Can I ever eat food I tested allergic to again?

August 5, 2004

Rice allergy is uncommon in the United States. It is so uncommon that for many years rice has been considered a "safe" food for allergy sufferers. However, there have been some reported cases of rice allergy in the U.S., and rice is a common allergen in eastern countries where it is a staple food. See my item about rice allergy here.

If you experienced any of the common
Food Allergy Symptoms prior to eliminating rice from your diet, and the symptoms went away when you stopped eating rice, there is a good chance you are allergic to rice. If you continued to experience symptoms after eliminating rice, I'd suggest talking with an allergist about repeating your allergy testing.

Even if you found your symptoms went away after eliminating rice, you may want to talk with your allergist about whether it will ever be safe to introduce rice into your diet again. Your allergist will take into consideration the severity of the allergy shown in the test results, as well as the severity of your allergic reaction prior to and after eliminating rice from your diet. He may do further skin or RAST testing, or a challenge test in his office for rice.

Challenge tests involve introducing minute amounts of a food to determine if it provokes an allergic reaction, gradually increasing the amount of food given. This should never be attempted outside the presence of a physician equipped to deal with any reactions that may occur. See:
RAST, patch, challenge, and elimination testing.

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