Can Dark Chocolate Cause Allergic Reactions?
Chocolate provides a fine example of why it's sometimes difficult for clinicians to accurately diagnose an allergy. Large numbers of Americans will tell you, with varying degrees of regret, that they're allergic to chocolate. Yet, true allergies to cocoa itself, chocolate's main component, are clinically rare. The explanation lies in the variety of ingredients found in most chocolate products, including dark chocolate.
If you are experiencing serious medical symptoms, seek emergency treatment immediately.
Allergies and Sensitivities
In some individuals, specific foods cause a number of adverse reactions. With a true food allergy, your body mistakes a protein in the offending food as a threat. Your immune system reacts by assaulting the perceived infection with responses including antibodies and histamines, which cause a range of unpleasant effects. Foods can also trigger unpleasant reactions that don't involve your immune system, which are referred to as sensitivities or intolerances. Intolerances are generally less severe than allergies, though they can still be remarkably painful or inconvenient.
- In some individuals, specific foods cause a number of adverse reactions.
- Foods can also trigger unpleasant reactions that don't involve your immune system, which are referred to as sensitivities or intolerances.
Pure Chocolate
Allergic Reaction to Hair Product: Scaly Dry Rash on Neck
Learn More
Pure chocolate is derived from cocoa beans, the seeds of a small tropical tree. They are fermented, dried and then roasted to make chocolate. Chocolate's two primary components, cocoa and cocoa butter, are usually separated as part of the manufacturing process. Cocoa contains chocolate's active ingredients, including the stimulants caffeine and theobromine, and its flavor compounds. Cocoa butter is the fat that gives pure chocolate its richness and texture. Allergies to one or the other are rare, but known. You might also be intolerant of caffeine or theobromine, which would produce an adverse reaction.
- Pure chocolate is derived from cocoa beans, the seeds of a small tropical tree.
- Chocolate's two primary components, cocoa and cocoa butter, are usually separated as part of the manufacturing process.
Dark Chocolate Products
Commercial dark chocolate contains a variety of additives designed to improve its texture, flavor, shelf life, handling characteristics and profitability. Many of these are known to be either allergens or common intolerance triggers. The best brands add only sugar, soy lecithin and vanilla, but lower-quality dark chocolate might contain dairy products, soy or egg-derived lecithin, gelatin, and corn syrup or other sweeteners. Cross-contamination at the factory can also result in trace amounts of eggs, nuts, peanuts, gluten or other allergens. Lower-quality dark chocolate also includes a variety of emulsifiers, preservatives and antioxidants that might cause reactions in sensitive individuals.
- Commercial dark chocolate contains a variety of additives designed to improve its texture, flavor, shelf life, handling characteristics and profitability.
- Lower-quality dark chocolate also includes a variety of emulsifiers, preservatives and antioxidants that might cause reactions in sensitive individuals.
Diagnosis
Can People Who Are Allergic to Chocolate Eat White Chocolate?
Learn More
It can be difficult for your doctor or allergist to differentiate between a true chocolate allergy and a sensitivity to chocolate ingredients. It usually requires numerous tests to get a feel for which ingredients might be to blame, and to verify them. A true chocolate allergy produces a reaction with pure non-alkalized cocoa, but an intolerance to various ingredients can take a long time to nail down accurately. If you're genuinely chocolate allergic, you might be able to eat low-quality commercial chocolate candy 3. If you react to the additives, you might be able to eat the better grades of pure chocolate.
- It can be difficult for your doctor or allergist to differentiate between a true chocolate allergy and a sensitivity to chocolate ingredients.
- A true chocolate allergy produces a reaction with pure non-alkalized cocoa, but an intolerance to various ingredients can take a long time to nail down accurately.
Related Articles
References
- "On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen"; Harold McGee; 2004
- "The Professional Pastry Chef"; Bo Friberg; 2002
- "Cephalalgia"; Chocolate is a Migraine-Provoking Agent; C.M. Gibb, et al.; May 1991
- Lindt USA: Frequently Asked Questions
- Camps-bossacoma M, Abril-gil M, Saldaña-ruiz S, Franch À, Pérez-cano FJ, Castell M. Cocoa Diet Prevents Antibody Synthesis and Modifies Lymph Node Composition and Functionality in a Rat Oral Sensitization Model. Nutrients. 2016;8(4):242. doi:10.3390/nu8040242
- Rodríguez-lagunas MJ, Vicente F, Pereira P, Castell M, Pérez-cano FJ. Relationship between Cocoa Intake and Healthy Status: A Pilot Study in University Students. Molecules. 2019;24(4). doi:10.3390/molecules24040812
- Rossini K, Noreña CP, Brandelli A. Changes in the color of white chocolate during storage: potential roles of lipid oxidation and non-enzymatic browning reactions. J Food Sci Technol. 2011;48(3):305-11. doi:10.1007/s13197-010-0207-x
- Nemours. Food allergies: how to cope. Reviewed September 2015
- McGee, Harold. On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen. "Chapter 12: Sugars, Chocolate, and Confectionary." Rev. Ed. New York: Scribner. 2004.
Writer Bio
Fred Decker is a trained chef and certified food-safety trainer. Decker wrote for the Saint John, New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal, and has been published in Canada's Hospitality and Foodservice magazine. He's held positions selling computers, insurance and mutual funds, and was educated at Memorial University of Newfoundland and the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology.