Food allergy affects 6 to 8 percent of children under age three and approximately 4 percent of adults, according to MayoClinic.com. While allergy to pineapple juice is an uncommon food allergy, if you do, you may need to avoid pineapple if your testing indicates an allergy. There is no current treatment for food allergy, but medications to reverse a severe allergic reaction are available.
Background
Allergy to pineapple occurs when your immune system falsely recognizes the protein in pineapple as foreign and potentially dangerous and forms antibodies called IgE antibodies against it. These antibodies remain in your body and recognize the pineapple protein the next time you consume it, releasing a cascade of events that results in the release of histamine. Histamine causes many of the symptoms of allergy, including hives, skin rash, vomiting, nausea, coughing, difficulty breathing and dizziness.
Diagnosis of Pineapple Allergy
A typical allergic reaction to pineapple juice is rare involving skin symptoms as well as tingling in the mouth, respiratory symptoms or gastrointestinal symptoms. According to the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network, eight foods, including milk, egg, peanut, tree nuts, fish, shellfish, soy and wheat, account for 90 percent of all food-allergic reactions. While allergy to pineapple juice is rare, testing may be conducted if it is suspected. You'll undergo a skin prick test, where the surface of your skin is scratched with fresh pineapple and the resultant reaction is measured 20 minutes later.
Oral Allergy Syndrome
Oral allergy syndrome is a type of food allergy that primarily involves the mouth. Symptoms such as redness, itching, burning and swelling of the mouth and tongue are common but dizziness, vomiting and respiratory symptoms are less common than in typical food allergy reactions. This allergy occurs if you have hay fever, or symptoms of runny nose and itchy eyes to environmental allergens, and eat a food that cross-reacts with one of your environmental allergens. If you are allergic to latex, you may develop oral allergy syndrome to pineapple as well as papaya, passion fruit, peach, peanut, peppers, plums, tomatoes and other vegetables. Cooked pineapple or pineapple juice is often tolerated while fresh, raw pineapple is not.
Treatment
The only treatment for allergy to pineapple juice is complete avoidance of pineapple. If you have a typical food allergy, this includes fresh pineapple, cooked pineapple and pineapple in baked goods or other food products. If your physician feels that you can eat cooked pineapple and you have oral allergy syndrome, avoiding only fresh pineapple may be a possibility. For a typical pineapple allergy, your physician will prescribe an epinephrine pen so that you can inject yourself if you have a systemic allergic reaction. This is often not needed in oral allergy syndrome because the symptoms are localized only to the mouth. Your physician will make a plan of care specifically for you based on your symptoms and the results of your testing.
Member Comments