Kiwi fruit

[NineOfNine]

When eating kiwi fruit, is it normal to get a sort of tingly itchy sensation in the mouth when you’re eating it?

I thought this was just the way kiwis are for everyone, but someone’s said something that’s making me wonder if this is unusual when eating kiwi fruit?

Yeah I get that… also get it with pineapple. It got worse and worse every time I ate them and it turns out I have a fairly significant allergy to both of them. I now can’t eat them at all, also bananas, papaya and guava.

It's an allergy symptom. Kiwi allergy isn't uncommon. I get it with mango.

No, allergy alert, it's the same for me

I had that first time and second time threw up violently. Supposedly kiwi fruit allergy is massively common and is linked to latex allergy! I'm not allergic to latex though.

As pp says, kiwis are a well known allergen. I love them but am allergic and get a sore throat when I eat them.

I sometimes get it with tomatoes and I have to stop straight away. Often it's fine though - very strange!

My daughter gets that so she doesn't eat kiwi anymore just in case. I can eat kiwis but if they are in a smoothie I get an itchy mouth/throat so I tend to stay away from them now too.

They make my mouth sting a bit but I do still eat them (including the skin!).

yes, its normal with green kiwis, but golden kiwis are much better, they taste sweeter, smoother and dont give you weird sensations.

You could have a kiwi allergy, which can potentially become serious and sometimes even develop into an anaphylactic allergy.

Or you could have oral allergy syndrome/pollen food syndrome, which is essentially hayfever that gets confused because something in the fruit reminds your body of the pollen you're allergic to. I have the latter (I react to bananas and walnuts, mostly), and it's very unlikely to become dangerous — it's just a bit unpleasant. With this type of allergy, drinking a hot drink afterwards can help.

It's an allergic reaction (are you referring to my post on the Alan Carr thread?).

You shouldn't eat it as a pp said - it can get worse and trigger other allergies. Someone posted a good leaflet on that thread.

It's an allergic reaction. My DS gets the same thing with strawberries so he's stopped eating them.

I didn't know that, thanks. It makes total sense for me because I'm allergic to latex and silicone too

So, looks like the consensus is that this is an allergy symptom?

I feel quite embarrassed now about just assuming everyone had this with kiwi fruit 😳🫣

Thanks all.

Hopefully it’s just the oral allergy syndrome/pollen food syndrome thing, because I do get mild hay fever, but it sounds like it’d be sensible for me to avoid kiwi fruits from now on in case it develops into anything worse.

It's an allergy. I used to work with someone who couldn't be within the same area as a kiwi

If it makes you feel better I got to 25 before someone pointed out I had a kiwi allergy, just thought that's what they were like. The skin would literally blister in my mouth so I should have noticed.
I was 16 before I realised your throat shouldn't tingle and swell when you eat cheese.

I'm honestly not stupid, it's just when you grow up not knowing anything different you assume it's normal.

If you've eaten a reasonable number of kiwis in your life it's probably not the kind to get worse or you'd have noticed. It's okay to make a personal judgement either way about consuming things you're allergic to, it's not okay for others to make the decision for you.

This is a good fact sheet

www.allergyuk.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Oral-Allergy-Syndrome-v5.pdf

Well, everyday is a school day! If it's stupid not to have realised OP, we're both stupid. I can eat 1/2 without issues, I get a few pleasant tingles if I eat a whole one, and a really horrible burning itchy tingle if I have a second. As an adult, I rarely have even 1/2, as DCs always scoff them before I get a chance. However, as a DC, I would merrily eat through as many as I was allowed. I just assumed it was nature's way of preventing/punishing overindulgence! I can get it occasionally with pineapples too, but have to have eaten a lot to get the sensation, and even then it depends on the pineapple. On the positive side, it hasn't worsened despite a serious amount of exposure in my childhood nor am I aware of any other allergies (although, after today's discovery, maybe there are others...?!).

Interesting that pineapple isn't on the list of fruits on the Allergy UK information sheet a pp has posted. Pineapple and kiwi both contain an enzyme which means you can't put them raw in jelly as the jelly won't set. A fruit was diagnosed with birch allergy some years ago and told to avoid certain raw fruits.

It's not as simple as that. Sometimes an anaphylactic shock could be an accumulation, think of drops of water in a glass, at a certain point the glass will overflow.

The reactions can be mild but you never know. Unless you cannot live without the allergen in questions I'd avoid it

I have a kiwi allergy and that is how it feels. I also struggle with melon unless I prepare it myself.

Always had tingling with kiwi fruit, but thought everyone did. Then one day ate 4 in a row. I know, but my lips took days to feel right. So although they are delicious I need to step away from them.
Funnily enough, I am allergic to latex and adhesive/fabric plasters. Didn't put those allergies together.

During Covid we bought some latex gloves to go shopping and my hands were on absolutely on fire after 5 minutes

I have an anaphylactic reaction to kiwi which has got worse over time. I can't even cut them with bare hands (found out the hard way when making fruit kebabs for a party). I couldn't move my hands for 2/3 hours and had to take Piriteze and soak them in cold water for half an hour before it eased off.