Pesto reaction?

[iheartpeonies]

Hi, hope you might be able to advise us on what to do- if anything.

We're on holiday and our 8 month old discovered spaghetti! Our hotel buffet had spaghetti with pesto that was a hit! Little one shovelling it in, oily face food everywhere!

She was focussed on her food and content but we noticed small red blotches around her face. We took her food away and cleaned her up. We also noticed her hands seemed puffy.

This red-ness went down very quickly and within 10 minutes was completely gone. Would you suspect an allergic reaction? I completely panicked but pharmasist wouldn't give us anything but a cream (that doesn't appear to have any antihistamine in). I was hoping for medicine in case we noticed another reaction.

We have given her eggs, cheese (not Parmesan though) and peanut butter before and never seen a reaction. Any clue? It seems pine nuts could provoke a reaction but as she doesn't have any other nut allergy I'm assuming this is unlikely. Should I get her tested?

Thanks in advance for your help xx

Sounds like an allergy to me.

Pesto can sometimes have cashew nuts in too.

Pine nuts are seeds, not nuts. They are well known for allergic reactions, so that is what I would initially consider too. Not sure if she's a bit young for piriton, but I would keep some around if it's suitable - mainly so you don't worry!

Hope she's ok now!

I am allergic to pesto because of the pine nuts/kernels. I also have a nut allergy - cashews and peanuts. I wasn't aware of it until my teens as that's when I first tried pesto (before it was everywhere!), but the nut allergy certainly wasn't present at that age as I used to love nuts. A she has reacted so young, perhaps keep and eye on nuts as well, as you never now how it can develop. FWIW my reactions are not anaphylactic, but my lips swell and I get very sick, I vomit within about a minute!

Sorry, pistachios not peanuts! Peanuts are one of the few I can still eat, but I don't like the taste of nuts any more, vomiting instantaneously will do that to you...

Right, going against the grain here, but it sounds more like a contact reaction to me - similar to what they can have from strawberries or pineapple. I weaned both my DC on pesto and they both had this reaction (also with strawberries). It didn't make them poorly in any other way, and as I carried on feeding it to them it gradually stopped happening.

I'm not a doctor, of course, and I may have reacted differently had I been abroad and unsure of where the nearest doctor was.

Pesto often uses other cheaper nuts such as almonds or cashews instead of pine nuts which are ££
Peanuts aren't even nuts, they're of the pulse family and grow under the ground - so you could be fine with peanuts but not tree nuts or vice versa.

Ah, in light of circumcision's post I should probably mention I make my own pesto so know exactly what's in it. Obviously nuts triggering a potential nut allergy is more serious and should be treated as such.

Some pesto have ground almonds, can you ask the hotel stuff for an ingredients list?

Wow, you guys are amazing! Loads of replies and I'm learning lots about nuts and seeds! Thank you all...I will take all on board. Think we'll visit the doctor on our return. And I will also ask if I can find out the ingredients of last nights pesto. Stop me guessing what was in it.

Are allergy tests worth doing on little ones? xx