Pork Allergy: Foods to Avoid, Plus Symptoms & Alpha Gal Info

Table of Contents

Let’s take a look at a pork allergy, and foods to avoid if you have a pork allergy. Today I’ll also be sharing general pork allergy information with you (including pork allergy symptoms), and I’ll also touch on alpha-gal syndrome. There’s also a list of pork ingredients, and a list of foods to avoid (or investigate very well) when you’re managing a pork allergy. So, let’s start with some food allergy basics.

What is a Food Allergy?

A food allergy is a response by your IgE antibodies (produced by your immune system) that’s triggered by a protein that your body sees as a threat. In the case of a pork allergy, a person has an allergic reaction when pork meat or anything pork derived is consumed. This is not the same thing as a food intolerance or an autoimmune disease.

If you suspect you have a food allergy, ask your healthcare provider or doctor to refer you to an allergist where a blood test and/or skin prick test can be ordered to determine if you have an allergy. Know that tests are not 100% accurate, but are still a good diagnostic tool.

A “true” food allergy allergic reaction is IgE mediated, and the immune system usually elicits a reaction within immediate ingestion to four hours. Outside of that time frame, it’s usually suspected that you have a food intolerance.

However, there are some types of allergenic diseases that are “true” food allergies and the reactions happen outside of the four hour window (FPIES is a great example of this). Additionally, a person can have a more rare or complex case and suffer from a delayed allergic reaction (which can still be caused by “true” food allergies).

Food allergies can be life threatening and should always be taken seriously. Work with your allergist and healthcare providers to create an action plan that will meet your needs. if you’re experiencing symptoms of a meat allergy and are having a medical emergency, it’s important to use your epinephrine auto-injector (the most common types are an Epi-Pen and AvuiQ) if you have one and seek immediate medical treatment and followup.

Symptoms of a Pork Allergy

Food allergy reactions can vary among patients, as no two people are the same. Some allergy symptoms of a pork allergy include:

Swelling of the Lips
Swelling of the Tongue
Swelling of the Throat
Itchy Mouth and/or Throat
Shortness of Breath
Difficulty Breathing
Wheezing
Skin Rashes
Itching
Hives
Racing Heart Rate
Decreased Blood Pressure or Low Blood Pressure
Impending Doom/Dread
Dizziness
Fainting/Loss of Consciousness
Severe Stomach Pain
GI Distress
Nausea
Vomiting (including projectile vomiting)
Diarrhea
Blood in Stool

These pork allergy symptoms are more on the severe side of the allergic reaction spectrum, and can indicate anaphylaxis. It’s critical that if you see these pork allergy symptoms that you seek immediate medical help. If you have a known allergy, follow your action plan.

There are hundreds of symptoms a person can experience, but it’s important to know three things about pork allergy symptoms and reactions:

Not every reaction is anaphylaxis (severe reactions). People can have a “non-traditional” pork allergy reaction to food and still be allergic to pork.
Should a person experience anaphylaxis, it’s important to seek immediate medical treatment (use your epinephrine injector if you have one). When left untreated, anaphylaxis can lead to anaphylactic shock, which can cause death.
Previous allergic reactions don’t predict future reactions (or the severity), and in some patients, continued exposure to known allergens can cause more severe reactions each time.

A child may talk about a food allergy differently than adults. Many children will say things like “my mouth is spicy” or “there’s a frog in my throat”. They’re trying to express what the reactions feel like to them with language or experiences that are familiar to them. Always take note of these types of statements from a child, as they can indicate a serious medical situation. If needed, don’t hesitate to seek medical treatment.

Alpha Gal Connection

Commonly called a red meat allergy, alpha-gal syndrome is when the body produces an allergic reaction to the galactose-alpha1, 3-galactose (that’s where the name alpha-gal comes from). Essentially, IgE antibodies are produced by your immune system when you consume mammalian meat. One hallmark feature of alpha-gal in many patients is that the reaction is a delayed reaction. It happens outside of the traditional four hour timeframe, but is still a true allergy.

