Over the last ~10 years of my cooking career, I’ve become distressingly familiar with the trendiness of “gluten allergies”.
I think I may have just gotten a preview of the next allergy trend: CARROTS
We prepared a buffet a few days ago for a group of 165 people. We were instructed to leave carrots out of the green salad because … 12 of the attendees had carrot allergies.
WTF? In my nearly 34 years in this industry, have I never heard of carrot allergy, and now suddenly there are 12 people in a group of 165 claiming it? As soon as I heard this, I pulled out my phone and Googled “carrot allergy”. The first several results seemed to be mostly “pop medicine” sites and blogs. Skimming a few of these, I learned that, in Europe, up to 25% of the population suffers from this, but it is quite rare here in the USA. It also seems to be closely related to birch pollen allergy. Some sites suggested this was because of birch pollen somehow getting on the carrots, while others said that something in carrots was very similar to birch pollen. But birch pollen was mentioned in every article I looked at.
I should add that this group was comprised of local healthcare professionals—a subset of the population that is likely to be among the first to hear about a “new” allergy. I should mention that the dinner and meeting didn’t appear to be about allergies or consist of allergists. The after-dinner talk was about ways to avoid “burnout” while working in healthcare. It was for a cross-section of local professionals.
I’ve witnessed enough trends in my industry to think this might be the start of a new one. I’ll know for sure if people start refusing cooked carrots. The articles I looked at agreed that the issue was confined to raw carrots, as cooking the carrots destroys the allergens.
ETA: Putting this in IMHO rather than CS because, while it’s about food, I’m more interested in opinions and predictions of allergy trends than the food itself.
What you’re referring to is Oral Allergy Syndrome; the connection to raw carrots has been around for over a decade, but it’s not limited to carrots. Allergic reaction to different tree pollens is associated with OAS involving different raw fruits and vegetables, and the severity of symptoms match the pollen season (more pollen = more likely to have a reaction). As people suffer more from seasonal allergies, they are more likely to do research with their doctors into food triggers, which often go unassociated due to Occam’s Razor- if someone is suffering from allergies during pollen season, it must be pollen.
The better half developed a severe allergy to poison ivy about four years ago. At the same time, he developed an allergy to cashews. The poison ivy allergy presents exactly as expected- a blistering rash that’s unresponsive to normal treatment, agitation, itchiness- but the cashew allergy presents as OAS. So people may also be developing allergies later in life as well.
I cannot eat gluten AND I have OAS. I’m so glad I get to be the target of sneers for more things. Yay for me!
I still eat raw carrots because I adore them, but if I eat more than a couple I have an itchy, burning mouth and throat (like post-nasal drip) and sometimes an itchy, shallow cough. It doesn’t last very long, but it’s not incredibly pleasant.
I’ve just been looking into allergens (for nefarious purposes). The United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization identified the v"Big Eight" foods to which some 80% of people who display allergic reactions are allergic to. The classes are
Peanuts
Soybeans
Tree Nuts
Wheat (gluten)
Milk proteins
Shellfish
Fish
Eggs
Companies in the US, the EU, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and some other places must put a notation on the packaging if any processed foods contain these items.
There are various ways to mitigate response and to de-activate some of the allergens.
I wasn’t aware of PAS. According to the linked Wikipedia page:
So it looks like OAS affects people who typically suffer from hay fever and the like. Carrots are not among the “Big Eight”.
it isn’t the fact that it exists that’s the problem, it’s that (like with the whole “gluten free” thing) 10x as many people will claim they have this allergy/sensitivity than those who actually do. like how “supertasters” are maybe 15-20% of the population as a whole, yet mysteriously 99% of internet people say they are.
When you are preparing food for people and you have to make a load of extra effort as people claim to be allergic to something when in reality they’ve decided to avoid it because a celebrity and/or a “nutritionist” has told them to as part of the latest fad diet.
Yeah, that gets annoying.
And yes, as a type 1 diabetic I am well aware that some people have to avoid certain foods for medical reasons.
Speaking as someone with genuine food allergies, the ones with fad allergies can come across as either loons or liars, which then extends to everyone claiming food allergies and makes life more difficult for those of us with the actual medical condition because fewer people take our problem seriously.
Don’t get me wrong - I think grow-ups should be able to choose what they do or do not eat. If someone wants to give up gluten for whatever reason I don’t care about that. What I do care about are those who are claiming a medical problem they don’t have in such a manner as to make life more difficult for those who actually do have the problem.
Nitpicky on the OAS problem - if it’s OAS the person usually doesn’t have to give up the offending food, they just need to have it cooked. So, for example, raw carrots are out but cooked ones should be fine for those who actually do have the problem.
