Mother Talkers

Jelly Bean Allergy?

by jenna

Wed Apr 04, 2007 at 01:05:16 PM PDT

Yesterday I picked up my 3yo daughter from school, and she had been given a little Easter goodie bag. There were about 5 large jelly beans, one Cadbury chocolate egg with a hard candy shell, and one Hershey's Kiss. As a treat, I let her eat the candy on the way home. When I went to take her out of the car, I noticed she had what looked like a rash on her cheek. I thought it was from laying her head against the car seat. A little later I put her down for a nap, and my usually quick-to-go-to-sleep dd would not settle down. After over an hour of trying to get her to calm down for a nap, she finally fell asleep.

So, when I went in to get her when she woke up, I helped her pull her pants down to use the potty. That was when I noticed the rash was actually all over her legs, ankles, arms and back. Poor kid couldn't sleep because she was itching all over! The rash looks almost like bug bites -- lighter welts surrounded by red skin (probably from the scratching). There were blotches all over.

This morning, it looked like it was mostly cleared up, but now and then I see more small blotches appear. I contacted her teacher to see if there was a new food introduced at snack time, and went over her meals for that day. Most of it was regular stuff which she had eaten plenty of times before: a bowl of cereal, milk, an apple. But her snack at school was "special" for their Easter party, she had a "munchkin" donut hole, glazed, with caramel dipping sauce for the Gala apples, and jelly beans from the egg hunt. She has had small amounts of chocolate plenty of times before, too.

Could my kid be allergic to jelly beans?? I'm taking her to the doctor tomorrow, but I was wondering if anyone knew of an allergy like this.

Tags: allergies (all tags)

Permalink | 19 comments

  • Oh, poor Avery! (0 / 0)

    I hope she recovers quickly. Good luck with the doctor's appt tomorrow.

    I have never heard of anyone with a jellybean allergy, but I bet for a kid it would be a real bummer.

    by Elisa on Wed Apr 04, 2007 at 01:10:56 PM PDT

    • Could it be the gelatin? (0 / 0)

      Has she had things to eat with gelatin in it -- like jello?

      by Elisa on Wed Apr 04, 2007 at 01:11:32 PM PDT

      [ Parent ]

      • On occasion (0 / 0)

        She has had Jello, but probably just a couple of times. I know my grandma gave her some around Christmas time. I'm just hoping if it is a food allergy, it's the dye or some random ingredient in jelly beans...that seems like something we can live without. If it's something like wheat, or peanuts, we're in for it.

        by jenna on Wed Apr 04, 2007 at 01:14:17 PM PDT

        [ Parent ]

  • artificial color? (0 / 0)

    Miles has a classmate with an allergy to artificial colors.  Might be that.

    Miles and His Favorites: The World As Seen By a Seven Year Old

    by Hillary on Wed Apr 04, 2007 at 01:19:31 PM PDT

    • That's what I'm wondering (0 / 0)

      We've opened up her diet considerably since age 2, but still limit "junk" food and candy, never allow soda, and at least 50% of what she eats is organic and with as many natural ingredients as possible. Before age 2 it was more like 90% organic. I honestly can't think of another time when she has had jelly beans. There aren't THAT many ingredients in them, these were the old fashioned kind, not Jelly Bellys. If it's anything, artificial colors would be my preference since I think we could pretty easily avoid them.

      by jenna on Wed Apr 04, 2007 at 01:35:07 PM PDT

      [ Parent ]

    • That's what I was thinking (0 / 0)

      I wish you luck figuring it out...!

      Katherine

      by pat of butter in a sea of grits on Thu Apr 05, 2007 at 09:06:54 AM PDT

      [ Parent ]

  • Wow (0 / 0)

    That could be anything.  My kids have food allergies.  They were both diagnosed with a simple blood test called a RAST.  I woul dask the dr about that to start with.  

    Depending on the severity of the allergy if one exists it may not even necessarily be an ingredient in the jellybeans but if the jellybeans were manufactured on equipment that also processed the allergen or were somehow cross contaminated with an allergen in the packaging process.

    by music teacher on Wed Apr 04, 2007 at 01:53:29 PM PDT

  • My best guess (0 / 0)

    would be that it's one of the dyes.  One of my daughter's friends has an allergy to one of the red dyes.

    what's amazing is how many things contain it -- like packaged refrigerated crescent rolls, vanilla frosting in a can -- things that your child is likely to encounter as they grow older and spend more time eating at other people's houses, birthday parties, etc. And, all things that you wouldn't necessarily suspect -- I'd expect red dye in red koolaid but not in white frosting.

    Hope that whatever it is, it is something easy to keep out of her diet.

    Good luck!

    by Lisa in Austin on Wed Apr 04, 2007 at 01:56:47 PM PDT

  • Gluten? (0 / 0)

    That shows up in the most random places, too.
    Good luck with the doctor tomorrow.

    RachelD

    by RachelD on Wed Apr 04, 2007 at 02:25:24 PM PDT

  • Spoke to the Dr. (0 / 0)

    The pediatrician said she didn't think Avery needed to come into the office because it wasn't a respiratory reaction -- she agreed it sounds like hives brought on by an allergic reaction to the artificial coloring in the jelly beans. She recommended we avoid the food (easy enough), and maybe in a few weeks test it out again to see if it's the same reaction. She also said it could take days to leave her system, so seeing the hives come and go is normal and we can treat it with Benadryl, and cortisone cream or calamine. I just went out and bought one of everything, and was glad to see they sell coloring-free kids' Benadryl.