It’s suspected that here in the United States a lone star tick bite can cause this allergy to develop, however, there may be other contributing factors. It’s not something we have loads of scientific data on.

The treatment for alpha-gal syndrome is the avoidance of all mammal meats. Some patients with alpha-gal syndrome must also avoid by-products of mammals such as milk and gelatin, as those have been known to cause allergic reactions in some. If you’re new to the diagnosis, it’s a good idea to keep a detailed food diary (aka food journal) so you’ll know what type of mammal by-products you can consume, should you choose to keep them in your diet.

The good news is that patients who have alpha-gal syndrome can still consume avian animals (chicken, turkey, etc.) along with fish and shellfish.

Pork-Cat Syndrome

This is a specific allergy that’s related to a cat allergy. It got it’s name because of the cross reactivity between a protein made in a cat’s liver (serum albumin) and pork albumin. What it means is that someone with a cat allergy, in rare cases, can also be allergic to pork. Whilst it’s not common, it can have severe and fatal allergic reactions with this medical condition.

Food Challenge: Good Idea or Bad Idea

A food challenge, sometimes called an oral challenge, is when an allergy patient eats a food they’ve tested as allergic to under the supervision of their doctor and/or medical team. The goal of the challenge is to confirm the findings of the test.

There are several steps involved with a proper food challenge, including raising the patient’s heart rate to make sure a reaction doesn’t happen. A lot of people wonder, is this a good idea, or a really bad idea.

Honestly, it depends. Let’s say you had a severe reaction to pork in the last year, and that’s what prompted you to get tested. Since a reaction is already known, in that case, a food challenge would be a bad idea. On the flip side, let’s say you were diagnosed with a cat allergy and wanted to know if you have cat-pork syndrome. In that case, it could be a good idea.

Food challenges are also used to confirm if someone has outgrown an allergy (this is a lot more common in kids). For some kids, they’re diagnosed early with really high numbers on their test results. The food(s) will be avoided for years. During a checkup, the allergist may note that their. numbers have decreased dramatically, and it would be safe to do a food challenge. Many allergy parents are understandably nervous, and some choose to move forward with the challenge.

In some extreme cases, even a reduction in numbers won’t lead allergists to suggest an oral challenge, and that’s because of the other contributing factors. Food challenges are completely voluntary, and you don’t have to do anything you’re uncomfortable doing, nor do you have to subject your children to them. At the end of the day, do what makes sense for you.

Lazy Vegan Lunch Ideas and Recipes by The Allergy Chef — Vegan foods are meat free (and more).

List of Pork Products to Avoid with a Pork Allergy

Here’s a list of food items that are made from pork, or can contain pork. These food ingredients should be avoided by anyone with a pork allergy or alpha-gal syndrome.

Bacon
Bacon Jam
Chichirons
Caul Fat (sometimes called Lace Fat)
Deli Meat
Fatback
Guanciale
Ham
Ham Hocks
Lard
Ground Pork
Pepperoni
Pork Belly
Pork Butt/Shoulder
Pork Medallion
Meat Blends
Meatballs (read the label to see what type of meat its made from)
Sausage (many sausages are put into a pork casing, you’ll need to read the label or contact the manufacturer to learn about the casing)
Trotters

Hidden Sources of Pork

This is a list of pork allergy foods to avoid or investigate very well, as these products and ingredients can contain pork. Read labels well, and contact manufacturers if you have any doubts before buying them.

Artisan Ice Cream (ice cream flavoured with bacon will be the top culprit)
Bratwurst
Broth & Stocks (some are made with ham hocks or pork shanks)
Carbonara
Cassoulet (a bean forward stew made with meat, can be pork, can be other proteins)
Charcuterie Boards (some type of pork or ham is usually involved)
Chops (usually refers to pork chops)
Chorizo
Cracklings
Cutlets (a generic meat term that usually refers to chicken or pork)
Drippings
Gelatin (usually beef derived, can be pork derived, and gelatin is found in a wide range of ingredients including fruit snacks)
Grease
Mortadella
Italian Meatballs
Meatloaf (can be made from a range of different proteins)
Natural Flavoring
Paleo Breadcrumbs (some are made from pork rinds)
Pancetta
Pie Shells (some are made with lard rather than butter or shortening)
Prosciutto
Ribs (this is a generic term but usually refers to beef ribs or pork ribs)
Tenderloin (can refer to beef or pork)
Terrine (more common in fine dining, but can include a very wide range of ingredients, including pork)
Tortillas
Salami
Shared Grills and Shared Fryers
Schnitzel (usually indicates pork, but can be made from other proteins)
Southern Style Foods

