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From:
Betsey Carus <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Tue, 19 Sep 2000 21:08:31 -0400
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<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

In my previous post I commented that I was avoiding garfava flour (which
is a mixture of garbanzo bean and fava bean flour) because of favism. I
got questions asking what is favism.

I am basically concerned because I usually only have gf bread/cake, etc
in my house so that is all I would offer guests plus I am periodically
asked to provide bread/cake for others in my community that need a wheat
free/gluten free product (I also keep kosher which limits what is
commercially available in the local stores). I may not know ahead who is
eating the food so want to learn to make items that can be eaten by
everyone without having to worry about potential favism, because there
are people in my community that do have favism. If I can get an
acceptable product without increasing a risk to even one person then I
don't feel justified to use garfava flour.

Another reason is people don't expect to find fava flour in bread/baked
goods and so someone with favism would not expect to ask if it is in my
baked goods. This just reenforced my personal belief that using fava
flour is not acceptable in my kitchen.

Favism is an inherited disorder which is a deficiency of Glucose-6-
phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD).  Individuals with this deficiency are
usually asymptomatic,  however exposure to various drugs, moth balls and
various forms of broad/fava beans including the pollen can trigger a
reaction. This chemical can be transmitted through breast milk. The
reaction is Haemolytic anaemia, which is a type of anaemia where the red
blood cells breakdown.  In extreme cases the individual may require a
blood transfusion and it can cause death (this is usually only occurs in
children.) Another reason I don't want to use garfava flour is that
people don't expect to find bread/baked goods made from fava

This disorder is estimated to affect 200 million worldwide and is found
mainly in Southern Europe (currently Sardinia has about 7.5% of the
population with G6PD, however in the past as much as 35% of the
population has had this deficiency), Africa, China (5% of Hong Kong
males have this), Kurdish Jewish (50%), Southeast Asia, and Oceania.
However  it could be found in virtually any population. It is estimated
that less than 1 out of 1000 of the white population in Northern Europe
have this disorder.

Of interest is that apparently they are finding that a trigger (possibly
an infection) is also necessary at the time of exposure to the food/drug
to have a reaction. So a person with G6PD can eat fava beans every day
and have no reaction and then one day have the reaction. There are tests
available to determine if you have G6PD.

If you want to know more use a search engine, enter G6PD or favism and
you will get alot of sites. Many articles from medical journals have
been put on the web.

Betsey Carus
Baltimore, MD USA

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