Sesame - Is it likely to be an allergen?

[bluebear]

Ds has had a few bouts of a mystery allergic reaction (swollen face, and on one occasion swollen lips/tongue that needed hospital visit) - he's had testing for the usual suspects which all came back negative.
This weekend he had one mouthful of a sesame snap (haven't had them before) and his face got swollen.... does anyone know if sesame is known to cause problems - is it related to nuts (which he has tested negative for)?

yes it is related
best to avoid it - it can be associated with a nut allergy or be an allergy on its own. I think?

yes, lots of people are allergic.
Tahini, some hoummous, halva, chinese cooking with sesame oil....

Sesame is listed as one of the Major Serious Allergens that must now be declared on food labels, by law. It's not necessarily connected with nut allergy although often it is. You should be able to get your ds tested for a sesame allergy, in fact I'm surprised that this wasn't done with the others as afaik it's fairly common.

hth

Thanks everyone -
TangerineCath - he had a number of skin prick tests - and we have no list of what was tested ( I can remember some but not all) - and from what the allergy nurse said, you can be allergic to something and still not have a positive skin prick.

I'm going to try to ring the allergy nurse and see if they can access his notes and see if he was tested.

Thanks again

Just to jump in but my DD who is also allergic to nuts ate hummus and had a full blown reaction ie vomiting, cramping, wheezing, difficulty breathing and I had to use the epi-pen. She was then tested and the doctor said allergic kids should be tested for sesame (our original doctor only tested her for nuts and tree nuts after a reaction to peanut butter). He said sesame is rarer but just as serious as nuts.

please bear in mind that chickpeas and other legumes are related to peanuts.
5% of those who are nut allergic are also allergic to legumes, mainly beans , the most closest relation being chick peas.
Sesame is a seed allergy which is rising as an allergy in its own right. Related off course to other seeds. like mustard , etc

My DS now age 2 and 4 mths is allergic to humous. He goes red around the mouth and gets these blisters up his left arm. He eats bread though which is called Seeded Batch which also contains sesame seeds and has no reaction. Am going to get him tested.