Tropical fruit allergies

[143Baby]

I have gone into anaphylactic shock in june from Mango. Well just the other day i went into shock from pineapple in which epinephren was administered. I was wondering were can i find out what is in the pineapple family?I am also allergic to kiwi as well. It seems to me its something different everytime. Is it going to be another fruit next? Im really nervous about this because i broke out from  a local diner in which i made sure to tell them what i was allergic to.

[VLVL]

There's a possibility you have a latex allergy, which applies to pineapple, mango, banana, passion fruit and kiwi.

[SeriousSam]

Is it possible that you are not allergic to the fruit so much as the minute amounts of chemicals these countries use to treat their crops?

Particularly if you haven't had a problem with mangos etc. previously.

[merrilinda]

I agree with kindd, it sounds like a cross-reaction with other fruits and pollen.  

When you reacted, were you eating fresh fruits? Or had they been cooked, canned, or preserved?  If they were raw/fresh, you could have what's called Oral Allergy Syndrome, it's where your body confuses the proteins in fresh fruits (or in some cases, vegetables) with a tree or grass pollen that you are allergic to.  With the fruits you listed it sounds like you are possibly allergic to birch pollen, the fruits and foods in that family include:

Almonds, Apples, Apricots, Carrots, Celery, Cherries, Chicory, Coriander/Cilantro, Fennel, Fig, Kiwi, Nectarines, Parsley, Parsnips, Peaches, Pears, Peppers, Plums, Potatoes, Prunes, Soy, Wheat   (and potential reactions with hazelnuts and walnuts)

Even though a food is in that family you may not necessarily react to it, but it's safe to avoid it altogether (new reactions can occur in the future), ESPECIALLY since you have experienced anaphylaxis!!  

I suffer from OAS and have an allergy to birch pollen, of the 24 foods listed above, I react to 12 of them in addition to:

Mango, Blueberries, Muscadines/Scupernongs, Legumes (particularly Black-Eyed Peas), Green Beans (can't remember if those are legumes?), and most recently Oranges.

Lots of what I react to aren't usually listed in the "Birch" family, but I still react to them.  I also know that Pineapple is listed in the "Potential Reactions" list.  People who suffer from OAS can usually tolerate a food once it's been heated (either cooked, canned, preserved, pastuerized, etc.).

Hope this helps?!  This may not be what you have....but hopefully the list of "family foods" will help you know what to avoid!

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,

Mango belongs to the same family which consists of pistachio and cashew.What you seem to be having looks like cross reactivity.It is the occurrence of allergic reactions to foods that are chemically or otherwise related to foods known to cause allergy in an individual.

Mostly it is found that those who are allergic to mango fruit allergens show cross reactivity to latex,avocado, mugwort pollen, birch pollen, celery, carrot, and apple.Moreover,it is seen that people who have allergies to natural latex in turn may react in a similar way to Avocado, Banana, Chestnut and Kiwi fruit and may even develop anaphylaxis to these foods.

To confirm to which allergens you are allergic ,you need to undergo allergy testing. Skin tests are used for this purpose. This test involves pricking, scratching or injecting food extracts into the patient’s skin. The skin will react with redness and swelling for those extracts capable of eliciting an allergic reaction when consumed.Other tests used are blood tests like RAST and food challenge tests. For these an opinion from an allergy specialist will be the best.

I hope that helps. Please do keep me posted on how you are doing or if you have any additional queries. Kind regards.