Food Allergies

[sixtyone]

Some time ago I had lunch - a type of shrimp sandwich - at a popular small Northern VA chain restaurant. I had eaten the same sandwich on other visits but on this occasion as I drove back to work my lips begain to swell and I broke out in hives. To me it had to have been an allergic reaction to the sandwich. I took some bendryl and drove by the restaurant after work to explain the situation to the manager and find out the recipe to try and define what caused this reaction. The manager blew me off and dismissed my concern. I have not returned to the restaurant since. My daughter went online and filed a complaint on my behalf whereupon a company rep responded offering a coupon. Was I wrong to ask for the ingredients? I understand where a chef could want to keep a recipe secret but I didn't want the exact recipe but just a list of ingredients. At this point I assume it was probably something exclusive to that particular batch of shrimp but I'd love to know if there was some unusual ingredient that I should be avoiding. I'd appreciate some advice if I ever have a similar experience.

Culinista

[goodeats]

Assuming this is a franchise or chain restaurant, since you wrote company rep, could you have gotten the list of ingredients from the company rep?

Allergies are definitely not something to be taken lightly. Past topics here have shown that restaurants are noticing it's not something to be taken lightly either.

You might also want to get an allergy test done, in prevention of a more severe reaction the next time you encounter the same ingredient.

[xdcx]

Some time ago I had lunch - a type of shrimp sandwich - at a popular small Northern VA chain restaurant. I had eaten the same sandwich on other visits but on this occasion as I drove back to work my lips begain to swell and I broke out in hives. To me it had to have been an allergic reaction to the sandwich. I took some bendryl and drove by the restaurant after work to explain the situation to the manager and find out the recipe to try and define what caused this reaction. The manager blew me off and dismissed my concern. I have not returned to the restaurant since. My daughter went online and filed a complaint on my behalf whereupon a company rep responded offering a coupon. Was I wrong to ask for the ingredients? I understand where a chef could want to keep a recipe secret but I didn't want the exact recipe but just a list of ingredients. At this point I assume it was probably something exclusive to that particular batch of shrimp but I'd love to know if there was some unusual ingredient that I should be avoiding. I'd appreciate some advice if I ever have a similar experience.

Culinista

knowing the ingredients won't really help you that much. You'll still need to go to an allergist and get tested to find out exactly and how far reaching the allergy is. It's also possible that while you may not have been allergic to shrimp previously that you've now developed one.

[deangold]

Shrimp allergies can be fatal. I worked with a guy who ate shrimp all hi life. One day he went to a buffet Sunday brunch, ate some shrimp and died later that afternoon from anaphylactic shock.

[ScotteeM]

I have to agree with the previous posters who recommended a consultation with your doctor or an allergist to get to the bottom of your reaction.

It might or might not help to know the ingredients in the shrimp sandwich. It is possible that you now have a sensitivity to something that hadn't bothered you previously. It is possible that the restaurant chain has changed the recipe, or changed suppliers for some or all of the ingredients, or that a supplier has changed the manner in which an ingredient is produced or preserved. It might not have been the shrimp at all. It might even have been an ingredient that has nothing to do with your shrimp sandwich specifically, but was present due to cross-contamination from an entirely other menu item.

Being gluten-intolerant myself, I'm learning all the myriad ways in which wheat gluten can find its way into products I consume even when I do my best to avoid it. Fortunately I don't have a life-threatening reaction to it.

Considering the reaction you did have, Culinista, I hope that you and your doctor can get to the bottom of it and establish what it is you need to avoid.

[squidsdc]

Agree with all of the above. And once you do identify an ingredient, note that your reaction may not be the same each time you are exposed to it. The lip swelling is actually indicative of a pretty severe response.

Additionally, one can find ingredients in the oddest of places...so even if you knew the ingredients, not knowing how they are prepared beforehand can throw you for a loop. For instance, many varieties of canned tuna are cooked in a soy broth. I'm not allergic to tuna, but am allergic to soy. It took me quite some sleuthing to find that one out. Good luck to you.

[ktmoomau]

I agree to be very careful about the shrimp. My Aunt grew up eating lobster and seafood all the time. One night at a nice dinner out on vacation she ate lobster and had to be rushed to the hospital. It came upon her very quickly. And now she cannot eat most seafood. Good luck with everything. I am hoping for the best for you.

