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Urticaria and food allergy

Last reviewed dd mmm yyyy. Last edited dd mmm yyyy

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Urticaria (or angio-oedema) and food allergy

  • patients or their parents frequently analyse foods, food additives/preservatives/dyes eaten over the previous 24 h or longer in the search for a connection with symptoms
    • there is no rational basis for this because in genuine food allergy, symptoms usually occur reproducibly within 60min of exposure to the offending food
    • occasionally, exceptions occur for example in some patients wheat allergy is clinically manifested only in association with exercise

Unless there is a relationship to a particular food trigger, either by ingestion, or contact (localized contact urticaria), IgE-mediated food allergy can usually be excluded as a cause of urticaria/angio-oedema particularly if the symptoms come on overnight or are present first thing in the morning

  • allergic food reactions do not produce an urticarial rash (with or without angiooedema) lasting several days, nor rashes/swellings commencing several hours after ingestion of food
  • urticaria due to IgE-mediated food allergic reactions seldom occur in isolation i.e. additional symptoms are usually present such as oropharyngeal itching and discomfort, wheezing, vomiting or abdominal pain

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