If you’reallergic to eggs, you might be wondering:Can I still eat baked goods that contain eggs?And:If I’m allergic to eggs now, is there anything I can do to improve my chances of outgrowing the allergy?Find out the answers to these questions and more, below.
The Basics About Egg Allergy
It’s important to note that a few vaccines (e.g.,yellow fever) contain small amounts of egg protein because they’re cultured either in eggs or in chick embryos. If you’re allergic to eggs, talk to your healthcare provider to see if and how you can receive needed vaccinations safely.
Can You Eat Baked Eggs If You Have an Egg Allergy?
The short answer is: maybe. Allergists have known for years that people with allergic reactions to eggs, even severe ones, are often able to eat eggs when they are in baked goods such as cakes and muffins. The reason for this wasn’t clear until fairly recently.
A 2019 study analyzed how 54 children with egg allergy reacted on skin testing to raw, pasteurized, orhard-boiled eggs, egg whites, and egg yolks. The results showed that, while all of the children with egg allergy reacted on skin testing to raw eggs and egg whites, and a majority reacted to raw egg yolk, heating the eggs decreased skin response in some of the children.It appears that higher temperatures may alter the egg proteins in ways that make them unrecognizable to allergic antibodies.
Some research has even shown that eating baked egg products may help desensitize you to eggs and reduce the chance of having an allergic reaction.However, don’t try this without guidance from your healthcare provider, because you could induce a serious reaction.
The Bottom Line
If you have a history of egg allergy and you’re not sure whether your body can tolerate a baked egg product, ask your allergist if you should come in for a medically supervised oral food challenge, which can be a way to figure it out. Your allergist may use blood testing, skin-prick testing, or both, and any test results will be used in combination with your history to make a decision about how to proceed.Researchers are also investigating the use of oralimmunotherapyas a possible way to desensitize people to egg allergies.
4 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Caubet JC, Wang J.Current understanding of egg allergy.Pediatr Clin North Am. 2011;58(2):427-43, xi. doi:10.1016/j.pcl.2011.02.014Brossard C, Rancé F, Drouet M, et al.Relative reactivity to egg white and yolk or change upon heating as markers for baked egg tolerance.Pediatr Allergy Immunol. 2019;30(2):225-233. doi:10.1111/pai.13009Tey D, Heine R.Egg allergy in childhood: an update.Current Opinions in Allergy and Clinical Immunology. 2009. 9(3):244-50. doi:10.1097/ACI.0b013e32832b1f00Turner P, Kumar K, Fox A.Skin testing with raw egg does not predict tolerance to baked egg in egg-allergic children.Pediatric Allergy and Immunology. 2014. 25(7):657-61.doi:10.1111/pai.12291
4 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Caubet JC, Wang J.Current understanding of egg allergy.Pediatr Clin North Am. 2011;58(2):427-43, xi. doi:10.1016/j.pcl.2011.02.014Brossard C, Rancé F, Drouet M, et al.Relative reactivity to egg white and yolk or change upon heating as markers for baked egg tolerance.Pediatr Allergy Immunol. 2019;30(2):225-233. doi:10.1111/pai.13009Tey D, Heine R.Egg allergy in childhood: an update.Current Opinions in Allergy and Clinical Immunology. 2009. 9(3):244-50. doi:10.1097/ACI.0b013e32832b1f00Turner P, Kumar K, Fox A.Skin testing with raw egg does not predict tolerance to baked egg in egg-allergic children.Pediatric Allergy and Immunology. 2014. 25(7):657-61.doi:10.1111/pai.12291
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Caubet JC, Wang J.Current understanding of egg allergy.Pediatr Clin North Am. 2011;58(2):427-43, xi. doi:10.1016/j.pcl.2011.02.014Brossard C, Rancé F, Drouet M, et al.Relative reactivity to egg white and yolk or change upon heating as markers for baked egg tolerance.Pediatr Allergy Immunol. 2019;30(2):225-233. doi:10.1111/pai.13009Tey D, Heine R.Egg allergy in childhood: an update.Current Opinions in Allergy and Clinical Immunology. 2009. 9(3):244-50. doi:10.1097/ACI.0b013e32832b1f00Turner P, Kumar K, Fox A.Skin testing with raw egg does not predict tolerance to baked egg in egg-allergic children.Pediatric Allergy and Immunology. 2014. 25(7):657-61.doi:10.1111/pai.12291
Caubet JC, Wang J.Current understanding of egg allergy.Pediatr Clin North Am. 2011;58(2):427-43, xi. doi:10.1016/j.pcl.2011.02.014
Brossard C, Rancé F, Drouet M, et al.Relative reactivity to egg white and yolk or change upon heating as markers for baked egg tolerance.Pediatr Allergy Immunol. 2019;30(2):225-233. doi:10.1111/pai.13009
Tey D, Heine R.Egg allergy in childhood: an update.Current Opinions in Allergy and Clinical Immunology. 2009. 9(3):244-50. doi:10.1097/ACI.0b013e32832b1f00
Turner P, Kumar K, Fox A.Skin testing with raw egg does not predict tolerance to baked egg in egg-allergic children.Pediatric Allergy and Immunology. 2014. 25(7):657-61.doi:10.1111/pai.12291
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