Pseudoallergies itching by additives

Pseudoallergies: Diet can trigger itching

02/27/2014

Many of the foods we consume today come from the can, pack or bag. Frozen pizza, bag soup and Co. are indeed handy, but by no means all people tolerate the flavor enhancers contained therein. Through them and also through dyes and preservatives pseudoallergies can be triggered with itching.

Symptoms as with true allergy
Itchy skin, runny nose and swollen throat: everything points to a common allergy. But often doctors find no evidence of an allergic reaction. If so, then a so-called pseudoallergy could be behind the complaints. The symptoms correspond to those of a true allergy, but the symptoms have a completely different cause. They can be caused mainly by colorants and preservatives in food. The search for the exact trigger is often troublesome for those affected.

Pseudoallergies are much rarer
The term pseudoallergy might suggest that the sufferer only imagines allergic symptoms. But that is not the case. As Richard Raedsch of the professional association of German internists (BDI) said in Wiesbaden, sufferers often suffer greatly. Even though the symptoms are similar in both cases, unlike with real allergies, the immune system is not involved in pseudoallergies. Pseudoallergies are much less common in practice than true allergies. Studies assume that at most one in a hundred people suffer from it. „Therefore, if a patient with the typical symptoms comes into the practice, the doctor will first do an allergy test. For most of them, the trigger for the symptoms has been found“, Jörg Kleine-Tebbe from the German Society for Allergology and Clinical Immunology. „Only if the allergy test remains without findings, a doctor thinks about what else can be behind it.“ One possibility is the pseudoallergy.

Patients expect protracted diagnosis
However, the suspicion of a pseudoallergy is difficult to verify. Raedsch, who works as chief physician at the St. Josephs Hospital in Wiesbaden, said: „There are no blood or skin tests to confirm a pseudoallergy.“ Patients and doctors need to be prepared for a lengthy diagnosis instead. „First of all, I let a patient tell me exactly what he has taken. Then one can try to narrow down which additives a patient responds to with discomfort“, so Raedsch. After that, patients often have to make a so-called elimination diet. „That means you have to completely avoid all ingredients that can trigger a pseudoallergy for a few weeks“, said Christine Behr-Völtzer, Professor of Nutrition Science and Dietetics at the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences. For now, many fruits, ready meals and sweets are deleted from the menu. The nutritionist said that you are on the right track when the symptoms of such a diet improve. „The next step is to find out against which additive exactly one patient with symptoms is reacting.“ Either foods with certain additives are reintroduced, step by step, according to an exact diet plan, or patients take individual tablet supplements in the doctor's office or even in a clinic.

Number of possible triggers is enormous
However, the number of possible triggers for a pseudoallergy is enormous. „In question are, for example, preservatives such as sorbic acid, benzoic acid or sulfur dioxide“, so Raedsch. „Also flavorings in lemonade, in noodle fillings or ready meals are among the triggers. There are also artificial dyes.“ Although many of them are labeled with their E number, some of the flavorings are also found in natural foods such as fruit. Raedesch emphasized that the multitude of possible triggers make the diagnosis so complicated. And Behr-Völtzer said: „The goal is in any case to narrow the triggers as closely as possible.“ After clarifying what exactly causes the problems, the person concerned can learn with the help of a diet counseling, which foods he may eat safely despite his pseudoallergy. „In the end, it's about a patient being able to eat normally again“, so the nutrition expert.

Nutrition with very high quality standard
Nevertheless, the experts warn against exaggerated caution in connection with artificial additives in food. „There are very few patients who can not tolerate modern dietary supplements“, so little tebbe. „Our diet has a very high quality standard. Nevertheless, more and more people are worried about being harmed by modern nutrition.“ Nowadays, many are simply overcautious and already smelled an incompatibility behind every malaise. Behr-Völtzer emphasized that some additives also have a great benefit: „Today we live in such a way that we rarely produce our food completely fresh. Without preservatives, long-term storage would quickly lead to serious illnesses after consumption.“ So those who do not have allergy or intolerance to such ingredients should not worry about their health.

Tricks and deceptions in the indication of food additives
The common practice of the food industry in the indication of additives makes it not just easier for those affected, because many manufacturers advertise their products with such hints as „Without preservatives“, although these are often only exchanged for other ingredients. Consumer advocates warn that consumers will be misled with it. For example, with the hint „Free from flavor enhancers“, who does not really deliver what he promises. Like Martin Rücker from the consumer organization Foodwatch last year to the news agency „dpa explained that products sometimes contained yeast extract instead of the flavor enhancers. „This is not a flavor enhancer before food law, but it has a flavor enhancing effect.“ „Without preservatives“ is also among the clues that could easily deceive consumers. For example, acetic acid has been used to preserve food for thousands of years, but according to law, it does not have to be labeled as a preservative, Silke Schwartau from the Hamburg Consumer Center said last year. Therefore, it is included in many products that have the imprint „Without preservatives“ deceiving. (Sb)