Stupid fake crabs

[missmiah]

Today I discovered what I believe to be a tiny little food allergy.

I suspect it stemmed from the lovely and ohhhh so tasty crab meat casseroley whatsit at the Hong Kong Super Buffet. Captain and I have long had our suspicions that the crab meat wasn't really crab meat, but was that faux stuff you can buy on the cheap in large quantities.

A week or two ago we braved Red Lobster for the first time since that ill fated dinner of November, 2004. It was tasty. I had lots of things that used to live under the water. Including some snow crab legs and a lobster butt. Since the meat was still in the shell and I had a devil of a time getting the meat out of the shell with those nut crackers and the tiny little fork you get, I firmly believe that meat was real crab.

No adverse reactions, although I was on the lookout for anything because long, long ago I have vague memories of eating some kind of stuffed deviled crab whatsit out of a claw - The Claw, the CLAW - and breaking out in hives. And while it wasn't life threatening and my family and my pharmacist all seemed to be amused by it in the end, it did stick with me enough to be have a moment of concern whenever I sit down to eat seafood.

Not tonight though!

Tonight I was all - hee, tasty tasty crabbywhatsit casseroley thing. Is tasty. And vaguely crab like.

And in the car on the way home I realized that oddly enough my lips were both numb and tingly at the same time. As I watched red patches began to form on my face, arms and upper chest. My breathing was fine, so I wasn't panicking or anything. More of a "Well fuck" than anything.

That is, of course, when my dear husband decided to drug me up with antihistamines and watch me sort of wobble around all loopy after a bit until it was time to lie down in the bed and watch TNT until rewil called to tell me I should come back to the computer, at which point I could feel my lips again so all was good with the world.

Comments

[missdiane.livejournal.com]

Fake crab is whitefish - are you allergic to fish? Also, by the last bouts of ick - shrimp seems more likely as shellfish allergies are more common than regular fish allergies. Though I hope you're feeling better in any case.

[missmiah.livejournal.com]

Shrimp is love and I've never had any problems with it before. Also, I regularly eat tuna, shrimp and salmon sushi with no ill effects.

I think it's not the whitefish so much as the stuff they put on it to make it into fauxcrab.

[missdiane.livejournal.com]

Quite possibly - if you have sensitivity to egg, scallop or starches. I also found this tidbit which may make you want to avoid pollack just in case.

Surimi: Something fishy

Jon J. Musmand, MD et al

Surimi (derived from a fish) is a common hidden seafood allergen.

"This case report demonstrates that a patient allergic to fish may have a significant allergic reaction to surimi. In a previous study, Helbling et al investigated the allergic potential of surimi in a group of 30 adults allergic to fish. Fifty percent (15 of 30) of the group had positive skin test responses to both pollack and surimi extracts. Further, 30% of the group had positive RAST responses to surimi and pollack. The authors demonstrated cross-reactivity between a surimi-derived pizza topping and several fish species, including pollack."

Reference: JACI September 1996. Volume 98. Number 3

[missdiane.livejournal.com]

As well as this:
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CEED9173FF937A15752C1A964958260&sec=health&pagewanted=print

Yow...well at least you're not the only one.

[missmiah.livejournal.com]

Okay, that does not reassure me at all.

Well crap.

[missdiane.livejournal.com]

Awww, but think of the bright side, if you ask at the restaurant and it's fake crab and you know not to eat it or pollack, you've got a very good chance of not having a reaction.

So you can still munch on plenty of nummy shrimp, crab, lobster and other fish! :D