Tea and common (or un-common) Allergins

I don’t have any allergies to tea things in tea but I always thinks it’s funny when my mom sees my tea. She gets scared for me because she says it looks like grass and who knows where it could have came from. smh . . . lol

I am allergic to any sort of artificial flavoring, and that might be your issue.

It might be sulphites. They’re a preservative used in dried fruit and are used extensively in flavored teas.

I have issues with red rooibos but not green rooibos, nor any other tea. Red rooibos gives me horrid headaches/migraines – which I suffer from chronically anyway. I believe it is the tannins in the rooibos that causes the issue; the same thing happens when I drink red wine.

My mom is allergic to hibiscus – which is in almost every fruity and herbal-y tea/tisane. It causes her throat to close up, almost like she has a cold.

She also has the same issue with red rooibos that I do, which makes sense, since my migraines are hereditary!

I am not going to be very much help because I don’t have an answer, but I just wanted to UNITE as someone who has to be careful of tea flavorings- I do not do milk and there are a lot of caramel/chocolate teas out there that slip milk into their ingredients without specifically listing it, so I am the annoying one who always emails companies asking if their products are vegan. :) Hopefully once you find out what you’re allergic to it will be easy to spot in ingredient lists! Good luck! :)

Oh lordy don’t get my started on my tea allergies… I know most people here are likely tired of hearing me gripe about them :)
but since you asked…
I’m slowly learning what works for me and what doesn’t. Earl Grey (Bergamot) and Jasmine Oil turn me right off. I get super nauseous if I push it(been there/done that. NOT a good idea). I have a hard time swallowing the tea, like a lump in my throat… almost as if my body wants to reject it before it’s too late. Also, they don’t taste like what they are supposed to, for me. Jasmine has an eggy sort of flavour, and Bergamot tastes like soil. Certain green teas don’t sit well with me either but to a lesser degree. Jasmine leaves vs the oil seem to be ok in small degrees, say if it’s one ingredient in a blend.
Oh and vanilla additions apparently have the same effect on me, which is a somewhat new development over the last few months. Odd, I can handle it in cakes and such.
Finally, I can’t do coconut shavings. It makes my throat all scratchy.
I hope this info helps! maybe your doctor can help shed some light on the issue. I asked mine but his answer was pretty much: well then don’t drink it if it makes you sick! ha.
Good luck in your tea journey! I hope you figure it out :)

I’m not going to be any help either, but I hope you figure out what it is! The only thing I’m allergic to is kiwi, which has not been in any tea I’ve seen, so I consider myself very lucky.

I have multiple food allergies and the only one that I worry about is corn since it can hide in eco packaging, flavoring and many other places. The other ones are easily avoided or not found in tea, even herbals. Flavored teas or teas that are bagged and in sachets can sometimes cause some anxiety on the first try as I don’t know the corn level found in it I will try things that are considered corn light but still know I will have at least a minor reaction, and my corn reaction is usually not the same twice. I have tried the Verdant puerh grown with the corn from the select box a few moths ago after I gave it an extended 40 min rinse with only an itchy tongue but I now save it for the fiance when he gets in a tea mood and I only drink teas flavored with artificial or natural flavorings that I know have been suspended in a corn solution about twice a month due to the “corn light” issue with reactions ranging from a headache to itchy mouth. Plus we also deal with milk ingredients as the guy has a minor milk allergy.

That being said it does sound like the issue is something to do with the flavorings or preservatives. There could also potentially be something in the packaging but that one would be less likley.

I have noticed a swelling in my throat when I drink Capital Tea’s “Fountain of Youth.” Then today, I got it terribly when I drank a Smith tea. I think I have a slight allergy to something herbal — so far, my best guess is either rose petals, hibiscus, or maybe lemon myrtle. (I need to start tracking those ingredients more closely, and seeing if other teas with either of those ingredients does the same thing.)

I don’t know if you have seasonal allergies, but for me that’s where my problems comes from. I have what they call Oral allergy syndrome. It’s a reaction to fruits and veggies that have a similar structure to your seasonal allergies. In my case, I am highly allergic to pollen and birch which as a cross-reaction with : apple, apricot, cherry, kiwi, peach, pear, plum, cantaloupe, honeydrew, orange, tomato, watermelon, carrot, celery, parsley, white potato, swiss chard, peanut, soybean, aniseed, caraway, coriander, fennel, almond and hazelnut.

I had big enough reactions to be scared for my life, I even used an epi pen once. But ! Luckily, right now, I am only allergic to honey and citrus in general. It’s totally new for me. I am 22 years old and just started reacting to those. Yesterday I bought David’s tea new tea of the month to find out that it may have too much citrus for me to tolerate. It’s the first tea in my life that I may have to discard for this reason :( it’s sad because I like it.