Allergic reaction to corn HUSK?!?

[Guest guest]

I've eaten corn and corn products all my life -- corn on the cob

(boiled and raw), canned corn, corn chips, corn syrup (ashamed to say,

but fortunately, we hardly eat anything with it anymore) and never had

a problem. In fact, I've never had any food sensitivities at all.

Tonight we tried a new corn on the cob recipe that calls for leaving

the innermost single layer of the husk on the cob and putting it on

the grill. It tasted really good, but almost immediately after biting

into it, (we had taken the slightly charred husk off, of course) my

tongue started itching - yes, itching, and burning. I stopped, and

told my husband about it (who didn't think it was possible for a

tongue to itch) and waited a while. Nothing seemed too terrible, so I

finished one ear of corn. Then I knew I wasn't imagining things and I

couldn't ignore the symptoms -- my lips, tongue, and throat were all

itching and mildly burning, and I could FEEL the presence of my throat

(does that make sense?). I was having to strain to make my voice the

same volume as normal, and my throat felt restricted; smaller, and

things seems to keep on going downhill. I had my husband pray for me

because I was getting pretty nervous, and he told me to use my

Primatene Mist that I have from a long time ago (for asthma issues

when I didn't have my albuterol) in which the active ingredient is

epinephrine. I took one good puff, and things felt better, but not

normal. I took a second, and things quickly got back to normal. I

know people can develop sudden food allergies at any point in life,

but this? A fairly bad reaction with no precursors? Is it more

likely that cooking it in the husk had something to do with it, since

that is the only variable that is different than other times? (I've

never eaten corn that was heated in the husk before). Any insights or

direction with this would be helpful. It was a scary incident.

[Guest guest]

I wouldn't know exactly what the reaction was to, but you certainly can

develope an anaphylactic reaction at any time in your life. Even to

something that you have previously eaten with no problem. Could it

perhaps be a chemical that they corn had been sprayed with? Maybe you

usually don't react because it is on the husk and you take it off, but

this time it got baked into the corn? Bertie

[Guest guest]

I think there might definitely be something to your chemical on the

corn husk that got cooked into the corn theory. My husband pointed

out also that corn is a very heavily sprayed crop. 2 nights after the

reaction, we completely shucked the rest of the corn, and boiled it.

I tentatively took bites, and there was no problems. I ate one ear,

just as before. More reasons for organic -- our Farmer's Market is

just getting going here, and the stores haven't carried organic corn

on the cob yet.

Thanks for your reply.

--meadowtalk

>

> I wouldn't know exactly what the reaction was to, but you certainly can

> develope an anaphylactic reaction at any time in your life. Even to

> something that you have previously eaten with no problem. Could it

> perhaps be a chemical that they corn had been sprayed with? Maybe you

> usually don't react because it is on the husk and you take it off, but

> this time it got baked into the corn? Bertie

>