Allergic sensitization to food can occur through skin exposure. We investigated anaphylactic cases due to carmine, a food additive extracted from Dactylopius coccus.
B) Methods:
Screening all patients, who visited our department from January 2000 to December 2009, we identified two new such cases. Both had history of rash induced by certain cosmetics containig carmine. We further investigated previous case reports of carmine allergy, whether skin sensitization antedated food allergy or not.
C) Results:
Case 1: A 26-year-old woman visited our hospital because of anaphylaxis occurred within 5 minutes after ingesting a Japanese YOKAN (sweetened and jellied bean paste). IgE antibodies against common food allergens including beans and wheat were all negative. As the paste contains carmine, we tested specific IgE antibody, which was positive. She had been avoiding using certain cheeks and lips for two years, since they cause erythema. These cosmetics emerged as containing carmine. Abstaining from the food additive made her free from anaphylaxis.
Case 2: A 30-year-old woman came to our hospital for dyspnea, uriticaria, and bilateral blepharedema, immediately after drinking Campari soda. Her past history was prominent, as she had four episodes of anaphylaxis in four years, requiring emergency transport twice. All anaphylactic episodes occurred in Italian restaurants when she drank cocktails, which might contain carmine in Campari soda. She had been also sensitive to certain rouges since several years before the first onset of anaphylaxis. It became clear that the rouges contained carmine.
In literatures, we found 22 cases with allergy to ingested carmine. It is surprising that all cases were women (aged 25 to 52), while occupationally sensitized patients are predominantly men. As far as we could know, 85.7 % of (6/7) mentioned cases had previous history of sensitization to cosmetics containing carmine.
D) Conclusions: In many cases with allergy against ingested carmine, the route of first sensitization was not intestine but skin. This is similar to suspected peanut sensitization mechanism and might be a paradigm of food allergy. As allergic reaction to carmine mainly directed to impurities, using highly purified carmine is desired not only for foods but also for cosmetics.