STORING UP TROUBLE

The way you store your food can have surprising effects on health. This week: Keep flour in the fridge.

A WOMAN who had an allergic reaction to pancakes made from flour contaminated by mites because she’d kept it in a cupboard for four years was the subject of a recent BMJ article.

Symptoms of oral mite anaphylaxis include breathlessness, face or throat swelling, wheezing and skin wheals. The older the flour, the greater the risk.

It’s called ‘pancake syndrome’, says World Allergy Organisation president Dr Mario Sanchez Borges. ‘Wheat and cornflour foods are common inducers, but especially pancakes as only a small amount of flour is used and the rest is put back.’

He advises keeping flour in a sealed container in the fridge rather than in warm cupboards, which increase the risk.