Talk to me about seafood allergies (and msg)

[Ottakee]

Allergist came up with seafood allergy and likely MSG for dd today.

[Arcadia]

Did the allergist say which seafood? My dad and my husband’s nieces were allergic to shrimp but could eat other seafood.

 

MSG has a long list of names. Asian snacks and instant noodles typically have msg. Soy sauce contains trace amounts of MSG. Trader Joe’s products are supposed to be MSG free.

 

This news link has a list of other ingredients names that contain MSG http://www.smh.com.au/national/health/avoiding-msg-try-memorising-the-129-terms-food-companies-prefer-to-use-20150804-gir4e4.html

[Ottakee]

Crab, shrimp, lobster are the ones that showed up. Fish with backbones were ok.

[mumto2]

I am allergic to mussels and I know this from bad experiences not an allergy test. I really liked mussels. 😞 I seem to be OK with everything else so I am just very careful when I am someplace where mussels are seriously on the menu. Food wise a trip to Belgium is hard, mussels are everywhere! I never eat things like Paella just in case.

 

Hubby is allergic to a whole long list of foods including msg. Some things like cucumbers he can just pick out of his salad if he really wants to eat it and is normally fine but msg is hard. At home I keep track of my ingredients and we do fine generally. It’s eating out where things can go bad unexpectedly. For him it’s quantity in terms of how sick he feels but I think he always knows when he has been exposed because of the headache. If he has a whole Chinese meal with msg he is miserable, diarrhea etc.

[Ottakee]

The allergist said to avoid major sources of MSG but felt it was like a bucket for her that eating at a chinese place at the food court in the mall tipped her over......boyfriend had crab ragoons (and likely hand holding, kissing, etc), cross contamination of the shellfish to her chicken, and the large amounts of MSG lead to this reaction.  The shellfish is the big one to avoid.

 

Now to get her to understand that this Chinese place at the food court in the mall is NOT good for her to eat at and boyfriend should avoid it as well when with her (or at very least not share food/dishes/pop and wash hands and face and brush teeth before kissing/hand holding).  That might be overkill but she is special needs so we tend to make the "rules" a bit stricter as her judgement isn't the best at times.

 

She has an epi pen and Benadryl with her at all times.