Treating a Reaction

It's good for a kid who has egg allergy to have a plan in case he or she accidentally eats eggs. Work with your parents, doctor, and school nurse to have a plan in place. It may involve having medicine on hand, such as an antihistamine, or in severe cases, epinephrine.

Avoiding Eggs

Kids who are allergic to eggs can become experts at avoiding eggs in the foods they eat. But it can be hard sometimes, so a kid should feel free to ask a parent or other grown-up for help in figuring out if a food is safe. For instance, egg substitutes are actually not OK for kids with egg allergies because they contain egg whites. Here's the way eggs, in their many forms, are listed on food labels:

• dried egg
• egg white
• egg white solids
• egg yolk
• egg solids
• powdered egg
• whole egg

The following ingredients also should be avoided if you have egg allergy:

• albumin
• globulin
• livetin
• lysozyme
• ovalbumin
• ovoglobulin
• ovomucin
• ovomucoid
• ovotransferrin
• ovovitella
• ovovitellin
• silici albuminate
• Simplesse
• vitellin

If you have egg allergy, click here to print out a list of these ingredients that's small enough to carry around with you as a reminder. It's a good idea to keep the above list on a card in your pocket or backpack. Your mom or dad may want to carry one, too. It's tougher when there's no label to check, like when you're at a restaurant or friend's house. The best thing to do is ask before you eat!

If you like baked goods, such as cupcakes or brownies, you can tell your mom or dad to try this substitution in recipes that call for eggs. Use 1 1/2 tablespoons (22.2 milliliters) oil and 1 teaspoon (5 milliliters) of baking powder for each egg.

When you're cutting out eggs, you'll want to make sure you're still getting protein from other foods. Some good ones are meat, poultry, fish, and legumes (beans and peanuts).

If you have more than one food allergy, you might want to talk to a dietitian - a person who knows a lot about eating healthy. But if it's just eggs you need to avoid, your mom or dad can help you eat right. In fact, you can be in egg-cellent health without eggs and that's no yolk!

Reviewed by: Julie Metos, MPH, RD, CDE
Date reviewed: March 2004