Who Gets Soy Allergy?
Although soy allergy occurs most often in infants and children, it
can appear at any age and can be caused by foods that had been
previously eaten without any problems. Many infants can lose their
allergy by the age of 5.
Soybeans are legumes. Other foods in the legume family include
peanut, navy beans, kidney beans, lima beans, string beans, pinto
beans, chickpeas (garbanzo beans), lentils, peas, black-eyed peas,
and licorice. Some people with soy allergy may have a reaction
after eating other legumes. If you have soy allergy, you should
talk with your doctor about what other legumes you might need to
avoid.
What Are the Symptoms?
Allergic reactions to foods usually begin within minutes to a few
hours after eating the food. The severity of symptoms can vary
widely from one person to another. Mildly allergic persons may have
itching and a few hives while severely allergic persons may
experience severe, life-threatening symptoms such as breathing
problems or swelling of the throat. The symptoms of food allergy
may include any or several of the following:
- Itching
- Hives
- Eczema
- Tingling or swelling of the lips, tongue or throat
- Chest tightness, shortness of breath or difficulty
breathing
- Wheezing
- Abdominal pain
- Nausea, vomiting or diarrhea
- Dizziness
- Fainting
- Anaphylaxis: sudden, severe, potentially fatal, systemic
allergic reaction that can involve several areas of the body
How Do I Avoid Exposure?
If you have soy allergy, strict avoidance of soy is the only way to
prevent a reaction. Avoiding products made with soy is difficult
because soy is contained in many processed food products The Food
and Drug Administration (FDA) requires food manufacturers to list
common food allergens on food labels in plain terms to make it
easier to identify the food allergens. Food labels must clearly
list eight allergens which account for almost 90 percent of all
food allergies: cow's milk, soy, wheat, egg, peanut, tree
nuts, fish, and shellfish.
The common allergens are listed either within the ingredient
list or after the list. For example, if a product contains natto, a
food made with fermented soybean, the product's label should list
the term "soy" either after the term natto, or state
"contains soy" after the list of ingredients. The FDA
currently does not require manufacturers to state if the
food was processed in a facility that also processes the 8 common
food allergens.
Anyone allergic to soy should avoid the following ingredients
and foods:
- Soy: in all forms, including soy flour, soy fiber, soy
albumin
- Soy milk
- Soybean (curd and granules)
- Soy protein and hydrolyzed soy protein
- Soya
- Soy nuts and soy sprouts
- Soy sauce and shoyu sauce
- Tofu and textured vegetable protein (TVP)
- Edamame
- Miso
- Natto
- Tempeh
- Tamari