Egg allergy ---> Chicken allergy?

[CMdeux]

I agree with the others here-- particularly TT's analysis utilizing Occam's Razor.

There is no food without risk-- just some risks much lower than others. 

If you know that her threshold is very low, then that means that everything is on the table (so to speak) as a cause.  In that case, I also agree with Maeve that bread is a likely culprit.  This is the reason why we've never been able to use store-bought bread (and for many years, pasta).  I don't use preprepared broths for the reason you covered-- too many of them are run on shared lines for my comfort zone, frankly.  I do use Better-than-Bouillion, even though there is some risk there for me personally given that they make a variety which is potentially SF-contaminated.  My threshold is higher than DD's, so the risk-benefit for us personally works better there.


Since the symptoms were subjective rather than objective, too, it's possible that like YKW's DS2, this wasn't specifically IgE-driven, but was something else entirely; either thermal or texture, or-- well, something.  Salt?

Anything on DD's face can still give her wicked hives from contact.  It doesn't need to be especially acidic, nor does it need to contain an allergen.   

[YouKnowWho]

I finally remembered where the picture/story was.  Reaction or not?

He never said itchy, he said funny.  However with DS2 and his issues - funny could equal itchy.

[eggallergymom]

YKW--your poor son! That swelling looks awful. Thanks, everybody. There wasn't any bread; she only had a cup of broth. She reacted immediately after a few spoonfuls.
I just got off the phone with the allergist, who was returning my call (I'd spoken with his nurse prior.) He thinks the broth must have been contaminated with egg. He thinks it definitely WAS an allergic reaction, given her symptoms of itchy lips, tongue and throat, and doesn't think yeast, carrots or onions would be the culprits.
I am already baking our bread, I suppose I can making big batches of chicken and vegetable broth, too, and freeze them.

I don't know how you folks living with MFA do this. We've had to cross off so many categories of food because of this allergy.  We don't eat out, either. It's frustrating that a ten-minute Q&A session with a dietitian at the food company wouldn't be sufficient. Argh.

[CMdeux]

It takes a long time to come to a place where you can live with risk and still 'live' at all, that's how.   

Wheat, soy and milk are nightmare allergens, but egg isn't far behind, frankly-- and with a low enough threshold, it's as bad as any of them.

It's just in everything processed.  The truth is that you eventually learn that some things are just plain too good to be true-- no matter what ANY customer service rep says.  I don't actually pay all that much attention to labeling at this point.  Of course, I avoid things that bear advisory labeling.  But I avoid a lot of other things, too.  Even companies that I otherwise trust-- there are some things that I won't touch, no matter whose name is on the packaging.  Ice cream, packaged seasoning mixes and shelf-stable soups/ricemilk are those things for nuts, and bread/soup are on the list for egg.

You can make broth in a crockpot once a week or so-- or even just on an as-needed basis (put ingredients in the morning you'll need it and then it's ready when you're ready to start dinner).  BTDT.

[krasota]

Yeast extract is a histamine containing food or a histamine trigger.  If her bucket were full, so to speak, it could be a contributing factor.

[eggallergymom]

The crockpot broth is a great idea! Thanks, CM.
And I'd wondered about the yeast too, krasota. But I bake bread regularly here (using yeast) and she hasn't had a problem with it. Or does baking with yeast change it in a way that it wouldn't provoke a reaction as a yeast ingredient in broth might?

She does have a very low threshold for egg. She's anaphylaxed to taffy, ice cream and pudding, and reacted now to both parmesan cheese (unlabeled lysozyme) and chicken broth. Her allergist is very pessimistic about her ever outgrowing this allergy, given her RAST numbers and her history, but I'm still hoping science catches up to her and the kids with similar allergies.

[christa mcclure]

I started life with Chicken/Turkey allergies (4 or 5 years old).  As I've gotten older (developing in my twenties), I've become allergic to many other foods, such as eggs, treenuts, catfish, cod-fish, bananas, lentils and kiwi.  I've even suffered small reactions as of lately to wheat and soy (in my thirties).  They seem to be putting chicken broth in more and more foods nowadays.  I have to be really careful what I eat.  I break out in hives with treenuts, but poultry nearly puts me in anaphylaxis.  I'm worried what I'll be allergic to tomorrow.  I do not think I have any outside allergies...however, I haven't been tested, but do not feel bad outside.