Cottonseed Oil

Jaspenelle
by Jaspenelle
Tue
23
Sep
2008
8:22am
Posted in sub-blogs:
Tagged as , , ,
17 Comments

A couple people have asked me about the cottonseed oil allergy I mentioned the other day. I know it is a rather bizarre allergy, but it has become a pretty serious thing.

It is something that has bothered me for awhile, especially since I have been in the USA (it is in everything processed and some other things too, like salted peanuts!) This allergy has been getting progressively worse. It use to give me hives, then a year or two later it started giving me a full body rash. I pretty much solidly avoided it after that, which isn’t hard since I don’t eat processed food. I have to watch some homemade goods, especially pastry, since shortening is 100% hydrogenated cottonseed oil.

The other day I had a bit of a scare. I ate something which I shouldn’t have, a biscuit, I even knew I shouldn’t be eating it. (It’s not your fault Ginanne! It’s mine!) No rash or hives though! I thought I was okay but then I got really thirsty, my throat felt really dry and tight and I was light headed. I got Michael to get me some water and I had a really hard time swallowing it. I tried to cough and that didn’t work, then I started wheezing with every breath which scared everyone (including me!) and my chest hurt.

Michael realized what was happening first I think. He asked what I had eaten and then it dawned on me too. He got an antihistamine from his mom and after a few minutes it felt somewhat better. I don’t know if it helped or it was just the reaction fading.

I am assuming this is a progression of the allergy? I’m wondering if I should be carrying Benadryl or something like that around with me, just in case. (Since I would only take it in the rare instance where I eat the wrong thing I don’t think it would impact my milk supply.)

I have never really had a bad food allergy so I would just like to say, this really sucks. Speaking of which does anyone have a pie crust recipe that does not use shortening?

17 Comments

  1. Ginanne
    Posted Tuesday, September 23, 2008 at 9:36 am | Permalink

    i looked at the ingredients in the biscuits i made and it didnt say cotton-seed oil anywhere.. so yeah, its not my fault :P

  2. Ginanne
    Posted Tuesday, September 23, 2008 at 9:38 am | Permalink

    and i found this http://www.post-gazette.com/food/19990408fmailbox.asp frostings and pastries (and pie crust) without cotton-seed oil.

  3. Jaspenelle
    Posted Tuesday, September 23, 2008 at 10:20 am | Permalink

    :P No it wasn’t! Little worried now, if it wasn’t that, then what was it…

  4. Andrea
    Posted Tuesday, September 23, 2008 at 11:11 am | Permalink

    The best pie crusts actually use (I’m sorry, calorie-counters) a combination of butter and/or lard. I’ll dig up my mom’s recipe, but since shortening was made to be a replacement for lard, it might be a way to go. The purpose of fat in a pastry is to melt between the layers of dough, giving it that flaky texture. Shortening works well because it blends into flour smoothly, without developing the gluten very much. However, slightly softened butter and/or lard will work just as well or better – they melt more naturally, soften more easily, and provide a flakier, tastier crust. This is the same reason you use ice water in most pie crust or pastry recipes – it keeps the fat (in whatever form) cold, so it doesn’t liquefy and melt before it’s in the oven, turning your pastry into a chewy mass instead of a flaky crust.

    Another way to help out your crust without using shortening is to use a low-gluten flour. Gluten is the protein that develops the stretchy, elastic feeling in most bread – I’ll do some research on what kind of wheat one would have to grind to get low-gluten flour, but if all else fails, pick up a small bag of cake or pastry flour.

    To summarize (because I just realized how long this is): use butter, lard, or a blend. Keep everything cold. And try low-gluten flour.

  5. Jaspenelle
    Posted Tuesday, September 23, 2008 at 11:38 am | Permalink

    Thank you! And I have both butter and lard too. As far as flour I have whole wheat of course (which I can grind super fine.) As well as all purpose and bread flour.

    I am trying to build the perfect crust (I like really flaky buttery crusts) for apple pie if your curious, which I like a bottom and top crust for. Is a pastry knife worth buying for the task?

    (Oh, and calorie counting should be illegal for dessert!)

  6. Andrea
    Posted Tuesday, September 23, 2008 at 12:15 pm | Permalink

    I wouldn’t say a pastry knife is worth buying, but a pastry blender (http://www.dkimages.com/discover/previews/869/50042913.JPG) is – it’ll help cut the fat into the flour without developing gluten.

    And yes, it should be illegal :)

  7. mama kelly
    Posted Tuesday, September 23, 2008 at 3:08 pm | Permalink

    Hi hun …

    Definately sounds like a systemic allerig reaction. You might want to invest in the melt-away benedryl strips marketed for kids so you dont have to try and swallow a pill when even water alone is hard to get down.

