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   Table of Contents
  • Food Allergy and Intolerances
  • Symptoms of a Food Allergy
  • Common Food Allergies
  • Cross Reactivity
  • Differential Diagnoses
  • Diagnosis
  • Exercise-Induced Food Allergy
  • Food Allergy Treatment
  • Infants and Children
  • Controversial Issues
  • Controversial Diagnostic Techniques
  • Controversial Treatments
  • Summary
  • Keeping On Top of Your Condition
  • Resources
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    Cross Reactivity



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    If someone has a life-threatening reaction to a certain food, the doctor will counsel the patient to avoid similar foods that might trigger this reaction. For example, if someone has a history of allergy to shrimp, testing will usually show that the person is not only allergic to shrimp but also to crab, lobster, and crayfish as well. This is called cross-reactivity.

    Another interesting example of cross-reactivity occurs in people who are highly sensitive to ragweed. During ragweed pollination season, these people sometimes find that when they try to eat melons, particularly cantaloupe, they have itching in their mouth and they simply cannot eat the melon. Similarly, people who have severe birch pollen allergy also may react to the peel of apples. This is called the "oral allergy syndrome."

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