This is not a problem which has ever affected us, thank the gods. But apparently, some people are allergic to wine.
Can you imagine it? The absolute horror of getting an allergic reaction to wine? Of being at a dinner party or wedding, with the booze flowing free, and having to decline because it would set you off sneezing and sniffling?
There is surely no worse allergy IN THE WORLD. Well, now scientists believe they have identified the molecules responsible, and the hope is that these poor people may one day be freed from their intolerable condition.
We sense a Telethon coming on…
According to scientists, an incredible eight percent of people are allergic to wine. Imagine that: 8 out of every 100 people you see during a day are unable to enjoy a glass of vino for fear of…well, actually it’s just stuffed-up noses and a bit of a headache. Which we all experience after drinking wine, right? But for these poor folk, the symptoms are instantaneous, not a delayed reaction to toxins.
Hell. On. Earth.
But hope is at hand, sad allergy folk, because scientists have just announced they know what’s causing your nasal distress.
It’s not sulfites – chemical compounds added by winemakers to improve storage, and known to be responsible for just one of the eight percent of allergy sufferers’ misery.
Scientist Giuseppe Palmisano and colleagues have analyzed Italian chardonnay, and identified 28 glycoproteins (those are proteins with carbohydrates chemically attached to them) which they claim are partly or wholly responsible. Some of the glycoproteins have chemical structures similar to known allergens, including those in latex and ragweed.
What this research does is allow the development of wines lacking these allergenic glycoproteins, which could thus be safely be consumed by those poor, sick individuals who cannot currently enjoy Nature’s best gift.
And what greater mission can science have than that?