    Insofar as a crust without shortening here is a recipe I came across for a crust using straight butter:

    http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Butter-Flaky-Pie-Crust/Detail.aspx

    If the biscuits didnt have the cottonseed oil in them you may want to start keeping a food diary to see if you can narrow down other food triggers.

    Blessings

    Mama Kelly

  8. jett
    Posted Wednesday, September 24, 2008 at 1:22 pm | Permalink

    I hate to say this but you should probably see a doc about the allergy thing to 1. figure out what exactly it is and 2. then figure out what the best emergency treatment is. What works best on one thing may not always work on another. Take care of yourself!!!

  9. Zuca
    Posted Wednesday, September 24, 2008 at 2:17 pm | Permalink

    I agree with Jett… Through a doctor you can find what allergy you really have, it might just be something in cottonseed oil thats causing the allergy, thats why the biscuit caused you so much trouble… Once you’ve got that figured out, you can easily check whats going wrong.

    Allergies are tricky things, I’ve studied them in school and I know that the more allergic reactions you have, the stronger they get because the bodies responce strengthens.

    If I remember correctly, it works with the immune system and its responce to things entering the system, so when you’ve had an allergic reaction, the responce to that (and the memory of it) is still fresh in your white blood cells (specific ones) so the moment that substance is entering your system, the responce is stronger, quicker and in the case of an allergy, more destructive.

    So get a doctor to check this out and see what allergy you have.

    Good luck ^^

  10. AZ
    Posted Wednesday, September 24, 2008 at 3:29 pm | Permalink

    Yes, you need to see your doc. Ever heard of anaphalactic shock? You can die from it.

    They can do allergy tests to find out exactly what’s wrong. Do you have insurance? If not, I’ll bet you could probably find a free clinic nearby.

  11. Heather
    Posted Wednesday, September 24, 2008 at 5:43 pm | Permalink

    Need to throw it out there, if your allergies are severe enough that you experience tightness/difficulty breathing/etc, you should probably be carrying an epipen. As a couple others have said, allergies like that can intensify with each reaction, so what was frightening this time could be dangerous the next. And Benedryl may not be tough enough to cover it again. I dunno where you get epipens, though. Doctor prescription, probably.

    The only “alarming” allergic reaction I’ve ever had (which may not have been a reaction) was when I tried taking Cold-FX last time I got sick–my uvula swelled up, and went all pus-colored and was making it very hard to breathe. The doctor said that can happen with colds, but it was a first for me, so I’ve been very careful to avoid anything with ginseng in it ever since.

  12. Ed
    Posted Thursday, October 9, 2008 at 7:04 pm | Permalink

    Crisco – and many other brands of vegetable shortening – are made with a combination of soybean and cottonseed oils.

    I was diagnosed this summer with an allergy to cottonseed. Previously, I was allergic to almonds, but this year I also developed allergies to cottonseed and safflower (e.g. Saffola oil). In June, I was on antihistamines and prednisone every other day for the entire month before I spotted the pattern, and which I then had confirmed by an allergist.

    It peaked the night my throat swelled about 70 percent shut after a day of traveling where I had eaten at two restaurants. One served french bread made with cottonseed oil (who knew?), and the other fried all foods in cottonseed. Fortunately (I guess) due to the almond allergy, I already carried the appropriate medications (antihistamines, steroids and epipens) and my son drove me to an ER where I waited outside, waiting for my own meds to take effect. They did, and I did not have to check in – but I wanted to be near an ER just in case.

    Because cottonseed oil is used in many vegetable shortenings, I have learned to avoid all baked items (from breads to crackers) unless I positively identify that it contains no cottonseed. Many other fake food items sold at grocery stores often contain a list of “may contain any of cottonseed, soy, canola, sunflower oils”. Cottonseed is incredibly common in manufactured foods.

    Cottonseed is said to be a rare allergy and is not one of the “big 8″ that make up 90% of all food allergies. But cottonseed – in the U.S. – is used everywhere and it can be very hard to find safe food when eating out as most restaurants do not know the ingredients used in all of the food they serve, particularly items like baked goods, breads and rolls that they purchase from outside suppliers. Much to my surprise, those are shipped in plain wrappers with no ingredients information.

    Finding A Food Allergen
    An allergist can try to test you for many different food allergens, but realistically, but they are likely to find it if its one of the “big 8″ groups (e.g. shellfish, tree nuts, etc) – and not find it if its rare.

    Better is to keep meticulous records of what you eat. Allergic reactions can occur from minutes to many hours later. In my case, up to 8 to 12 hours later!

    When you have a reaction, document everything you ate plus their detailed ingredients list. After that it becomes a process of deduction.

    It took me 3 months to find the almond allergy cause. It took me about 6 weeks to spot the safflower allergy. And it took me 3 weeks to suspect the cottonseed allergy.