Restaurants and a Pork Allergy

Dining out at a restaurant with a pork allergy won’t be easy at first. When you’re new, the best advice I can give you is to eat at a vegan restaurant (also great if you have an egg allergy, milk allergy, or lactose intolerance). The reason why is because there aren’t any animal products used in the production of vegan recipes. Likewise, a vegetarian restaurant is a great option since animal flesh isn’t used in vegetarian recipes (pork gelatin is vegetarian, so still call ahead to make sure menu items will be safe for you).

In the meantime, since you’re new in this scenario, get a handle on shopping, reading food labels, and cooking at home. Once you’re fairly comfortable, then start looking for restaurants to enjoy.

One reason why avoiding pork in restaurants is so difficult is because lard is a very common cooking fat. You’ll find it in restaurants for just about every cuisine type, yes, even seafood restaurants. This article on eating out with food allergies can be incredibly helpful as you start looking for eateries. As you start making calls, you’ll want to ask about shared grills especially, as this is an easily overlooked source of cross-contact. At some restaurants, they’ll be able to cook your food in a clean, separate pan, which will be idea.

Menu Items That Have Better Chances

Here are a few menu items that are less likely to contain traces of pork ingredients:

Chicken tenders and grilled chicken (but there’s that pesky shared grill)
Different Salads
Pasta with simple sauce
Pesto
Side of Fruit
Steamed Fish
Steamed Rice
Steamed Vegetables
Vegan Sandwich

You can start by looking for these types of meals on menus when you’re new to dining out with a pork allergy.

Cross-Contact: What Is It?

Cross-contact, which some people incorrectly but also technically correctly call cross-contamination, is something everyone with a food allergy needs to know about. It’s important that you use the terms that are used in the food service and food manufacturing worlds, not how you’ll see people use it on the internet. If you don’t use it properly then try to communicate, professionals will be confused.

Cross-Contact: This refers to allergens specifically. If a chef uses a spoon in the gravy containing butter (milk), then transfers the spoon to the dairy free sauce to sample. In this case, a pathogen was not transferred because the gravy is cooked. An allergenic protein however was transferred.

Cross-Contamination: This refers to pathogens, bacteria, and food borne illnesses.

Example: a chef places raw pork on a cutting board to prep it for service. After completion, raw celery which will be served raw is placed on the same cutting board. There’s contamination from the raw pork and can cause a food borne illness via the celery (to be eaten raw) that touched the board.

The issue with these terms is that *technically*, cross-contact is indeed cross-contamination. If you eat something contaminated with pork, it causes a food borne illness in you. Yet, that’s where we have to focus on the terms pathogen and allergen. That will be the defining feature of these cross terms.

Now that you know the difference, make sure you use the right term when you communicate with companies and restaurants. Chefs and wait-staff especially will be confused if you use the wrong terms because they’ve been trained with pathogen vs allergen.

If you’d like to read a lot more about cross-contact, all the ways it can happen, and how to prevent in your own home, check out this article.

Reading Food Labels

Here in the United States, there are laws about how food products must be labeled. Additionally, we have what’s called the top 9 allergens. The top 9 most common food allergens here in the US are wheat, milk, egg, soy, peanut, tree nut, fish, shellfish, and sesame.

In the EU they have the top 14 allergens, where they classify the 14 most common foods that cause an adverse reaction (allergic response) in patients. The top 14 common food allergens are: Cereals Containing Gluten (wheat, rye, barley, oats), Crustaceans, Eggs, Fish, Peanuts, Soybean, Milk, Nuts, Celery, Mustard, Sesame, and Added Sulfite above 10mg/KG.

