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In the US alone 1.9 million people are allergic to peanuts, but now a scientist has used pulses of UV light to eradicate 80 per cent of allergens from the snack.

By doing this human antibodies are unable recognise certain compounds as allergens and therefore don't trigger a reaction in the body.

The technique could potentially be used to rid up to 99 per cent of peanut allergens in future, without ruining their texture or flavour, Dr Wade Yang claims.

A University of Florida scientist has used pulses of UV light to remove 80 per cent of allergens from peanuts (stock image shown). Dr Yang says it could one day be used to remove 99 per cent of allergens. In the research he used concentrated bursts of light to modify the peanut allergenic proteins

In the University of Florida study he used a pulsating light system involving two lamps filled with xenon, two cooling blowers, one treatment chamber with a conveyor belt and a control module.

He then directed concentrated bursts of light to modify the peanut allergenic proteins.

Dr Yang, left, used pulsed light to remove 80 percent of the allergens from a whole peanut

By doing this human antibodies can't recognise them as allergens and therefore don't begin to release histamines.

Histamines are what are responsible for creating allergy symptons like itching, rashes and wheezing.

The pulsed ultraviolet light technology was applied to whole peanuts - and Dr Yang suggests this method could be used on peanuts before they are then packaged.

'The latest study moves one step closer to the actual production,' he said.

He added: 'This process proves that pulsed light can inactivate the peanut allergenic proteins and indicates that pulsed light has a great potential in peanut allergen mitigation.'

His ultimate goal is to eliminate 99.9 per cent of peanut allergens - so far he has achieved the figure of 80 per cent.

He says if he can cut allergens from 150 milligrams of protein per peanut, their current level, to below 1.5 milligrams then 95 per cent of those with peanut allergens would be safe.

Eliminating peanut allergens without ruining the peanut's texture, colour flavour and nutrition is difficult, but this method apparently retains all of those while getting rid of allergens.

Dr Yang's study was published online in the journal Food and Bioprocess Technology.