin.
We have been strictly gf and cf, no yellow #5, or vinegar, but about 4 times in the past 8 days, he's had TERRIFIC hives.
After collecting all of the "processed" foods (all confirmed gf and cf) on the menu over the past 8 days, the only questionable ingredient is "citric acid"! I know that sometimes finding the cause of hives is difficult, b/c something that you've used for a while suddenly cause hives, even if it didn't before.
Eliminating citric acid (drinking A&W Diet Root Beer instead of soft drinks containing citric acid, etc.), starting yesterday.

On a side note (sorry this is so lengthly!), I am gluten free, too, trying to clear up my skin. Since early childhood, I've had a sensitivity to skin products, like Betadine, that contain any form of iodine, so I'm wondering if I might have DH. I read they used to test for DH by putting iodine on nearby skin and watching for inflammation and welts.

Hmmm...

[skbird]

Fawn - I just read that erythromycin is MADE FROM ASPERGILLUS NIGER!!!

Stephanie
_________________
Stephanie

[skbird]

[url]http://www.phytomedical.com/Plant/Erythromycin.asp[/url]

I had just emailed my dad to ask if he ever had trouble with that one. He hasn't used it so no.

Crazy!!!
_________________
Stephanie

[skbird]

OK, in my enthusiasm, I didn't ask you - iodine is connected to DH? I'm curious about that. I was having trouble around my periods - it was something like Toxic Shock Syndrome, but not. Anyway, my doctor had recommend I dip my tampons in betadine. The second day I woke with hives on my inner thighs, and they kept getting worse (almost down to my knees). The only thing different in my life was the betadine. This flabbergasted the doctor.

Makes me wonder, in the future, if I have surgery, what are they going to use on me?
_________________
Stephanie

[dkad]

Yes iodine is connected to DH. When I was told I had DH 25 years ago they also said to stop using iodine. In my research they go hand in hand. Surgery, I have had it many times and there are other things they can use. The only problem is when you need to have tests that require a dye which has iodine they often won't do the contrasting tests. I did have a Dr. go ahead and do the contrast after not finding out what my problem was and they just gave me a shot of benedryl before hand and I had no problems. Hope this helps.
dkad

[Fawn in CA]

Thank you to everyone for providing the helpful information!!! And so quickly!
Husband and I feel like avoiding aspergillus niger and citric acid is the right direction to go!
About the iodine, companies used to put bithionine, bithionol, and other similar things in first aid creams, shampoos, lip stuff, etc., and they're all forms of iodine. So many people have reported reactions that the usage has been cut way back. I have avoided them all since before I was five.
Some people with shell fish allergies (like my younger daughter), are also told to avoid iodine (especially those intravenous contrast dyes).
Both daughters are gf/cf; one also has the shellfish allergy; the other also has sensitivity to Red Dye #40 and Yellow Dye #5.
My husband is gf/cf, but the daughters have a double dose: my sister is also celiac and my mom probably has DH.
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU

[skbird]

I have heard about avoiding iodine because of shellfish allergy (I have that) but have also heard that one has nothing to do with the other. Conflicting at best. I thought that might have been the reason for my reaction to Betadine but now I think it was the citric acid.

Anyway, thanks for bringing this all up. Made me do some more research.

Take care
_________________
Stephanie

[skbird]

OK, not to be a dead horse, but I just made another amazing discovery today. I got really sick last night after dinner - we brought food to my MIL house so we could make the food, so I *wouldn't* get sick. Well, I got sick. We brought ground buffalo mixed with garlic, onion, etc, for the grill, and bought a bag of salad mix (organic, a brand I use a lot) and some baby carrots, broccoli and cauliflour florettes from the store. My husband made the dressing from scratch. Well, I got sick, like there was citric acid in there somewhere which was really confounding to me because all this stuff shold have been ok.

Guess what? Aspergillus niger, which is the mold used to ferment Citric Acid, is one of the number one molds on fruit and veggies. For desert, we had brought strawberries, but my MIL had some strawberries and raspberries in the fridge from one of those stands - they were a couple of days old and on their way out, so we decided to use them instead. The raspberries looked like they might have a little mold on them but I washed them well and we ate them.

My symptoms are: lots of gas, very painful stomach, migraine and headache, itchy burning throat. This started 30 mins after eating dinner and it's now nearly 24 hours later and I'm feeling a little better but everything still hurts.

So I did some research, after reading about the mold, and lo and behold, other foods I don't tolerate are also aspergillus-derrived. Like black tea (I can drink green or white but black makes me sick with a burning stomach and bad headache), as well as some I already knew like fermented soy sauces/tamaris, miso, citric acid. Here's more of a list:

[quote] PRODUCTS OF ASPERGILLUS FERMENTATION:

SOY SAUCE
CHOCOLATE
TEA (BLACK)
MALT EXTRACT (MOST CEREALS)
LACTAID (MILK ADDITIVE)
SOME VITAMINS - SOLGAR AND JARROW brands ARE SAFE; MOST ARE NOT
CITRIC ACID (A VERY COMMON FOOD ADDITIVE; NOT DERIVED FROM CITRUS FRUIT)
SOFT DRINKS (Citric acid is made with the aspergillus fermentation process)
FRUIT JUICE (COMMERCIAL-OFTEN MADE FROM MOLDY FRUIT; MANY CONTAIN MOLD ENZYMES ADDED IN PROCESSING)
DIGESTIVE ENZYMES (PANCREATIC ARE ALRIGHT), OTHERS ARE NOT
CHOLESTEROL LOWERING ENZYMES
ACIDOPHILUS WITH F.O.S. (Acidophilus has very healing effects and promotes natural anti-fungals in the body, however, artificially produced F.O.S. is made with the aspergillus fermentation process. If you would like natural F.O.S., you can consume watermelon seeds and reap the same nutritional benefits without any aspergillus fermentation).[/quote]
[url]http://www.mold-survivor.com/dietcopyright.htm#PRODUCTS%20OF%20ASPERGILLUS%20FERMENTATION:[/url]
Also read on another site that some hams are made with aspergillus - I always feel weird/sick after eating ham. Some alcohol beverages, too.

This is totally amazing to me. I mean, other than being frustrated that there is even more food out there I can't eat, I can't believe how many things are connected that I knew caused me problems - all from a mold. Wow!

Anyway, worth knowing. Hope this helps someone.

BTW - Beano also is made of aspergillus. Like Lactaid.
_________________
Stephanie