Even if the worst food allergies begin during your childhood, seafood allergy stands out. If you consult an allergist, they will tell you that seafood allergy can develop anytime in your life. However, it is more present during adulthood. It could be caused by the foods that you ate before without issues.

Seafood allergy is the most common onset food allergy among adults. Therefore, you might be surprised that one day you will just develop a seafood allergy even if you never had it before.

You will discover more about this allergy as you read further.

Which ones are Considered Seafood?

Seafood pertains to any fresh and saltwater fish, shellfish, and crustaceans. Common examples are:

• Fish: Bluefish, anchovy, bass, catfish, carp, cod, char, haddock, flounder, herring, halibut, sardines, mahi-mahi, salmon, and tuna
• Shellfish: Clams, abalone, mussels, conch, oysters, octopus, sea snails, scallops, and squid
• Crustaceans: Crayfish, crab, prawns, shrimp, and lobster
• Others: Kamaboko and surimi, caviar and roe, and tarama

It is not Rare

While figures range per country, about 1% of the population suffers from this type of allergy. Teenagers and adults experience it more compared to early childhood. Approximately 20% grows out of their allergy over time.

Symptoms of Seafood Allergy

You need to see an allergy doctor if you experience any of the following symptoms after consuming seafood:

• Flushed face, rash or hives, red and itchy skin
• Swelling of the eyes, lips, face, tongue, and throat
• You have trouble swallowing, speaking, or breathing
• Itchy skin
• Vomiting, diarrhea, and cramps
• You experience distress, anxiety, paleness, fainting, weakness, and a sense of doom
• Your blood pressure drops, have a rapid heartbeat, and loss of consciousness

How is it Diagnosed?

Seafood allergies are more seen in adults and less common among children. An allergist will be able to confirm if you suspect that you are allergic to seafood.

Cooking Sometimes Affect Your Tolerance

Normally, seafood allergens are heat stable and cooking cannot easily destroy them, but sometimes individuals can tolerate tinned fish. However, they are unable to tolerate the same type of fish if it is freshly cooked. You should not try tinned fish unless your doctor advises you to.

How You Can Avoid Seafood

It is easy to avoid buying or cooking seafood, but there are many ingredients added to food that is made from seafood. You must always check the labels on processed or packaged foods. Watch out for these:

• Oyster sauce and fish sauce
• Marinara sauce
• Fish stock
• Fish paste
• Prawn crisps and prawn crackers
• Sushi
• Caesar salad
• Cooking oil
• Pizza
• Krill or fish oil supplements
• Cooking oil that was used for cooking fish

If you order a meat curry, they might have used the fish sauce to cook it. You should tell the waiters that you are allergic to seafood and your meal should not have any seafood in it, even if it is just oyster sauce or fish sauce.

Fish oil supplements are highly unlikely to cause any adverse reaction, but you should still avoid them.

Some people are extremely sensitive to any type of fish that they can react even to the steam produced from cooking fish. This is more common in children with asthma.

You should look for an allergy specialist Manassas VA who will tell you everything you should know because you should stay away from seafood no matter what.