If you develop a rash after eating an apple, your best bet is to visit a doctor to determine the cause. You may have either an apple allergy or oral allergy syndrome. The type and severity of your allergy will determine whether you can eat cooked apples or drink apple juice or must avoid foods with apples in them entirely. Always follow your doctor's advice when it comes to treating allergies.
Oral Allergy Syndrome
Your rash may be due to oral allergy syndrome, or OAS, which is a reaction to certain proteins in apples that resembles the protein in birch pollen. This syndrome most often affects your mouth and throat, but it may also cause a rash where the food touches your skin, such as around your mouth. Other symptoms may include itchy or watery eyes, sneezing, a runny nose and burning or itching mouth, lips and throat. More serious symptoms can include hives, throat swelling, asthma, diarrhea or vomiting and anaphylactic shock. Symptoms most often occur immediately, but can develop an hour after eating or handling an apple. Symptoms may be worse during the fall and spring pollen seasons. Adults are more likely to be affected by children.
OAS Remedies
You may avoid OAS symptoms such as rashes and a burning mouth by cooking your apples because the allergen involved is destroyed by cooking. Pasteurization also destroys the allergen. That means that if you have OAS, you can tolerate apple juice and apple pie but not raw apples. An allergy shot for birch pollen may also alleviate the symptoms you experience when eating raw apples.
Apple Allergy
Not all rashes from apples are due to OAS. Allergies to numerous fruits and veggies, including apples, can cause skin rashes as well as diarrhea, notes the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. Grapes, tomatoes and oranges are other common offenders, while strawberries sometimes cause hives. This type of allergy is more apt to affect young children.
Peach Allergy
OAS is prevalent in North America and North of Europe, but not in Mediterranean countries. In these countries the adverse reactions to apples are caused by the similarity between the allergens in peaches and apples. In such cases symptoms generally are more severe. They may include hives, vomiting, abdominal pain and life-threatening symptoms like anaphylactic shock. Reactions are usually more severe when an apple is eaten with its peel. The allergen in these cases does survive cooking and processing, so juices, purees and nectars can cause reactions. Adverse reactions to other foods, including peaches, plums, apricots, cherries, peanuts and nuts are also likely.
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