My wife (of European extraction) got migraines from birch pollen as a child. As an adult, she has developed problematic intolerance to number of foods following interferon treatment. Before this was diagnosed ans empirically tested through elimination diets and challenges, it was suggested that she was developing pseudodementia because she experiences cognitive effects in addition to others when exposed to the target foods. She certainly would prefer to be able to eat gluten, eggs, dairy, legumes, apples, pears, carrots, and celery. However, she’d also prefer not to suffer fairly severe physical consequences. As it is, she can no longer wear contact lenses because any egg exposure causes painful protein buildup in her eyes and contacts exacerbate the effects.
It’s almost impossible to eat at a restaurant or a friend’s house. The deliberate or inadvertent inclusion of these ingredients in non-visible, untastable ways has in fact provided functional double-blind challenges that can be confirmed by checking when she begins to have effects almost immediately.
So I’m sorry if it’s inconvenient to cater to the dietary needs of people with medical problems. How terrible that doing your job ethically is a burden.
I’m allergic to stone fruits (and apples) which I’ve read are related to the birch pollen allergy…perfectly fine if they’re cooked. I hadn’t heard about carrots tho…thankfully not allergic to them!
I have OAS and all the usual suspects can bring it on. It is true that cooking the fruits or veggies will solve the problem, but c’mon-- who wants to cook peaches, pineapple, nuts, or melons? Even carrots and turnips are much better raw. Oh, well.
I hail from central Indiana but now live in south Georgia. There is really nothing holding me here now. My job used to, but now I’m retired. However, the pollens around here are much more friendly, so I can feast all summer on good, sweet, fresh, cheap watermelon and not have my soft palate itch until I sneeze my head off. If only I could get some good 'maters and sweet corn…
So … is pollen getting onto the surfaces of carrots/peaches/etc.? Is straight-up cooking required, or will a thorough rinsing do the job?
Also … for carrots: is blanching sufficient to stave off OAS, or is cooking until soft required? How about microwaving a raw carrot (which would do nothing to clean the surface of the carrot)?
It’s not pollen on the food that is doing the OAS thing. It’s caused by the body reacting to certain proteins in the offending food that are similar to those in allergy-producing pollens. Also, if the pollens aren’t currently present and causing problems, the food symptoms are diminished, sometimes completely. Cooking the food denatures the proteins thus stopping the allergic reaction.
No, but that’s not the way it works, either. Suppose that the real incidence of gluten intolerance is 1%, but that 10% claim to have it. If you’re cooking for a small group (say, 10 or so), then using the real incidence, you usually won’t have to deal with it at all, but with the claimed incidence, you usually will have to deal with it, and that makes a difference.
Alternately, if you’re cooking for a large group: Some people will claim to have a gluten intolerance, and some people will claim that corn is a migraine trigger for them. If both numbers are 1%, then you’ll hardly ever have someone who’s both, and you can give the diners a choice of a wheat dish or a corn dish, and everyone will be able to pick something they can eat. But when the claimed incidence for each is 10%, then you’re likely to have someone in your group of 100 who can’t do either, and now you need a third dish. Or more likely multiple someones, since the people who get on one bandwagon are likely to get on another, too.
I certainly agree that people who make stuff up or wildly exaggerate have a lot to answer for, and that their lies contaminate all of their arguments and foster distrust.
But I don’t think that most people who avoid gluten are lying about it. They may be wrong, but most either think or know that they feel better without it. Many have had advice from their doctors to avoid it. Many are avoiding it incidentally in avoiding FODMAPs or are using elimination diets of some sort.
While i have never heard of a carrot allergy, i never heard of a Celiac until i knew one.
And i can tell you, that if the person really has Celiacs, it is anything but trendy.
Imagine eating a piece of bread or a dinner roll, and having your intestines decide the appropriate reaction is to become an inflamed mess, your belly swell up, and then your body decides it’s time to spontaneously shit itself.
And this lovely event is brought on because the gluten triggers an autoimmune response where your immune system decides to go to war with itself.
That is not trendy, i think you would not enjoy it, would you?
Yes sure there are people who run around and say “We are gluten free” for no real reason other than choice, but those people are not Celiacs and they have no allergy, and i’d hope they don’t pass themselves off as otherwise.
So, if there are is medical issue that is triggered by raw carrots (which there is), i am sure the affected people are very terribly sorry to inconvenience you to leave the raw carrots on the side.
I mean, having your mouth feel like you just ate fiberglass is a small price to pay for carrots in a salad right?
I am sure they apologize for having any “Trendy” medical issues that disturb your catered menu that someone paid to have.
Perhaps if someday you find your self with an issue, the person who is trying to work with your issue will maybe be a bit more compassionate with you, than you were with others.