Since pork isn’t one of the most common food allergies, it won’t be called out in bold on a label, or be included in a “contains” statement, whereas the top 9/14 foods will be called out. This means you’re going to have to read labels very carefully to ensure pork or a pork derivative hasn’t been used in the food products you’d like to purchase.

Have Hope!

Food allergies are managed by millions upon millions of people worldwide, and I want to assure you: you’ve got this. It will absolutely feel hard at first, but then you get into a good groove, learn to read food labels, pick up new cooking (and baking) skills, and much more. Most people, one year after their diagnosis, feel much more confident about managing their food allergies.

How to Substitute for Pork When Cooking at Home

The number one tip I can give you when substituting pork/domestic pig at home: try to use a matching cut where fat percentage is concerned, and where you can’t, add fat to the recipe. Here’s a list of pork cuts, and what a good alternative option would be.

Bacon: Bison Bacon, Turkey Bacon
Ground Pork: Ground Beef, Ground Chicken, Ground Rabbit, Ground Turkey (avoid ground game meats unless you really want a gamey flavour)
Lard: Beef Tallow, Bison Tallow, Duck Fat, Camel Hump Fat
Pepperoni: Applegate Turkey Pepperoni
Pork Loin/Pork Chops: Beef Loin, Bison Loin
Pork Shoulder/Butt: Beef Roast or Bison Roast
Pork Crown Roast: lamb Crown Roast
Pork Cutlets: Chicken Cutlets
Ham: Homemade Beef or Bison “Ham”
Pork Ribs: Beef Ribs, bison and lamb ribs are also an option but more expensive
Sausage: Many commercial sausages are pork free, especially chicken sausages, just make sure you know what the casing is.

With these substitutes, you can go about making delicious pork free recipes at home. Will they be the same? No, of course not. However, you’ll still be capturing the essence of the recipes through the seasonings and cooking method.

Pork Free Recipes You’ll Love

Here are a few great pork free recipes I think you’ll really enjoy. You can always check out the Advanced Recipe Search on RAISE to get custom recipes that will meet all of the needs of your household. The advanced search tool has more than 100 filters for food allergies and special diets that you can mix and match.

Answering Your Pork Allergy Questions

Is pork in dairy products?

Usually no, pork won’t be found in dairy products such as butter, milk, yogurt, and cottage cheese. You may run into some artisanal milk products that use lard (pork fat) or bacon in a specialty product.

In regular grocery stores though, when you go to purchase a sick of butter or gallon of milk, it won’t contain pork. Interestingly, the reverse is a lot more common. You’re more likely to see dairy in pork products, especially foods such as sausage.

Can all tick bites cause a meat allergy?

No, not all tick bites will cause a red meat allergy (sometimes called alpha-gal allergy). Here in the United States, the highest rate of cases are reported in the southeastern and midwestern United Sates. It’s suspected that the lone star tick is primarily responsible here in the US, but more scientific evidence is needed (there’s a lot of very interesting reading on the topic from the holistic space as well).

If you suspect you’re a victim of a bite of a lone star tick, work with your medical team to make sure there aren’t any lasting effects.

Will eating undercooked meat make me allergic to pork?

No, eating undercooked meat will not cause your body to develop an allergy to pork. However, you might get sick from eating said meat, and then have some regrets.

If I have dog and cat allergies, can I eat fresh pork meat?

There’s a good chance that you’ll be able to consume fresh pork meat. Pork-cat syndrome is considered very rare. If you have concerns, work with your medical team before trying pork. They can also have you do an in-office food trial under supervision.

I have chicken, beef, and pork allergies. Are there any types of meat I could eat that actually taste good?

