Feeding FAQ: 24+ months – General Nutrition

My two-year-old son has a couple of eating issues, but not the sort where he doesn’t eat. He eats anything and everything in sight but he seems to have intolerances to certain foods.

A while back, we gave him scrambled egg. It reappeared completely undigested about an hour later, and everywhere his sick went, his skin erupted in to what can only be described as looking as if he’d rolled in stinging nettles! So, we concluded he had an egg intolerance and left it at that. He hasn’t had egg in its pure form since – he can eat cake and stuff with egg in, but things like omelettes are completely out of the question.

The same thing happened quite a few months later but we have no idea what it was he ate. We gave him some Piriton and that was that. We tried desperately to think what it was, but there was nothing he hadn’t had before. Then yesterday, he decided to stick the tip of his finger into my husband’s peanut butter on toast. He had the teeny tiny bit that was on his finger, but ten minutes later his face had erupted into hives and lumps and red blotches. We gave him some Piriton and he was OK. The same thing happened with chocolate spread. His breathing was fine in all cases and he wasn’t wheezy at all (except with the egg incident).

Do I conclude from this that he has a nut intolerance? Is this something he’ll grow out of?

He has had other nut products and this has never happened, for example, he’s had Chicken Korma which is nut-based, he’s also had stir fries which are peanut oil based, and he’s had peanuts, stolen from a bag left on the table at my mothers!

I’d suggest you make an immediate appointment with your doctor, just in case he does have a nut allergy. While it seems reasonable that people who have had nuts and had no adverse effects would not have a reaction the next time they encountered the same food, allergies don’t always work that way. And the worrying fact is that, while one reaction may not be life threatening or may not affect breathing, the next may be more serious. This is even more of a concern if the reaction was to a tiny amount, as your son’s was, or to skin contact rather than eating the food. It does seems amazing that such a small amount, just on a fingertip, can result in such a reaction, but they have been known to happen after someone with a peanut allergy was simply kissed by someone who has eaten nuts.

The reaction to chocolate spread may be due to the hazelnuts found in some popular brands of it. While peanuts are actually legumes, like chickpeas, and grow under the ground, about a quarter of people who have a peanut allergy also react to other nuts, known as tree nuts. This does include hazelnuts, also other nuts such as walnuts, Brazil nuts and almonds. Occasionally people who are allergic to peanuts are also allergic to other legumes, such as beans and lentils, but this is unusual.

From what you write, I would also recommend that you discuss the possibility of egg allergy with your doctor. Severe reactions to egg can occasionally occur, though this is generally a milder allergy, particularly among children who tolerate small amounts of cooked egg as your son can. This happens because the heat of cooking alters the chemistry of some of the proteins in egg that cause the allergic reactions, and some egg-allergic people no longer react to them. On the bright side, most children do grow out of egg allergy, about half by the age of three. This is particularly likely for those who can eat small amounts of cooked egg. It is unusual to grow out of a peanut allergy, however occasionally children do. It can be tempting to introduce a food your child has been allergic to if you suspect they may have grown out of an allergy, but it’s imperative to discuss this with a doctor before doing so.

In the meantime, I’d recommend avoiding any nuts, eggs (cooked or otherwise) or products containing them until you have seen a doctor. This means being exceedingly careful to check labels for any nut products (remembering that peanuts are also known as monkey nuts and ground nuts) and eggs. Of course not all foods come with a label, so be prepared to ask lots of questions if eating out, at friends’ or relatives’ houses, or buying goods such as pastries at a bakery. For more information there is an excellent group called The Anaphylaxis Campaign. You can access their very informative website at www.anaphylaxis.org.uk. I am hopeful that this will be a false alarm and that your son will not have ongoing issues with allergies, however I feel that it’s important to be extra careful as the consequences can be very serious.