[Hannah]

This actually sounds pretty similar to the progression a friend of ours had; for years he wasn't really allergic to anything, then a couple of years ago started reacting to fish and shellfish with progressively stronger reactions (first itching, then hives, then lip swelling, tightness in the throat, etc.) The real kicker was a couple of months ago, when he was cooking lamb one afternoon, chomped on one of the pine nuts he was planning to use for the crust and had a full, classic anaphylactic reaction - fortunately he was able to call 911 while he could still talk, and they got him to the hospital before any lasting damage was done.

Basically, the upshot of all this is (like everyone else has said in full or in part): a, take this very seriously; b, don't assume that because you weren't allergic to it the last time you ate it that you haven't developed a new allergy to it, particularly if you've started reacting strongly to something else in the meantime; and c, get in touch with your allergist.

[1000yregg]

If there is a concern about a shrimp allergy- you should check with an allergist to get tested. You do not want to have a second "reaction" because that could be anaphylaxis and can be fatal.

There is a phenomenon called scombroid poisoning that comes from spoiled darker fish like tuna mostly where, as the fish becomes a little more rotten, there is a release of histamine chemicals that can cause similar symptoms to an allergic reaction- itch, swelling, etc.

[porcupine]

<snip>I took some bendryl and drove by the restaurant after work to explain the situation to the manager and find out the recipe to try and define what caused this reaction. The manager blew me off and dismissed my concern. I have not returned to the restaurant since. My daughter went online and filed a complaint on my behalf whereupon a company rep responded offering a coupon. Was I wrong to ask for the ingredients? I understand where a chef could want to keep a recipe secret but I didn't want the exact recipe but just a list of ingredients.

Culinista

I went through the same thing, except when I tried to get a list of ingredients, I was referred to the company lawyer. Fucking bastards. I ate the suspect ingredient the next day with a glass of water and a benadryl handy, and sure enough, I had a bad reaction. Try explaining to waitstaff that you're allergic to green beans, or apples as another member here is, or eggplant, or dill (as other friends of mine are)... No respect. grrr...

I don't recommend this method, though. I got the answer but it was a stupid thing to do.

[Merry Mary]

Two thoughts.

I had to ask for ingredients once after an allergic reaction and they hedged for awhile because they thought I was saying that I had gotten sick - I had to really spell out that it was an allergic reaction, not a stomach issue, and then I got the list of ingredients. How many spices do you think there are in 7 different dishes at an Indian restaurant?

Shrimp - A former coworker was told that when shrimp are caught, they are rinsed with some kind of solution. You could be allergic to that, and who knows how many different preservative or cleansing solutions are in use.

[Ilaine]

I get what I call various weirdnesses from things I eat and have little clue why.

So far no anaphylactic shock, just swollen palate and lumpy things going on in the collagen in my buccal region. A week or so ago, I ate some cubes of baked butternut squash coated in butter, and my palate and buccal region swelled up, so I did not finish this dish. Was it the butter or the squash? I don't know.

Why am I so relatively cavalier about this? Well, I might or might not have rheumatoid arthritis, which might or might not be in remission. The things I eat might or might not make it worse. I really have almost no clue.

I think I might be better off if I avoid wheat and dairy, but nothing about this is hard and fast, except that drinking or eating milk or cream makes me feel like someone has poisoned me, so that is one thing I do not do. Cheese or yogurt, not so much. Even a little bit of ice cream once in a while is ok.

My joints swell and recede based on what I eat, and that's pretty obvious. Hand or wrist joint the size of a walnut is a Bad Thing, the size of an almond, not so bad. If I avoid dairy and wheat, I seem to be OK, but this seems to be relative.

I try to stick to non-allergenic foods like chicken and rice, but slipping up doesn't usually lead to dire consequences unless I overdo it.

A better person might say, well, wheat makes my joints swell more often than not, or milk makes my stomach hurt more often than not, so no more wheat, no more milk.

But unless you've tried to live a life in our culture without wheat or milk you have no clue how hard it is. It just is. Our food structure rests on wheat and milk. That's just the way it is.

[ol_ironstomach]

The latest from the medical community:

This week, the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, the official publication of the American Academy of Allergy Asthma & Immunology, published the first-ever US guidelines for the diagnosis and management of food allergies. These guidelines, developed over a two-year period under the auspices of NIH's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, are meant to represent best practices regarding food allergies, and include 43 clinical recommendations.

Read more, or download the guidelines from their informative website about food allergies.

