Eating certain fruits and vegetables during peak pollen season could mean a strange for reaction for some allergy sufferers.
It’s an unexpected response called Oral Allergy Syndrome.
So what is it, what are the symptoms and which foods are likely to cause it?
Here’s what to know:
What is oral allergy syndrome?
Dr. Rachna Shah, the allergist and immunologist who heads Loyola Medicine’s pollen count, told NBC Chicago the syndrome is caused by the body confusing pollen and the proteins in certain fruits and vegetables.
“It’s essentially that the pollen and the proteins that are in the fruit, if you look under a microscope, look very similar and your body can’t tell the difference,” she said.
The body then reacts with an immune response similar to how it would with pollen.
Oral allergy syndrome occurs in 50-75% of adults who reported an allergy to birch tree pollen, according to the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology.
What happens if you experience oral allergy syndrome?
The body’s response can depend on the person and the food eaten.
“Some people, when they eat these fruits or vegetables in the raw form, they’ll feel itching inside of their mouth … sometimes you can even get tiny hives or other things like that,” Shah said. “Typically speaking, it’s not any life-threatening reaction, but definitely uncomfortable to have those kind of fruits and vegetables.”
The American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology urged anyone who experiences the following to speak to a doctor:
• Significant throat discomfort;• Symptoms are getting progressively worse;• Symptoms are caused by cooked fruits and vegetables;• Symptoms are caused by nuts;• Systemic reactions after eating raw fruits or vegetables such as hives, vomiting or difficulty breathing.
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Which fruits and vegetables cause oral allergy syndrome?
In spring, the most common foods that can lead to oral allergy syndrome are cherries, apples, pears, carrots, celery and certain other fruits and vegetables, Shah said.
Ragweed pollen, seen more in the fall, can also cause this syndrome, but is associated with other fruits and vegetables like avocado and bananas.
“Some people report symptoms with only one food and others with many different fruits and vegetables. Some people report that only certain varieties of the fruit cause symptoms, for example specific apple varieties,” the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology reported.
Shah said knowing which allergens impact you most can help determine which foods might spark a reaction.
The academy offered the following chart for determining which foods are associated with which allergens:
How can you prevent it?
Eating triggering fruits and vegetables cooked often eliminates the reaction, Shah noted.
That’s because heating breaks down the proteins responsible for the reaction, according to the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology.
Peeling the food beforehand can also be helpful “as the offending protein is often concentrated in the skin,” the group said.
Which allergens are highest in the Chicago area right now?
Grass and tree pollen are extraordinarily high in the Chicago area currently, Shah said.
“So we’re definitely in our, what I think of as like our high spring season. And so it’s when tree pollen is really at its height and then grass pollen is almost at its height,” Shah said. “Probably in one or two more weeks, [grass will] be at its height as well, but both are at high levels.”
According to the latest pollen count Monday, both trees and grass were high, while weed, ragweed and mold were “absent.”
“Today, the tree pollen was so bad that – typically it takes me anywhere from 30 to 40 minutes to do the count – it took me over an hour because there’s just so many pollen grains that are teeny tiny, in particular the mulberry tree,” Shah said.
Loyola Medicine Allergy Count for 5-12-2025Trees – High – MulberryGrass – HighWeeds – AbsentRagweed – AbsentMold – Moderate
— Loyola Medicine Allergy Count (@LoyolaAllergy) May 12, 2025 Read More Details
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