    So, we'll see! This is definitely something I didn't see coming, but the sound of it is she'll be fine, just may have to be careful about artificial food coloring for the forseeable future. Like some of you mentioned, it's crazy how many things contain this stuff that you wouldn't expect.

    Thanks for the comments!

    by jenna on Wed Apr 04, 2007 at 04:04:19 PM PDT

    • I have a friend (0 / 0)

      who's daughter is allergic to red food dye.  The figured it out after she went ballistic after being given cough syrup that had the red dye in it.  It happened again after she ate something containing red food dye.  They put two and two together, and figured she must have an allergy to it.  She described the reaction as though someone had possessed her child... like she had been drugged. Her mood would swing wildly between crying and laughing.  She also had a rash to go along with it.  Whenever her child requires a prescription, she has to request dye free liquid.  

      Best of luck to you.  We have food sensitivity issues in our house too.

      "We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of the dream..."

      by 1plain1peanut on Wed Apr 04, 2007 at 05:11:21 PM PDT

      [ Parent ]

  • A couple of my kids (0 / 0)

    tend to hive up very easily...and we've never been able to pinpoint exact causes.  One of my sons seems to go through phases with it...only once did he require medical attention, however.  In that instant, his entire body hived and he did start wheezing a bit.  He was five at the time.  Only thing we ever figured out could trigger it was a certain brand of dryer sheet fabric softener.  A few years ago, he went through a hiving period again...I had to pick him up from school a few times.  Only connection made was it seemed to happen when he became very warm.  He's almost 17 now, and I don't think he's had an episode of it for a few years.

    My oldest daughter, on the other hand, is very sensitive to MSG and other additives.  They give her migraines and set off real IBS symptoms.  Funny how it must be certain preservatives in certain brands...for instance, she likes the "shake and bake" products for chicken...she can't eat the name brand but if she buys the generic brand she does fine.

    by tjb22 on Wed Apr 04, 2007 at 04:12:35 PM PDT

  • Food coloring (0 / 0)

    My 7yo is allergic to (we think) Yellow Dye #7 - I figured this out when he ate a whole pack of "SpongeBob" candies (UGH! hate even admitting that LOL).  The rash scared me enough to go to the pediatrician, but she said it looked more like allergy, so I did some research.

    Sure enough, food allergy web sites list this food dye as likely to cause rashes in children.

    Without the package, it's hard to track down the culprit, but if you watch for when/if it happens again, you'll be able to see a pattern.

    by Sue in Queens on Wed Apr 04, 2007 at 04:34:31 PM PDT

  • I once got hives from chocolate (0 / 0)

    I was 11 or 12 and completely broke out after eating some Christmas chocolate.  I was really upset because I didn't want to give up chocolate!  However, it hasn't happened since, so maybe it wasn't even the chocolate.

    My brother was allergic to the flavoring used in sodas when he was a kid.  He outgrew it and can have soda now, but it was tough on him when he was in high school and everyone was living on Mountain Dew.

    by cynmill on Wed Apr 04, 2007 at 08:29:08 PM PDT

  • Sympathies (0 / 0)

    My 5 yr old was given a boiled sweet by her class teacher last month and she ate it on the way home from school. After an hour she could not stand still for scratching herself from head to toe. Took her to the Dr who had to give her steroid tablets.
    It was awful. She has eczema and we have always suspected the food colouring was also a no-no for her but it's gonna happen especially at school. She knows all the foods she's not supposed to have but she's only 5!

    I truly hope your daughter grows out of her allergy!

    by Bonnie on Thu Apr 05, 2007 at 03:25:57 AM PDT

    • Poor Thing! (0 / 0)

      It's terrible to see them so miserable, isn't it? I didn't really ever think it would be something she could be allergic to. The odd thing is, just two days before I was talking to my SIL about how glad I was that Avery wasn't allergic to peanuts. My husband is deathly allergic to sunflower seeds, so we kept an eye out for that one. But, I didn't expect food coloring! I guess the good thing is it's just less junk her body will get as she grows up.

      by jenna on Thu Apr 05, 2007 at 07:29:44 AM PDT

      [ Parent ]

      • Peanuts! (0 / 0)

        We have allergies on both sides of the family so our poor kids didn't have much of a chance.
        From what we learnt over the years, an allergy within the family means your child/ren are susceptible to be allergic too and as one gets older one can become more allergic (I have found this for myself, as a kid I used to love nuts now I can't take at all) - not necessarily to the same thing but definitely sensitive - so as a precaution I wouldn't go over board with the nuts of any sort.

        My 5 yr old is also allergic to peanuts and peanut oil which is very common in Oriental foods. But she seems OK with chocolate which my brother cannot even look at (he's allergic to the cocoa and it's found in all sorts of foods you wouldn't expect).

        The positive outcome is that our whole family eats more healthily as a result.

        All the best.

        by Bonnie on Thu Apr 05, 2007 at 10:50:54 PM PDT

        [ Parent ]

    • hi Bonnie (0 / 0)

      You in England? "boiled sweet" "colouring" a bit of a giveaway?

      by Rachel on Thu Apr 05, 2007 at 07:54:59 PM PDT

      [ Parent ]

  • Hi Rachel (0 / 0)

    Yes I am!

    by Bonnie on Thu Apr 05, 2007 at 10:52:09 PM PDT

Permalink | 19 comments