[ktmoomau]

I had a weird food reaction tonight and I am seeking guidance as to whether it may be an allergy of some sort or just perhaps a reaction from oils in peppercorns?  MK ordered a dish from a chinese restaurant right down the block from us.  It was orange flavored beef- it had an oily, peppery sauce with cabbage, it says the beef is coated in water chestnut batter, it may have had sichuan peppers, but the dish didn't taste at all spicy to me, which was surprising because it looked like it might be spicy.  When I ate the dish at first I could taste some orange, but it had a strange taste to me then I got a really weird/bad sour/metallic taste in my mouth that was hard to get rid of and my tongue and mouth tingled not in a oooh this is spicy way but in a this is weird way.  I eat beef, oranges, cabbage and spring onions (all the parts I recognized) regularly with no incident and I eat a lot of spicy foods with no incident.  Any ideas on what it may be, or anyone ever have a similar food reaction like this?

[Deac]

Sichuan peppercorns have a tingly/numbing effect on the tongue. You noted they might be in the dish, so do you think that's what it was?

[Pat]

It was the Sichuan peppercorns.  They definitely produce a numbing, tingling effect, as well as a range of other sensations. I think some people are more sensitive to the metallic taste than others (i.e., it persists a while rather than being fairly transitory).

[ktmoomau]

Thanks, I have never had this reaction to them before, but it could be they used a variety that is different.  I know there are a lot of varieties, if it happens with other dishes I may avoid them as it was a really terrible taste that I just couldn't get out of my mouth.

[DonRocks]

22 minutes ago, ktmoomau said:

Thanks, I have never had this reaction to them before, but it could be they used a variety that is different.  I know there are a lot of varieties, if it happens with other dishes I may avoid them as it was a really terrible taste that I just couldn't get out of my mouth.

Katelin, I'm a little surprised given your dining experience that you aren't familiar with the numbing reaction of Szechuan peppercorns (or are you?) - have you ever had Szechuan cuisine where your mouth goes numb before? If this is the first time you've had that experience, then yes, that's definitely what it is - but was this something different?

A parallel example is that I *probably* have been eating cilantro my entire adult life, but about twenty years ago, I was at a restaurant (I think it was Vietnamese, maybe Pho 75 in Langley Park, but it was before I had the knowledge I have now), and I told my server that they must not have rinsed the dishes thoroughly because there was soap residue in the food. She very strongly (but politely) told me that I was tasting cilantro, not soap - at that point, I must have surely eaten cilantro many times, and had never associated it with soap before, but sure enough, looking back, she was absolutely correct. I can taste the soapy taste in cilantro now, but just knowing that it's cilantro (as opposed to soap) makes it perfectly fine with me, even though the taste is a dead ringer for the soapy taste you get in improperly rinsed wine glasses, which positively *ruins* your glass of wine, and there's no correcting it once it has happened.

[ktmoomau]

Don, I have eaten them, but I have eaten them before without this type of really quick metallic taste and reaction, which is why I was a little concerned.  I probably haven't eaten them often, growing up we never ate Chinese food and I am not good about going into a place and being able to order things I like, so we don't eat Chinese food as frequently as most other ethnic cuisines.  I didn't know what MK ordered, but looking at it, I knew it had peppercorns, it wasn't until after that I put the two and two together.  I have had them in dishes that also were spicy and it built up, but I didn't have such a quick and long term bitter/metallic taste (the bitter taste lasted a really long time) and my tongue and mouth didn't tingle.  Also, MK ate the same dish and didn't have any of the same reaction of it that I did, so he thought it was really weird (especially because it wasn't hot and I love hot food and he doesn't really love hot food).  He didn't have any numbing/tingling and didn't have the bitter/metallic taste.  In the past it was more a slow numbing effect that built with heat when I have had them before.  This dish didn't taste at at all spicy whatsoever, in fact everything but bitter and the weird orange flavor tasted bland, and all I could taste from the very first bite was a strange almost artificial tasting orange flavor and then right away I had a bitter/sour taste that quickly turned metallic-ish from the very first bite.  That is why the tingling was a bit strange because there was no heat in the dish and the orange flavor tasted really off to me.  I have a very strong reaction to Cilantro, as well.  In certain dishes that have cilantro the soap taste will stay in my mouth for hours afterwards.    

[Rieux]

It could be rancid oil. I ordered some spring rolls from Meiwah an month or so ago and had the same reaction. I actually thought I might have been poisoned. In the end I'm pretty sure it was old rancid fry oil.