GREENSBORO, N.C. -- An agricultural researcher at North Carolina A&T State University has developed what he said is a simple process to make allergen-free peanuts.

The inventor, Dr. Mohamed Ahmedna, is optimizing the process further to remove allergens from other foods.

"We are extremely pleased that we were able to find such a simple solution to a vexing problem that has enormous economic and public health ramifications, both for peanut-sensitive individuals, and the food industry as a whole," Ahmedna said.

Ahmedna is an associate professor of food science in N.C. A&T's School of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences.

The new process -- a first for food science -- could provide relief to millions of peanut allergy sufferers, and be an enormous boon to the entire peanut industry, according to school officials.

Doug Speight, of the N.C. A&T Office of Outreach and Technology Transfer, said food companies are showing a strong interest in licensing the process, which does not degrade the taste or quality of treated peanuts, and might even render them easier to process for use as a food ingredient.

The processed peanuts showed no reaction in tests on human serums from severely allergic individuals.

Researchers said a patent on the allergy-free peanut is pending.

Peanut and tree nut allergies are the most severe of all food allergies, affecting approximately 3 million Americans, and causing 100-150 deaths from anaphylactic shock annually and many more hospitalizations.

One study showed that between 1997 and 2002, peanut allergies in children doubled in the United States. Today, an estimated 1 percent of all children suffer from the allergy.

Ahmedna's work on peanuts has been funded through a United States Agency for International Development grant.