A really, really dumb food allergy question.

[thisissodumbthativenamechanged]

A few years ago I tried olives for the first time. I really liked them but then seemed to have some kind of reaction - my face went really red and my throat felt tight and coughy.

I assumed I had some kind of intolerance or even minor allergy to them and stopped eating them.

But I use olive oil ALL the time, so I can't be allergic to just olives, can I? It was probably the dressing or something for them wasn't it?

Asking because I'd like to try eating them again but I worry about food allergies a lot.

No idea where all the paragraphs went there!

I can see paragraphs!

How about testing on your skin. Cut an olive in half and rub it on a small patch of your lower arm. See if that provokes a reaction

I wouldn't. If your throat felt tight you could have real problems breathing next time.

That's an allergy not an intolerance to start with, and not a mild one.

Sometimes allergies get worse with exposure and you should cut it out completely. Sometimes not and you just need to know your limit.

If 'tried' means are a whole bowl, maybe try one slice in a different form?

The oil doesn't mean much. It's probably an allergy to a specific protien/sugar/whatever that might only be in the skin or other part not in oil.

Sometimes the allergen goes away (or appears with cooking), something to do with denatured protien.

Have a look at food pollen syndrome, OP. I tried to post a link but it didn't work. It's possible that you can tolerate olive oil because it has been processed to some extent. I know someone who was allergic to quite a bit of raw fruit but he could eat it cooked without a problem.