A Dairy-Free Allergic Reaction You Won't Believe

Parents go to great lengths to monitor their allergic children's foods to ensure that nothing harmful is contained therein. Stefania Paciocco's son Gabriele was known to be allergic to milk, tree nuts, peanuts and eggs. She made his cookies from scratch. So when Gabriele started to scratch his throat after cookies made with special dairy-free chocolate chips, Stefania assumed the chips were the problem. They were. But not in the way you might think.

From a fascinating article, Ten unusual allergic reactions revealed, made by ABC News.

Paciocco suspected her son was allergic to chocolate, but the boy's doctor did not initially believe it.

"Even I was skeptical," said Dr. Harvey Leo, a pediatric allergist and immunologist at C.S. Mott Children's Hospital in Ann Arbor, Mich. "Chocolate allergies are really rare," he explained, adding that most reactions to chocolate either are not true allergic reactions or they come as a result of exposure to nuts or milk in the chocolate chunks.

However, after some persistence by Paciocco, a skin test and a food challenge showed Gabriele, indeed, had the allergy.

"I was shocked because I love chocolate," said Paciocco. "And I felt bad. He can't have a chocolate bar?"

In the end, both parent and doctor agreed persistence paid off in confirming an unusual and potentially dangerous allergy.

"I don't think patients should be afraid to challenge their doctor," said Leo.