Is there a spice/herb that is more likely to cause allergic reactions?

[tourist.]

I'm sure my question is really too general, but I just wanted to see if anyone had suggestions.  My son has confirmed allergies to egg and salmon.  He has had oral reactions to things that are seasoned, so the ingredients say "spices" and we know (believe) he is not allergic to the other ingredients that are listed fully. 

Here's a list of things he's reacted to:

Hummus - But only certain kinds, so believe that he does not have a chickpea, garlic, lemon, tahini allergy.

Sun Chips Original - We only tried the one kind and it was a really really bad reaction.  I verified with Sun Chips that they do not contain egg.  Their ingredient list is minimal so this one really has me stumped although they also list "spices" or "natural flavors" on their packaging.

Garlic Cheese Bread - He had a piece of bread the other day that made his skin react, it had visible seasoning on the cheese although I don't know what kind.

Sour Cream and (Something) Goldfish - He eats all tyeps of goldfish, but the seasoned ones make his skin red.

Ranch Flavored Blue Diamond Nut Crackers - He's fine with the plain ones.

Churches Chicken BBQ Sauce - Confirmed no egg, other ingredients are ok as far as we can tell besides "spices."

Whatever this is, it's driving me nuts!  I guess it's easy enough to avoid the stuff.  As long as we do homemade and lots of whole foods, we are totally fine and no reactions at all.  I just wish I knew what it was. 

TIA!

[kjbrown92]

If you really want to find out, I'd call each of the companies and ask what the spices are because your son is having an allergic reaction and you want to know what the common ingredient is. Then see if there's something common to all of them. From what you've said, it does sound like a spice, since it doesn't sound like it's from the basic ingredients. But I don't know if there's one that's more allergenic than another.... though I'd guess nightshades (which are the peppers, paprika, etc.) but that's purely opinion. No facts to back it up.

[kjbrown92]

Though is there a chance that the company makes something with egg on the same line as any of the things you are feeding him? Though the hummus sounds doubtful that any of them would have egg in them.

[tourist.]

Thank you both for your ideas.  I have contacted a few of the companies and have been assured that there is no egg nor egg contamination possible.  I've also done ingredient comparisons but haven't been able to find anything.  Again, most of these products have spices not listed individually so I'm kind of stuck.  

[riomidwife]

Peppers seem to be a common one.....and cinnamon, although that doesn't seem like it would be in any of those things. I know the nut crackers have butter in them....Could it be an oil? My son is sensitive to sunflower and safflower oil and those are in almost every processed/packaged food.

[kjbrown92]

Call the companies and ask for the specific listing of spices. You can usually get phone numbers off the internet. Or off the boxes/containers if you still have them. I've called/emailed a lot of companies over the years.

[tourist.]

Originally Posted by kjbrown92 

Call the companies and ask for the specific listing of spices. You can usually get phone numbers off the internet. Or off the boxes/containers if you still have them. I've called/emailed a lot of companies over the years.

Perhaps I'm wrong, but I thought they wouldn't give out that information because it's considered a "trade secret" which is why they're allowed to put "spices" on the label in the first place.  If they'd share the info I'd gladly seek it out....

riomidwife - Perhaps it's an oil, most of these things list oils as ingredients.  

I think we're going to do a blood test next, just to get some direction.  I've been putting it off for months because I did't want to subject my son to a blood draw when the results aren't conclusive, but I'm feeling even more confused as time goes on so I think I'm going to go for it.  

Thanks everyone for the suggestions and ideas.

[deditus]

Soy? My dd would most likely react to most of those also due to soy.

[ASusan]

I would do the blood draw (RAST test). It's very quick, and it might give you some more information. However, they typically test for only 6-8 foods, so you might want to have a list of specific foods you'd like to test.

[joybird]

You can muscle test/pendulum test each spice individually.  My dd would always react to 'spices' or 'natural flavors' too and she isn't allergic to any spices - I doubt that the word 'spices' means that they are pure either.  Soy is a pretty good guess but who knows.  Heck, I'd probably react to most of those foods listed and I don't even have allergies.  ;)

[tourist.]

joybird - haha I agree.  Fortunately, that small list it's not a good representation of the types of foods that my son usually eats.  Those are some random things that he's eaten over the past 8 or more months that have given him issues, and the fact that I don't know what is causing the reaction is just very concerning.  Last night I gave him a tiny bit of Italian salad dressing in hopes that it would tempt him to dip and eat his carrots...While he did have some carrots and didn't really eat the dressing, he ended up with a bright pink spot about the size of a nickle on his forehead from where he got some dressing on it.  Ugh!  I knew it was risky giving it to him, but this is where my frustration comes in...He's not allergic to *everything* but there's something we need to avoid, if I knew what it was I wouldn't have to avoid every single kind of packaged food.

I'm going to look into soy for sure, but I've made some homemade teriyaki chicken with tons of soy sauce in it that he's not reacted to at all.  This is all so confusing.

The orders we have for bloodwork includes many types of foods, probably 30+, and the allergist wrote additional codes on the form to test for other things that weren't already included on the form. 

Cooking or baking from scratch doesn't seem to cause him any problems at all (naturally I avoid egg & salmon), so at least I know he can eat and not worry so much about how/if he's going to react. 

Thank you all again.  I really appreciate the conversation.

[DevaMajka]

I'm wondering if there could be MSG or other chemical additives in them. IIrc, there are some crazy things that can be considered "natural flavors." Do you know if other chemical additives cause problems for him? MSG?

