DS's skin turns red on contact with hummus...

[Fujiko]

Around his mouth, when I was feeding it to him. It's Athenos brand hummus, "original" flavor. He didn't seem to have any other reaction. Should I just bring this up to our doc at his 9m WBV next month and not feed him anymore? Or does this warrant an extra trip to the doc? FWIW, he's never reacted to anything else.

Thanks in advance.

[2xy]

Some hummus is made with tahini and some without. I would suspect tahini as a culprit in an allergic reaction to hummus.

[Fujiko]

Yes, this has sesame seeds in it.

Would it be safe to put a dab of tahini on his cheek to see if it turns red?

He's had small quantities of whole sesame seeds before (it's an ingredient in my homemade fried rice), but I never noticed a reaction.

[sbgrace]

Sesame is a pretty common allergen and one of the most serious (life threatening) and among the most difficult to avoid in terms of cross contamination of tons of foods.

Sesame is difficult to test for unfortunately (high rate of false negatives) and I'm not sure what to advise you if you think he's eaten sesame multiple times with no reaction. I wonder if the mouth is just an irritation from a spice. Yet it's an allergen you so want to avoid if you can. I'm just not sure what to suggest.

If you think he's reacting to sesame you want an epi pen. I would not rely on testing especially at his age.

[2xy]

Is there anything else in the hummus that he usually doesn't have? Garlic? Lemon juice? My son's cheeks used to turn red when he'd eat tomatoes. Now they don't bother him.

[Fujiko]

Oh, that's scary, Rachelle! Is sesame the type of allergy that you could have a reaction when it's in the same room, like peanuts? Would it be potentially dangerous to have significant quantities of sesame around him? I'm totally bringing this up to our doc next month.

2xy, it has lemon juice in it, but otherwise "plain". It is commercially prepared, so it has things like preservatives in it. :/ I don't think I've ever given him citrus before, so it could be that, too...

[loraxc]

My DD, who doesn't have food allergies, got a contact rash from this same brand of hummus as a baby. I think we decided it was from a weird preservative or citric acid. I haven't seen her get a rash from food since.

[Fujiko]

Originally Posted by loraxc

My DD, who doesn't have food allergies, got a contact rash from this same brand of hummus as a baby. I think we decided it was from a weird preservative or citric acid. I haven't seen her get a rash from food since.

That makes me very hopeful!

I rubbed some lemon juice on his forehead earlier this morning, to see if the lemon did it. It didn't turn red or anything, but maybe it needs to be suspended in a substrate? Because it just dried up right away. Maybe I should put some lemon juice in mashed-up carrots and put that on him for a few minutes.

We're also going to try a dab sesame oil later.

[tanyalynn]

Originally Posted by loraxc

My DD, who doesn't have food allergies, got a contact rash from this same brand of hummus as a baby. I think we decided it was from a weird preservative or citric acid. I haven't seen her get a rash from food since.

My son, and maybe my DD too (she's 6 now, it's been a while) got a red contact rash around the mouth from store bought hummus and they aren't allergic to any of the ingredients as far as I can tell. They have other food intolerances but nothing in hummus. I've read about it quite a few times now, I don't understand what's going on, but it may just be the Hummus Effect.

[Fujiko]

I'm starting to wonder if that's it. I put a couple of dabs of sesame oil on his face maybe 45 minutes ago and nothing. I guess he could be allergic to the chickpeas themselves, but really? Chickpeas?

I guess the next step would be to buy some different (all-natural) hummus with similar main ingredients and see if that does anything.

[ckberkey]

I first read the title "... on contact with humans". I am glad I read that wrong! It might be the tahini, but I would just lay off the hummus all together for now. 8 months seems really young to be eating hummus.