Talking Allergies

I am not sure if this is the right spot for this topic, so feel free to move it if not!

My daughter is 2 and was diagnosed with her peanut allergy at 9 months. She has since had 2 reactions to something we had guessed to be Cottonseed Oil. Our allergist had not seen that as an allergy but is trying to look into the foods she ate, and see if he can test her for it. She reacted to Clubhouse Fajita Seasoning and to PC brand Mexican Rice that I put in home-made burritos. Both times her reaction was red around her mouth, hot to the touch, small bumps and a bit of swelling. I have since perfected making fajitas and burritos from scratch with no seasonings! Both seasonings contained cottonseed oil, so that was our guess.

On Sunday I gave her hummus and pita for a snack. The label did not set off any alarms. The brand is Sabra-Roasted Red Pepper Hummus. I know she has had the Garlic Hummus from the same company. Needless to say I was shocked when I turned around and saw red around her mouth and it was hot to the touch. Grrrrrrr!!!!

I have called the company who say their facility is peanut free, tree nut free and does not use any tropical oils. I have also left a message with the allergist to see if they have any thoughts. So frustrating to think you have read the label and nothing raises any red flags then she has a reaction.

I don't even think I have a question...just wondering if anyone has had a similar experience?!

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3yr old Allergic to Peanuts.

I was going to say it's not unheard of to be allergic to chick peas (I am), especially when you're allergic to peanuts. But since she has had the other flavour with no issues, it must be something else. I went on Salba's website and checked their FAQ section. It says that there's tahini in there too, which is made from sesame seeds. Could that be an issue? Only thing is, I don't know if that's in all of the flavours or not. Just a thought....

Here's the link: http://www.sabra.com/about-sabra/faq.html

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Associate Editor at Allergic Living.
Allergies to all nuts and legumes except soy and green beans.

I'm sorry to hear about your daughter's reaction. Because sesame seed is in Canada's top 10 allergens, you might need to consider this as a possiblity. It's very difficult to try and determine the allergen of concern when there seems to be something new going on. Take care and please let us know what you determine is the problem.

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14 yr old daughter: no health issues
11 yr old son: allergic to peanuts, tree nuts, eggs, fish, sesame, sunflower, mustard, poppy seeds, green peas, some fruits, instructed to avoid all other legumes (except soy & green beans), pollen, cats, horses

I noticed that the Sabra website lists "Hummus with Roasted Pine Nuts" as a flavour. Pine nuts are a tree nut. Could it be that the hummus your daughter had contained traces of this?

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Moderator
Daughter: asthma, allergies to egg, milk, peanuts, tree nuts, most legumes (not soy) & penicillin. Developing hayfever type allergies.
Husband: no allergies
Me: allergies to some tree that flowers in May
Cat: allergic to beef, pork and lamb

my DD had a reaction to hummus as well a few months ago. We assumed sesame because of the tahini. Yesterday her allergist called and said her blood test came back negative to sesame... so now we are guessing maybe the chickpeas. We don't go back until October, but we'll test chickpeas then... she said that about 5% of peanut allergic kids are allergic to other legmes...

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DD: 11/19/08 allergy to eggs and peanuts

Thank you so much for the replies! I am late getting back to check on the forum!

She isn't allergic to tree nuts, and I cannot remember if they tested for sesame, I don't think they did...but yes you are right in that it may not be that since she can eat other hummus with no problem.

We are waiting to see the allergist, and I am anxious for them to test for the cottonseed -they finally obtained a tester- to see if that is actually an allergy.

Tonight she had another reaction...ARGH! I arrived home and her chin was red and hot with little bumps and a few bigger white bumps. The sitter said she only had food from here, and the last food was crackers from about an hour earlier. My sitter's mom was there as well, she had come to pick her up but said she hadn't consumed anything with peanuts that she could think of. Later she phoned to say she had used Moroccan Oil on a client right before she came, she is a hairdresser. So maybe that is it. Never a dull moment. Thankfully the reactine has done the trick, and although scary it hasn't gotten any worse, just a bit of a rash left on her chin. At least my sitter now knows what a reaction could look like

Thanks so much for the support, will let you know what I find out when I get to the allergist.

Kim

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3yr old Allergic to Peanuts.

Hang in there KimberlyEve.

Keep to foods for her with simple ingredients, good idea to lay off spices for her till you know. (Just because spices, multiple ingreds make foods too "complicated" to identify the culprit.)

Trust your gut, but try not to presume only that it's cottonseed, as it could also be something else. (Hate to say, but true.)

FYI, in case red pepper and/or cayenne is a consistent factor in that hummus/the burritos, there's an irritant in the pepper called capsaicin, which can cause redness, bumps.
That's not an allergy as such, so depends on the symptoms.

You might want to take a photo of her mouth for the doc - though I sure do hope it doesn't happen again.

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Allergic to soy, peanut, shellfish, penicillin

Just a quick update after our trip to the allergist. She is still definitely allergic to peanuts, no surprise there. The cottonseed test was negative, so we are happy about that, and happy they could test to be sure since she has had so many reactions to foods that have cottonseed in them. The Dr. thinks that because she is so fair, and has sensitive skin that the recent reactions have just been more of a skin sensitivity than an allergy. So, we will still have to watch what she eats...but if she does have a bit of a reaction we just give her a dose of reactine and watch her, knowing it is most likely just skin sensitivity.

She did the allergy tests like a trooper, I am not even sure she noticed! So it was a good day!

Kim

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3yr old Allergic to Peanuts.

Well that's good. Fingers crossed that that's all it is.

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Allergic to soy, peanut, shellfish, penicillin

Did the allergist test her to sesame? Crackers also frequently have sesame so I'd be thinking sesame.

Sorry haven't been on the forum in a while!
We haven't done a test for sesame, and I think she has had it other times, but I will watch for that.
For now we are avoiding the foods that she seems to have this sensitivity to, and just treating it with benadryl when it happens as it is pretty mild. So far that means no hummus of any brand -frustrating because she loves it!, and no Kraft Dinner. My husband had a craving the other day and made some and sure enough, it made her face a bit red and warm around the mouth. So much for his once a year craving! That won't be a hard one to avoid!

Thanks for all the tips!

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3yr old Allergic to Peanuts.

My son had a reaction to hummus and the allergist tested him; it was sesame.

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DS, toddler: allergic to wheat, eggs, nuts, peanuts, sesame.

aborden-Sorry to hear that. Sesame can be tricky as it is on the precautionary labelling for most breads.

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Moderator
Daughter: asthma, allergies to egg, milk, peanuts, tree nuts, most legumes (not soy) & penicillin. Developing hayfever type allergies.
Husband: no allergies
Me: allergies to some tree that flowers in May
Cat: allergic to beef, pork and lamb