 

Originally Posted by joybird 

My dd would always react to 'spices' or 'natural flavors' too and she isn't allergic to any spices  

 That is very interesting. There's been a few times that I've wondered if the "natural flavors" or "spices" could be related to ds2's reactions, but I wasn't sure how likely it was. Maybe it *is* quite likely.

[sublimeliving]

It might be one of the big 8 allergens-  milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, seafood, shellfish, soy and wheat.

 

For what you described, it may be the wheat. 

[joybird]

I don't know about msg but I do know that natural flavors are not natural, they can be chemicals.  I guess they figure that chemicals occur naturally on the earth so they must be natural...lovely logic there.

Sometimes I feel like these kids are visions into the future.  So many of their little bodies are completely rejecting modern processed foods and can only be fed real, whole foods from nature.  It's pretty fascinating, even though it can be a pain in the arse sometimes.  I am grateful that my kids now eat only a whole food diet.  It will serve them well in the future.  We've found a very few processed foods that are okay, canned Eden beans and canned coconut milk (No BPA in either of those). That's about it though.  

About the salad dressing, when dd was a baby she reacted to anything acidic or spicy with spots on the face where it had touched.  It went away as she got older but I don't think it was a real allergy.  And I wouldn't get my hopes up too high about the RAST test.  It might be helpful, but it might not.  My extremely sensitive dd had no positives on the (very thorough) RAST we did but she was reacting to all kinds of stuff.  Most allergists don't know anything about sensitivities or gut health in general.  To them, eczema is a diagnosis.  To most holistic practitioners, it is a symptom of an underlying imbalance.  To go further, many see allergies/intolerances themselves as a symptom of an underlying condition that the body is trying to cope with.

[babycarrier]

I could have written your post - ds reacts to Tribe Hummus but not Cedar's, does fine with vanilla goldfish but can't do chedder (though I think parmesan are ok). My son has a nightshade allergy that seems most triggered by paprika.

I've had a dermatologist tell me that Eucerin and Dove soap would "clear things up." He had a perpetual red rash around his mouth that pops up within moments of eating food and then looks dried out and white and flaky the next day?

As far as the "spices" Cedar's told me that FDA states there are up to 16 spices that can be included in the term and do not need to be individually listed. I didn't think they would tell me what was in it, but I have received info I request through phone calls and emails to companies after stating my son has an allergy and I would like to verify that your product is safe.

[tourist.]

farmlife - Well, that's good to know that some companies will provide you the info if requested.  I'll have to give that a try with the hummus.  Interesting that you DS has similar reactions as mine does.  It's quite the journey trying to figure this out, isn't it.  

 

joybird - I agree, hence the reason I've delayed the RAST test for so long (maybe 6 months)...I know it only *might* point me in the right direction and I'm not too excited to take him for a blood draw for what may likely end up being for no reason. It's a tough choice, but I think at this point it's better than knowing nothing at all. And I absolutely agree, whole foods are the way to go!  With my & DH's work schedules though, some days it's just easier to do it the quick and processed way.  Sometimes it works awesome, other times it's a huge failure.  

 

Sublimeliving - He eats wheat pretty often.  Just today he had some whole wheat flat bread for lunch with his homemade hummus, no reaction at all.  Of the big ones, I'm leaning toward soy, although I'm not too sure about corn as he probably has the most contact with that in processed/packaged foods, but we do eat whole corn on occasion. 

 

DevaMajka - I avoid all MSG, fortunately it's usually listed on the ingredient list, but right - who knows what's hidden in there.  I'm not aware of any other sensitivity to chemicals, although these reactions he's having could easily be caused by more than one thing.  

[jocelyndale]

What about the umbelliferous family?  It's huge and involves tons of culinary herbs and spices.  Some people react to one or a few. Some people react to the whole family.  I react to carrot.  I'm fine with celery, parsley, cumin, chervil, anise, lovage, etc.  Maybe it's something random like lovage seed being used as a cheap celery seed substitute.  Or it might be another thing entirely.  Latex gloves being worn on the lines?  As I said, it can be hard to pinpoint something like this.

[sublimeliving]

My dd had a reaction to Kraft twists tonight. Annatto is the only thing in it that I wonder about. Here is the link-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annatto#As_an_allergen

[mbbinsc]

My DD had a reaction to  annatto.  She threw up all night long after eating a vegan mac and "cheese" that was colored with annatto.  Once I removed all sources, like in her vitamins, all of her eczema went away.  I found a sample at a spice store and had the allergist do a skin prick.  I am sure he did it just to humor me.  He pricked himself as a control and DD.  He had no reaction while she had a nice size wheel.  He said that it was not something that there were standards on but based on her reaction, we should continue to avoid.

[violinear1]

I just figured out that annatto was the cause of crazy hives, vomitting, diarrhea for my DS. I have spent an insane amount of time playing detective for the past 10 months, but thinking it was a host of other things and eliminated them from his diet for no reason. First time (my ingenious stepmother, who is a nurse for crying out loud) let him lick her orange colored popsicle as his introduction to food other than breastmilk, second time it was from him grabbing my delightfully nutritious Velveeta Shells and Cheese and smearing it on his face, and the third time was from feeding him Wheat Thins Flatbread crackers (with annatto).

I am speaking with an allergist tomorrow to get their opinion, but it has to be annatto.

Apparently it colors tons of commercially produced things. Cheese, butter, crackers, juice even!