Salicylates in Food

Sensitivity to Aspirin, Anti-Inflammatory Painkillers (NSAIDS), Food Additives and Salicylates

This sensitivity can be difficult to diagnose as a number of different medication (painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs) several common food additive (dyes and preservatives and in some cases a naturally occurring food substance (salicylate) might all be involved.
Different symptoms can be caused, including urticaria (nettle rash) angioedema (allergic tissue swelling) nasal polyps and asthma. In rare cases the drugs listed can cause severe and even dangerous reactions, and if you have been advised to avoid them, you should do so with care.
Sensitivity to food additives and salicylates is highly unlikely to be as dangerous, but the only way to diagnose it is to see if frequent symptoms disappear when these foods are avoided.

Salicylates are aspirin-like substances found naturally in a number of different foods, especially certain fruits and vegetables, dried herbs, spices , and alcoholic drinks. Some patients who are sensitive to aspirin and the NSAIDs may get symptoms after eating these foods. However, we do not recommend that patients with known aspirin allergy avoid salicylates simply as a matter of course. For example, research has shown that most aspirin sensitive asthmatics are not affected by high salicylate foods.