Description
Squid Allergy Test
Code: f258
Latin name: Loligo edulis, Loligo vulgaris
Source material: Squid meat
Family: Loliginidae
Squid is a food which may result in allergy symptoms in sensitised individuals.
Squid Allergy Test: Allergen Exposure
Squid is the name for several species of cephalopods with elongated bodies, large eyes, eight arms and two tentacles. They are used as food in regional cuisines around the world, and most commercial fishing of squid takes place in Japan, the Mediterranean, the southwestern Atlantic, and the eastern Pacific.
In English-speaking countries, squid caught for food is often called calamari. The body can be stuffed whole, cut into flat pieces, or sliced into rings. The arms, tentacles, and ink are also edible. In Japan, squid is often eaten raw, as sashimi, or deep fried in batter (tempura).
Squid is a good source of zinc and manganese, and is also high in copper, selenium, vitamin B12, and riboflavin.
Squid Allergy Test: Allergen Description
No allergens present in squid have yet been fully characterised, although a tropomyonsin has been detected. The allergens appear to be present in the body, ink and tentacles of the squid.
Squid Allergy Test: Potential Cross-Reactivity
Cross-reactivity between species of squid could be expected but does not necessarily occur, even given the close interrelatedness of species.
Cross-reactivity among squid and shrimp and other crustaceans (lobster, crab) was demonstrated, but none between squid and octopus.
Where cross-reactivity has been reported, this has been attributed to the presence of the panallergen tropomyosin rather than to the relationship between species.
Squid Allergy Test: Clinical Experience
Hypersensitivity to squid may induce symptoms of food allergy in sensitised individuals. In reports on squid allergy, patients generally had immediate hypersensitivity reactions after eating squid or inhaling vapours while cooking squid.
In a study of 35 shellfish-allergic patients, no significant difference between raw and boiled squid or octopus was found, indicating that the allergens present are most likely heat-stable.
Shellfish, particularly octopus and squid, is one of the most commonly consumed seafoods in Spain. Shellfish is one of the most frequent causes of food hypersensitivity in this population and is the leading cause of food hypersensitivity in patients over 5 years of age.
In 48 Spanish adults with crustacea allergy, the most frequent causes of symptoms were shrimp and squid; the most frequently found symptoms were urticaria/angioedema, asthma, and rhinitis.
In 7 patients who had had symptoms highly suggestive of IgE-mediated reactions after ingesting squid or inhaling vapours from cooking squid, the symptoms reported were nasopharyngeal pruritus, rhinoconjunctivitis, asthma, nausea, vomiting or diarrhoea, and urticaria and angioedema.
Anaphylactic reactions after consumption of squid by patients sensitised to house dust mites have been reported several times.
Possible exercise-induced anaphylaxis after eating both shrimp and squid has been reported.
Occupational allergic contact dermatitis from squid has been reported.
Other reactions
It may be useful to evaluate anglers for sensitisation to squid, if they are found to be allergic to bait. This is suggested by a report on an angler, who used maggots as bait and suffered with rhinoconjunctivitis for years. He was found to be allergic to maggots and also sensitised to squid and, to a lesser extent, to prawns.