[Sca-cooks] Cooking with allergens- alert

[Philippa Alderton]

--- Gorgeous Muiredach <muiredach at bmee.net> wrote:

> However, in my case (note I point out my case, as I
> realize it's not the
> same with everyone), handling of the beasties does
> not increase risks.  I
> state this because I did work with a couple
> specialists on the
> issue.  Having worked in the food field for nearly
> 15 years, I *needed* to
> know what I could safely do or not.
>
> For me, it is actually the ingestion, and
> processing, of iodine.  So in
> fact, it's not so much the crustaceans per se that
> I'm allergic to, as the
> iodine level found in their meat.
>
> Interestingly enough, other high iodine content food
> have proven to be
> rather harmless to me, such as oysters.

OK, what you're telling me here is that you have a
very specific allergy to a very specific iodine
compound, which is probably not present (or isn't
present in threshold level quantities) in other
shellfish such as oysters, but is in crustaceans. It
likely is relatively safe for you to handle them,
BUT....

Please be aware that cutting your hands with bits of
their shell, and immersing your hands in their juices.
could trigger the allergy- it's unlikely to be as
devastating as ingestion would, but could still cause
you rashes and other unlovable symptoms, and would
actually be worsening your base allergy. Ever hear of
scratch tests? ;-)

Your life is your own- live it as you choose. Just,
please, be careful, and be aware.

Phlip

Curiosity here- do you have the same reaction to
freshwater crustaceans, such as crawdads?

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