# Why do I sneeze when I eat certain chocolates? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 16, 2006, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-sneeze-when-i-eat-certain-chocolates/372909 "2006-09-16T01:08:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![snailboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/97f17d/32.png) [@snailboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snailboy)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2006, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-sneeze-when-i-eat-certain-chocolates/372909/1 "2006-09-16T01:08:11Z")
I’ve noticed that when I eat Dove chocolate and recently Hershey’s Kisses that I sometimes get the sensation to sneeze. These are the only two chocolates that I know do it, and I don’t remember Hershey’s Kisses doing it in the distant past, so I’m thinking it’s an ingredient other than the chocolate itself. I don’t understand though how eating something can make you sneeze anyway. If I was allergic to something in the chocolate, I would expect sneezing to be the last symptom I developed, unless I was snorting the stuff. Sneezing is the only thing that happens though, and I have to eat quite a bit for the sensation to become strong enough to sneeze, so it doesn’t stop me from eating it. However, I’m curious what’s triggering it. Any ideas? ---
**Author:** ![diggleblop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@diggleblop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/diggleblop)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2006, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-sneeze-when-i-eat-certain-chocolates/372909/2 "2006-09-16T01:09:54Z")
[http://allergies.about.com/cs/chocolate/a/aa021400a.htm](http://allergies.about.com/cs/chocolate/a/aa021400a.htm) ---
**Author:** ![snailboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/97f17d/32.png) [@snailboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snailboy)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2006, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-sneeze-when-i-eat-certain-chocolates/372909/3 "2006-09-16T01:43:05Z")
That link doesn’t say anything about sneezing. More than anything, I’d like to know how eating something to which you’re allergic can trigger sneezing. Chocolate goes in your mouth, but sneezing is a nasal thing. I could maybe compare ingredients to try to find out which chemical is causing me to sneeze, though if someone has both of these candies lying around, I won’t have to go to the store and do that. ---
**Author:** ![constanze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@constanze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/constanze)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2006, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-sneeze-when-i-eat-certain-chocolates/372909/4 "2006-09-16T09:07:29Z")
IANAD, so only a WAG: reactions to an allergen vary from person to person. There is no “standard” response. But one aspect is swelling up of the nasal tissues (blocked nose with hayfever). Maybe that irritates your nose, therefore you sneeze? ---
**Author:** ![ErinPuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dbc845/32.png) [@ErinPuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ErinPuff)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2006, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-sneeze-when-i-eat-certain-chocolates/372909/5 "2006-09-18T01:57:17Z")
I don’t know why it happens, but I get it too, especially from Dove dark chocolate. ---
**Author:** ![Topologist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/topologist/32/3208_2.png) [@Topologist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Topologist)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2006, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-sneeze-when-i-eat-certain-chocolates/372909/6 "2006-09-18T03:37:28Z")
Two more people with the same reaction: My brother had this allergy when he was a kid. I didn’t develop it until I was an adult, but I have it now, too. It seems to depend not on the quantity of the chocolate, but the quality. One or two bites of high quality, dark chocolate invariably makes me sneeze. The inside of my nose starts to itch, I sneeze once or twice, and that’s the extent of the reaction. ---
**Author:** ![Fastidiots](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@Fastidiots](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fastidiots)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2006, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-sneeze-when-i-eat-certain-chocolates/372909/7 "2006-09-18T06:24:02Z")
if only you had another condition that cec outlined, the orgasm brought on by a sneeze. eating chocolate causing orgasms? people would never leave their homes.