Hives after the Christmas turkey, or an itchy mouth after a turkey sandwich? Turkey allergy is rare, and it usually travels with chicken. Our test checks your blood for IgE to turkey meat, as part of 300 allergens and allergen components, next to chicken, egg and fish, so you can see whether it is turkey alone or poultry in general.
Turkey and chicken are both galliform birds, and their muscle proteins are very alike. Most people sensitised to one poultry meat show IgE to the other too. Isolated turkey reactions are described but are rarer.
The same muscle proteins also link poultry to fish. In fish-chicken syndrome, people with fish allergy react to chicken through shared proteins such as parvalbumin, enolase and aldolase. Turkey has close versions of the same muscle proteins.
Turkey is popular as a lower-fat swap for pork and beef. Cold cuts, frankfurters, kebab meat and mince labelled as poultry often contain turkey. If you react to processed meat and are not sure which animal it came from, check the label for turkey.
Reports include itching in the mouth, hives, swollen lips, stomach pain and vomiting, usually within minutes to two hours of eating. Severe reactions are uncommon but described.
Swelling of the lips, tongue or throat, trouble breathing or feeling faint after eating is an emergency. Call 112 (EU) or your local emergency number. Do not wait for a test.
From your finger-prick sample, the lab measures IgE to a whole turkey meat extract as part of 300 allergens and allergen components. Chicken meat, egg and fish are on the same panel. Your lab report gives each value a class from Negative to Very high.
A positive result shows sensitisation, not a confirmed allergy. If you eat turkey without problems, a result alone is no reason to stop. If you have reacted, take the result to a doctor.
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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.
Often, but not always. Chicken and turkey proteins are very similar, so sensitisation frequently covers both. The panel measures chicken and turkey separately, so you can see both on one report and talk it through with a doctor.
It is described, but rare. Most people who react to turkey also show IgE to chicken. A test shows which poultry your blood recognises.
Not directly. The main egg allergens are not in turkey meat, and most children with egg allergy eat poultry without trouble. Egg and turkey are both on the panel.
