Ack! Can't believe I have to post this - cheese allergy??

[aggiedog]

Dd has PA, but underwent OIT a couple years ago and is doing great.  She developed a pecan/walnut allergy around the end of the treatment, but it has never been more than "itchy lips" unlike her full blown ana with her PA.

She has recently eaten two types of cheeses that she says also makes her lips itchy.  Here's the rub - they are from a small local deli with a selection of organic cheeses and they did not mark which cheese was which when I got the 5 different kinds. (They just cut them from a big hunk and wrap the piece in brown paper.)  So I really don't know what sort of cheeses they were - some may have been goat milk based, but I"m not sure.  Both times dd was eating two of the group - one made her itch, the other didn't.  But I'm fairly confident each time was with different cheeses.

She drinks a cappuccino every morning - lots of milk, with no problem.  So I don't think it's a milk issue.  What is in cheese that is not in milk, or what is in only some cheese?? I suppose it could be cross contamination from where they cut them, but they don't have pecans/walnuts in the deli.

I'm going back to the cheese place after lunch to get more, slice them on a clean board, and have them label them.

[twinturbo]

My first thought: cross-contam. Shared equipment for virtually everything. A lot of the european style cheese plates I've had come with nut breads.

[GingerPye]

yeah --- ask how they slice the cheese -- on what equipment and what else do they slice on that equipment?

[CMdeux]

Yup.  XC.

Some cheeses-- especially specialty/artisanal types, may be "washed/cured/sealed" with different things during production, too-- so while I don't KNOW of a cheese that requires a walnut-based ingredient, that doesn't mean that there isn't one.  KWIM?

We recently ran across something that surprised the heck out of us-- DH pointed the label out to me, because I would NEVER have figured cheese to be a risk for almond XC, but it was.  Apparently some kind of "amaretto" wash during curing-- I'd heard of ports and stouts used that way, but never flavored liqueurs.  Well, you learn something new every day, I guess.

Also-- pistachios are a known risk because of that one kind of Italian cheese with them in it-- mortadella?  (ironic name, that)

[twinturbo]

Some cheeses come wrapped in nuts, too. American chevre in particular comes to mind in innovative additions probably because there's no regional tradition to uphold.

[Macabre]

I'm thinking mortadella.

[aggiedog]

It definitely isn't mortadella.  There was a cheddar, a tarentaise, a manchego, and one other (a gruyere I think).  This is a tiny place.  I can see them cut the cheese (ha, no 7 yo humor please!) on the same cutting board they use to cut sandwiches, etc.  They have a tiny menu - a handful of sandwiches and a couple soups.  They have a cheese board snack that might have walnuts on it, I'll have to check.  And they have a super tasty chicken salad that does have candied pecans.  I could see how maybe a chicken salad sandwich was cut on the board and some fell on the board.  But it was clean looking when I saw her cut the cheeses, so that would make a pretty high sensitivity to x-con.

She's also had all but the tarentaise before without an issue, though I can't be sure they are the same makers each time.

I went after I posted and asked them for a bit of each cheese, labeled with maker, etc, cut on a clean sheet of butcher paper each time.  We'll see how that works.  I'll have dd taste them tonite.  I have an idea it was the tarentaise and the other unknown one that were the culprits, but I can't prove it.  If she still reacts, I'll have to call the cheese makers and find out what they do to their cheeses.

[twinturbo]

Can you get it tested to walnut or any other nut? Mmm, aged cheese in the mail.

Are you thinking about mold strains? That I wouldn't even know where to start.

[krasota]

So the deli does have some tree nuts?  What about something oily--maybe a special walnut pesto or something similar?  Oily residues seem to be harder to eliminate on a busy counter.

I react to some of the mold inoculated cheeses.  I also react to pork.  Cutting/slicing machine x-c is a huge issue for me, mostly because of pork (moldy aged cheeses aren't really known for easy slicing).

[hedgehog]

From what you have said, it sounds like XC to me.  But I do know someone who is allergic to cheese, but not milk.  And by allergic, I mean anaphylaxis from minute amounts.  I'm not sure if it's rennet he's allergic to, or something that is produced when milk turns to cheese.  He avoids ALL cheese, made with rennet or not. I'm not sure whether that is from history, or to be sure there is no mistake in what kind he can have, or concern for XC, etc. 

[Linden]

Just to clarify, while we are talking deli products:

Mortadella = not a cheese, but an Italian "ham" type product that can be made with nuts

Mozzarella = an Italian cheese product that is not necessarily made from cow's milk but can be made from buffalo's milk and I think other types of milk as well.

[CMdeux]

Ahhh-- thanks, Linden!  I never knew what the heck that stuff was, exactly.  Just that pistachios in a savory sliced deli thing sounded...


well, nasty even without allergies.  LOL.

[aggiedog]

Thanks, Linden.  Never seen it IRL, not sure I'd recognize it if I did.

Got my cheeses after work.  She cleaned the knife before and during each cheese, and cut them on a clean sheet of wax paper for each one.

Dd got the lip itchies with the tarentaise again.  WTH?   So I'll be calling tomorrow to find out what is in it, or what it's processed with. 

They do use a walnut pesto on one of their sandwiches, so I was figuring that was the case, but now I'm pretty sure it isn't.

[CMdeux]

http://thistlehillfarm.com/aboutthecheese.htm

I dunno, Aggie. 


Really seems more probable that somehow, the outside of the rind was handled by someone with walnut residue on his/her hands at some point-- which, yes, is really low XC or should be...


but the alternative is even further 'out there' if you KWIM...

Because that cheese sounds like a REALLY straight-up thing in terms of production. 

Is it possible that it's just really high in histamines?

[Macabre]

I've seen mortadella, but I tend to have veteran low expectations if delis, lol.  I mean as far as cross contamination is concerned. <shudder>