Common additive may be why you have food allergies 
Michigan State University Health News, 07/22/2016

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A Michigan State University researcher has found that a common food additive may be linked to a rise in food allergies. Cheryl Rockwell, an assistant professor of pharmacology and toxicology in the College of Human Medicine, began studying the possible link between the synthetic food additive tert–butylhydroquinone, or tBHQ, nine years ago.Now she has received an award from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences to continue her work. The Outstanding New Environmental Scientist, or ONES, award comes with a $1.5 million, five–year grant to support her research. Rockwell has dreamed of winning the award since she was a postgraduate student. She recently was notified that she was among only five researchers this year to be selected. Approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 1972, tBHQ is a preservative in many foods, such as cooking oil, nuts, crackers, waffles and breads. Often tBHQ is not listed on the label, Rockwell said. Her research has shown that tBHQ causes T cells to release a set of proteins that can trigger allergies to such foods as nuts, milk, eggs, wheat and shell fish.