Having multiple meat allergies can seem daunting at first, but know there are several delicious options still on the menu.In your case, the following proteins would be an option:

Bison (you can do a lot with bison, but it’s a very lean meat, so add some fat when you’re cooking it)
Fish & Shellfish (there’s a huge range of options here, and a lot you can do with these proteins)
Game Meats (meats such as elk and venison are still options for you, just make sure you source quality game meats)
Rabbit (has a peppery taste and is similar to chicken)
Turkey (ground turkey is one of my favorite meats to cook because you can use it the way you would ground beef or ground pork)

Is a food intolerance the same thing as an allergy?

No, a food allergy and a food intolerance are two different things. Whilst they both involve the immune system, an allergy shows symptoms (usually) within immediate ingestion to four hours. Outside of that window, it’s suspected that you have an intolerance.

Additionally, a food intolerance can’t lead to anaphylactic shock since it’s not IgE mediated. You can have a whole host of other reactions though including stomach cramps, severe abdominal pain, painful bloating, skin issues, congestion, migraines, and a whole lot more.

A lot of people incorrectly think that a food intolerance is not as serious as a food allergy. Just because you don’t need an epi-pen doesn’t mean you take it lightly. A food intolerance, especially over time, can cause compounded health issues. So, no matter which boat you fall into, make sure you’re diligent and avoid your known trigger foods.

Is a blood test the best way to diagnose a food allergy?

Some say yes and some say no on the blood test. The same is true of a skin-prick test. Some doctors, depending on your test results, will follow up with an oral challenge (which you don’t have to do if you’re uncomfortable) to confirm the food allergy diagnosis. In some severe cases, a person will have test results with high numbers to quite a few foods and when challenged, the test results are confirmed.

On the flip side, some folks have test results with high numbers, but no allergic reaction, which leads some doctors to believe it was a false positive. Ultimately, these tests are great diagnostic tools that can help your medical team, but they aren’t always the Gospel Truth.

Will an elimination diet cure my pork allergy?

No, an elimination diet can’t cure a pork allergy. In fact, there are no cures for food allergies. Whilst it’s true that some young children outgrow their food allergy, even then we don’t use the word cure (we say outgrow). Plus, there are so many factors at work and no two people are the same. We aren’t able to say if you do X, you can outgrow this. Additionally, for those who chose to undergo OIT (oral immunotherapy) if they pass eventually, we say “in remission”, not cured.

Now that you know you have a pork allergy, the best thing you can do for yourself is find creative and delicious ways to work around it, then live your best life.

How do I know if I’ll have a severe allergic reaction?

Unfortunately, your allergy test results (even if you have large numbers) can’t predict the type of allergic reactions you’ll experience. If you’ve had a reaction in the past, this medical history can give some insight, but can’t predict 100% what future reactions will look like.

Since no two people are the same, I can’t tell you what to expect. Some allergic patients only ever have gastrointestinal symptoms whilst others always experience several of the severe symptoms of pork allergy.

The best thing you can do for yourself is document your experiences. I’m going to assume you’re only allergic to pork and you’re not managing multiple food allergies. Anytime you think you may be experiencing symptoms of an allergic reaction, seek medical treatment, but also document everything as best as you can. This allows you to figure out the trigger food, but also keeps a record of the types of reactions you’re prone to having.

From my own personal experiences I can tell you that with some foods, the symptoms are always the same. With other foods, bell pepper as an example, continued exposure to bell pepper made the reactions more severe each time. Except for me, it was all contact and airborne reactions (I wasn’t even eating the bell pepper). So even in me, one person, the reactions can change. Additionally, with my test results, some items that had large numbers had mild reactions and some foods with low numbers produced the most severe allergic reactions for me.

Since a severe allergic reaction is of concern for you, make sure you have a solid action plan and an epi-pen available for a worst case scenario.

Can I still eat raw fish (sushi) if I have alpha gal?

Great news! Yes, you can still eat delicious sushi made with raw fish (or cooked fish if that’s your jam). Alpha-gal means avoidance of mammal meats specifically. You wouldn’t be able to consume meats such as beef, bison, lamb, pork, and venison.

On the other hand, you’re still able to eat meats such as chicken and turkey, as they are avian animals. You’ll also be able to enjoy as much fish and shellfish that your heart desires.