Egg allergy

[CurlewKate]

My dp has just been told that the several minor but incredibly annoying health issues are down to a completely unsuspected egg allergy. He doesn't eat eggs as eggs but he does like pasta and I bake a lot. Obviously those things are easy to fix but is there anywhere that egg might lurk that we might not think of?

[Danascully2]

I did party bags for my son one year and when checking for one of his friends who is allergic to eggs we spotted that some sweets have eggs in the ingredients. I think it was chewits but can't remember. Not something I expected anyway.
Biscuits. Mayonnaise. Ice cream. Anything with pastry as may have an egg glaze. If it's a proper allergy then it's a case of checking the ingredients label whenever you buy anything. Did whoever told him it was an egg allergy not give any diet advice? My younger son had an egg allergy, luckily grew out of it when he was young but we were given advice sheets.
If it was one of those sensitivity checks where you pay fifteen pounds and they check 5 billion foods then I'm afraid they're meaningless and you shouldn't make major diet changes because of the results.

[Saucery]

Tiger Bread (egg glaze)

[DrSpartacular]

Is it an actual allergy or an intolerance?

"several minor but incredibly annoying health issues" isn't how allergy symptoms are typically framed.

As above, typically with an allergy diagnosis you'd get advice, and sometimes a session with a dietician.

Whatever it is, something like the Vegan Society or other resources for vegans will have good info on hidden and unexpected eggs in things.

[Exactfare]

Who told him this 🤔 there are lots of quacks about when it comes to allergies. What health issues? Hives, swelling?

Egg allergy is common in children, less so in adults and an allergy to baked egg is even more unusual

As above my DS had an egg allergy that he has now outgrown which was diagnosed at at actual NHS hospital

[QuiltedHippo]

Egg noodles! But rice and udon ok. Most (dried) pasta is OK, though check labels. Fresh pasta normally a problem.
Meringue. Glazes.

[Rosiiee]

Egg allergies are SO annoying!! My DS had one for the first 5 years of his life. We worked on a sliding scale so we tried to introduce egg in his diet and see if he was reacting to it- all at the allergy clinic so not at home! I had to bring in cupcakes, pasta, quiche, all egg food and we worked our way up.

Egg is in literally everything! I struggled so much because everything says ‘might have traces of eggs’. Once we introduced cakes I was able to relax a bit but yes we stayed away from mayo for a very long time which also meant no aioli with chips when we were out!

[CurlewKate]

He hasn't had a proper face to face consultation yet. He's being investigated for a skin condition and got a letter today from his dermatologist saying that blood test showed several food allergies- but particularly egg. He has hay fever type symptoms and is prone to gastric things- which google says can be egg related.
Believe me, this is not what he was expecting! I had confidently diagnosed contact dermatitis from an engineering job he did!

[DrSpartacular]

That is odd, it's a real shame we have such a shortage of immunologists/allergy specialist consultants as they are the best at interpreting test results alongside clinical history. Positive bloods are not diagnostic - false positive and false negatives are common. Will he be seeing an allergy doc?

[Marynotsocontrary]

What other food allergies did blood tests show?
Was it IgE testing?

[CurlewKate]

To be honest, we don't know the answer to any of these questions! The letter said "allergy to a mixture of food and there is a greatly positive allergy to eggs". He's been referred for a "patch test" then he'll be seen again in the dermatology clinic. Googling egg allergy shows all the symptoms he has, so we thought we may as well cut out eggs straight away because it's easy enough to do.

[INeedNewShoes]

When egg is baked with starch it breaks down the allergenic protein so he may find he's ok to continue eating cakes.

The things to watch out for are sneaky raw egg in sweets, fondant/royal icing.

DD is working her way up the egg ladder. She's completely fine with egg baked into floury foods like cakes, Yorkshire puddings, pancakes but can't tolerate egg on its own at all.

[Marynotsocontrary]

Was this medical testing at a gp or associated with a hospital?
You can get very unreliable 'allergy' tests done in other places sometimes and they don't mean anything.

[DrSpartacular]

Even IgE testing is not diagnostic though. Plus, the numbers or level shown on the test results isn't representative of severity or likelihood!

My anaphylactic allergen shows up on bloods results as much smaller than the one for crustaceans (which I've never reacted to and am therefore not considered allergic to).

[Marynotsocontrary]

Yes, all true @DrSpartacular, but results can be interpreted and explained by the clinician.

Some of the tests available if you don't go to the right professionals are just pure quackery though. Wanted to make sure OP is seeing someone suitably qualified.

[CurlewKate]

Thank you. Yes- we know there's a lot of non-science out there about allergies, but this is legit-as I said it was the last thing he was expecting. Obviously he'll find out more at his next appointment, but because the letter specifically referred to eggs as a major factor, I thought it was worth asking if there's anything he can do to help himself in the meantime.

[Superscientist]

Gluten free products often use egg

If he likes baking look for recipes that use buttermilk and bicarb & oil as the egg replacement. So oil covers the fat component of butter and the liquid part of egg. Adding lemon juice to milk or milk substitutes and mixing with bicarb just before putting the mix into the oven mimics the rise you get from egg. My daughter has multiple food allergies and have had a lot of success with baking using this type of recipe. There are egg replacements but for us they seem faffy or contain some of my daughter's other allergies. Also as a chemist these recipes please me!

[Rainbowshit]

My DC are you other allergic to egg. One of our biggest bug bears is the fashion for brioche buns. Every burger seems to come with brioche buns these days.