If you develop a rash whenever you eat chocolate, stop eating it until you can be evaluated by your doctor. Most likely, it's not the cocoa that you're having an allergic reaction to but one of the ingredients. A cocoa allergy -- an allergic reaction to the cocoa bean -- is very rare. Many chocolate products contain highly allergic ingredients such as tree nuts, peanuts, soy, milk and wheat. Most allergy rashes from chocolate are treated by avoiding the allergen found in the chocolate product.
Histamine and Rashes
Most allergy rashes are the result of histamine released in the upper layers of the skin. Histamine is a chemical that naturally occurs in the body, helping defend it against infectious diseases. During an allergic reaction, the body produces excessive amounts of this hormone in soft tissue. As histamine levels increase, inflammation and swelling begin to develop in the skin. This can cause irritation in or around the mouth, hives or eczema. In a minor form, an allergic rash may cause the skin to itch or tingle without any visible redness or inflammation.
Types
After eating chocolate, you can develop hives, general itching or eczema if you're pre-disposed to eczema. Hives are the most common allergic rash, causing welts anywhere on the body. The welts tend to form in clusters that can blend together. They're flat on top and very itchy. Eczema is a condition commonly found in young children that causes severe dryness of the skin and small blisters. Food allergies are a common trigger for eczema.
Determine the Cause
Determine which ingredients in the chocolate are causing the allergic skin rash. Keep a record of what you eat for one week and note every time you develop an adverse reaction. This gives your doctor a good idea of what foods cause the development of rashes. You can have allergy tests to diagnose the exact allergen that's triggering the rash. Allergy testing introduces a suspected allergen to your body to see whether it creates immunoglobulin E, an antibody created only during an allergic reaction.
Treatment
Once you know which ingredients in the chocolate trigger your symptoms, avoid eating those ingredients. If you're allergic to cocoa, used to make chocolate, avoid consuming all products that contain cocoa beans -- such as hot chocolate, chocolate bars and chocolate ice cream. You can treat an allergic skin rash with an over-the-counter steroid cream called hydrocortisone.
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