All About Fish, Shellfish Allergies
It’s an experience that has puzzled thousands of seafood lovers across Canada and around the world: You’ve eaten fish and shellfish all of your life with no ill effects, and then one day, you’re eating some tasty tidbit from the sea – maybe some jumbo shrimp, some butter-drenched lobster, or some fresh-caught salmon – and suddenly, you don’t feel so good.
Maybe you feel like you’re going to be sick to your stomach, or feel your throat tightening and your lungs beginning to wheeze. You may feel flushed and hot as your face turns beet red. Maybe you break into hives from head to toe, or feel like you’re going to pass out as your heart takes off like a bullet train.
Chances are that you are having an allergic reaction to seafood – the most common culprits in the allergy world.
What’s The Problem?
Seafood can be divided into two groups: shellfish and fish. Shrimp is behind most of the reactions, and shellfish as a group – which can include oysters, mussels, scallops, squid, crab, snails and many more – tends to be more problematic than finned fish. (In one survey by FAAN and Mount Sinai researchers, two per cent of respondents reported a shellfish allergy, whereas just 0.4 per cent reported an allergy to fish.)
Symptoms of a reaction to seafood can include flushing and swelling in the face, mouth and throat; digestive tract symptoms such as nausea and diarrhea; itching and hives; difficulty breathing; lightheadedness or faintness; a sudden drop in blood pressure and a rapid heartbeat.
In severe cases, a person may experience anaphylactic shock, a reaction that includes one or more of the body’s systems and can result in cardiac arrest and death.
Widespread Incidence
A whopping 2.3 per cent of Americans are allergic to some form of seafood, whether it’s fish, crustaceans or mollusks. In Canada, 1.69 per cent of people are allergic to shellfish and 0.48 per cent are allergic to fish. What’s more, a 15-nation study showed the incidence is similarly high right around the world.
See: Seafood Allergy Statistics
Because of its high incidence, Health Canada has named both shellfish and fish “priority food allergens”, which means tougher labeling rules for Canadian manufacturers. Other regions, including the United States and Europe, have also included seafood on their lists of top allergens.
See: Label Aware
It’s a Grown-Up Thing
What’s different about seafood allergies is that they are largely an adult phenomenon. In Canada, 1.69 per cent of adults have shellfish allergy, compared to just 0.5 per cent of children. According to the FAAN-Mount Sinai survey, 2.8 per cent of adults in the United States reported a seafood allergy, as compared with just 0.6 percent of children.
This can be especially problematic, since most adults are accustomed to eating seafood, so when they react, it doesn’t seem to make sense to them. Often they dismiss earlier, less severe reactions as food poisoning or simply “something they ate”; but then they get a tough lesson in science as the allergy grows more severe and the reactions more extreme.
Unfortunately, once an adult develops a shellfish allergy, he or she likely has that allergy for life.
Next page: Seafood Allergy Myths
BlueHawaii
I’m one of those adults who developed it in my 40′s. I was getting mild reactions way prior to my final episode. But it was so sporadic, that I just thought I ate something bad or I just over-ate. My body was telling me something but I wasn’t listening. Since I only ate seafood outside of my home, my reactions were inconsistent. One time I was okay, the next time not and I frequented the same restaurants. So since there was so much inconsistencies I never figured it out. My anaphylatic reaction came one night when I had a fabulous crab dinner at an upscale restaurant. An hour later I had this weird sensation of my hands and feet burning, then itching intensely but it was itchy inside of them, not outside like an insect bite. I didn’t know it but at that time my body was reacting as the allergen was coursing through the various body parts. Then my face felt hot but no hives, then I started coughing, my first asthma attack as I labored to draw air into my lungs. I then had a hard time breathing and then my voice dropped to a whisper. My date looked on in alarm (first date too). We finally found a water cooler and drinking the water helped. After another hour I was finally okay. A week later at a routine doc exam I brought it up to my doc who diagnosed me and told me I could’ve died that night. *sigh* That was the end of my life long affair with shrimp and crab. What makes it hard is that Hawaii, due to the big Asian population, has a LOT of Asian restaurants. I had to ban myself from Chinese food because they add oyster sauce to nearly everything. Japanese food sauces also have oyster or scallop added. Until Panda Express came along I have not eaten Chinese food for over 10 years. Panda Express does not use any oyster sauce to their food, thank God. My strong craving for shrimp took years to go away.
Sometimes I would imagine eating shrimp once again. Now I no longer do. But eating any type of Asian food is like “danger danger Will Robinson”. I found out that Vietnamese and Thai food is mostly free of seafood flavorings. Of course it’s not Chinese or Japanese but at least it’s just as good. I did accidently eat shrimp once in a Chinese dim sum that I didn’t know used shrimp (thought it was pork), but I didn’t react. Also ate a clam accidently in a chowder and again I didn’t react. I suspect my stress levels may be related to a reaction, but no way will I test that theory.
I did see an allergist and found out that I’m also allergic to dust mites and roaches, like the article says. Here in Hawaii, due to our warm weather, we are besieged with roaches always. Later on I reacted to pistachos so no longer eat that along with cashews. But I’m fine with all the other tree nuts and peanuts. With all the Asian fusion type foods and chefs adding different ingredients when I eat out, it’s like 20 questions I play with the waitress. Even a simple fried rice is made with oyster sauce these days – a hugely popular breakfast here. It’s incredibly frustrating to live here with so much seafood meals and not be able to eat it. I am also embarrassed, I went once to PF Chang’s with the company staff and I had to have a special dish made for me without oyster sauce; the rest of the team ate stuff off their menu a variety of dishes. Me, I only had one. I tried to make it at home, but Chinese food has to be made in those huge woks at a high heat, not something made at home it just doesn’t come close. Or having to eat shrimp-free tempura. *sigh* It plain sucks.