Itchy mouth after a smoked horse meat sandwich, and sneezing in the stables? Horse meat is a niche food in most of Europe, but in the Netherlands, Belgium and parts of Germany it is still on the menu. Our test checks your blood for IgE to horse meat, as part of 300 allergens and allergen components, next to horse dander, mare's milk and other red meat.
Horse meat contains horse serum albumin. The same protein, called Equ c 3 on lab reports, is in horse dander, so people who ride or work with horses can become sensitised by breathing it in. Some of them then show IgE to horse meat too.
Serum albumins from horses, cattle, pigs, cats and dogs look alike, so horse meat IgE can also appear in people sensitised to beef, pork or cat albumin. Horse meat also carries alpha-gal, the tick-linked sugar shared by most mammal meat.
Reports after eating horse meat include itching in the mouth, hives, swelling, stomach cramps and vomiting. Serum albumin is sensitive to heat, so smoked, dried or raw horse meat is more likely to be named than a long-braised stew. With alpha-gal, reactions are usually delayed by two to six hours.
Swelling of the lips, tongue or throat, trouble breathing or feeling faint after eating, even hours later, is an emergency. Call 112 (EU) or your local emergency number. Do not wait for a test.
Plenty of riders are sensitised to horse albumin and never eat horse meat, or eat it without trouble. A positive horse meat result shows that your blood recognises horse meat proteins. It does not tell you that you will react.
If you have reacted to horse meat or to horses, take the result to a doctor, who can read it with your horse dander and other meat results.
From your finger-prick sample, the lab measures IgE to a whole horse meat extract as part of 300 allergens and allergen components. Horse dander components, including horse serum albumin, are on the same panel. Your lab report gives each value a class from Negative to Very high.
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One finger-prick sample checks IgE to 300 allergens and allergen components, from birch and peanut to cat and house dust mite. Post it to the lab, and about 5 days after it arrives you get a value for every one. Our plain-English guide shows you how to read them. €399 in total, €1.33 per allergen.
Not necessarily. Horse dander and horse meat share horse serum albumin, so some people sensitised to horses also show IgE to the meat. The panel measures both. Talk to a doctor before eating horse meat if you react to horses.
Horse serum albumin is sensitive to heat. Long cooking breaks it down more than smoking or drying does. That is a common explanation for this pattern, which a doctor can check against your results.
No, it is rare, partly because few people eat horse meat. It is most often seen in people who already react to horses or to other red meat.