    I then did my own skin prick tests (scratch your skin with the item) and watched the weal develop. I photographed that and then went to the allergist who repeated the tests and confirmed the findings.

    Your best bet is to try and narrow down some possible allergens before you go to the allergist. Good luck!

  13. Ed
    Posted Thursday, October 9, 2008 at 7:10 pm | Permalink

    Couple more items – my local grocery sells a palm-oil based organic vegetable shortening. More expensive than Crisco but works great and I get to live and tell about it :-)

    You should see an allergist to confirm the allergy. Food allergies can have serious consequences.

    The doctor has me take benadryl, and depending on where the swelling is (e.g. tongue, throat), has me take prednisone. I also carry two epi-pens with me but – so far – have not had to use them. The doctor tells me that the benadryl probably has the best initial impact and the prednisone is more for the late phase reaction. Usually takes 30 to 50 minutes for the Benadryl to take effect and stop the swelling, followed by a decrease in swelling at 60 to 90 minutes.

    I carry the meds in a small case attached to my belt, 24 x 7. NEVER go anywhere without the meds.

    Having found the food allergens, and then learned how to scrupulously avoid them, I have had no reactions in 4 months – way cool!

  14. Julie
    Posted Monday, January 26, 2009 at 10:30 am | Permalink

    I too, have had a serious Cottonseed oil and flour allergy since the 80’s. Unfortunately, I forgot about it and it has progressively been ruining my health for the past 20 years. I am an athletic, healthy 45 year old woman (just summitted Island Peak and trekked Everest BC in 2008), but have had an ongoing connective tissue weakness and hives inside and outside my whole body — even was scared with a possible heart attack. This has been stumping my general practicioner for the past year. I finally remembered my allergy to cottonseed and realized I had been eating the pastries in the coffee shop I work in for the last year — almost daily. I made an appt with my prior allergist, and sure enough — I am still allergic. Not only that but I am allergic to rice, bananas, cherries and peaches (to name a few). I have been poisoning myself. Day 5 today (1/26/09) without any cottonseed, rice, etc. and I am feeling better already. What a horrible allergy. Thanks for your website. Julie

  15. Julie
    Posted Monday, January 26, 2009 at 10:38 am | Permalink

    Yes, allergies are EASILY diagnosed and pinpointed through your local allergist and/or immunologist. I swear by it, as by seeing my doc, it has literally saved my life (more than once). I have severe environmental, pollen and food and animal allergies, along with being a chronic asthmatic. Organic, made from scratch food is the only way to beat the allergy deal. Sorry — lots of work, but worth it. Now that I have gone back for retesting, I can get healthy (again!!!). By the way, my specialist said that cottonseed flour my not be a listed ingredient, as a baker only has to put a pinch of it in pastries to make the pastries rise and look scrumtious. NO Baked goods for us cottonseed allergy folks.

  16. Teri
    Posted Friday, March 27, 2009 at 11:39 am | Permalink

    I was allergy tested a few years back. I knew I had some food allergy but could not pinpoint it myself. The allergist tested for cottonseed oil (I knew nothing about it). It’s a known allergen so was part of the food item allergy test. It was the only positive on that part. You DEFINITELY need to keep benadryl on you but also need an epi pen. As my dr. told me, allergic reactions do not follow any rules, and one time you could just have hives while on a different day, the same exposure could kill you. Watch since cottonseed is also used in breads (not the oil itself). I’ve dealt with this for several years now (and a few ER visits with asthma attacks due to it) and have found that it is a very prevalant, commonly used ingredient and also is used even when the ingredients don’t list it (companies sub one vegetable oil for another all the time). Sometimes if I’m going to eat something questionable (like dining out), I’ll take a benadryl as a precaution anyhow. This works well. Good luck! Also watch out for red wine…I learned that if you are prone to allergies, the histamines in red wines can aggrevate it. I had to cut out all merlot and pinot noir but it definitely helped.

  17. Mandi
    Posted Thursday, April 23, 2009 at 6:16 am | Permalink

    I don’t know how long ago you blogged about Cottonseed Oil, but since a major allergic reaction to this product I have been doing some research. I had the identical reaction that you did. My throat and tongue began to swell. I am thankful that I work in a Trauma 1 hospital and was seen in the ER and quickly given a shot of epinephrine within minutes. It is important that people are vigilant about what they put in their bodies. I read a study that cottonseed oil has the same protein structure as peanuts and it is very common for someone allergic to peanuts to also be allergic to cottonseed oil. Isn’t it time the FDA imposed a regulation based on that information alone? If I would have known that ahead of time I wouldn’t have taken the chance. I am allergic to peanuts and that information could have saved me a horrific visit to the ER.