Can You Be Allergic To Melted Cheese? Cooked Cheese Allergy
85So here we are going to look at the issue of the melted cheese allergy. I have been allergic to melted or cooked cheese since I was a child, my father has the same problem so I have been searching for answers. Can someone have a melted cheese allergy but be fine with normal uncooked cheese? What is the difference between melted cheese and standard cheese? In this article we take a look at the answers to these questions.
So if you have come hear looking for answers as to why you are allergic to melted cheese then hopefully we can give you some help. Or maybe you know the reason yourself and could shed some light on the matter. First of all though let’s take a look at exactly what my problem is.
My History With Melted Cheese
I first became aware I had an issue with cooked cheese when I was around the age of five. I had attended a friends party and we all ate pizza. This was my first experience of pizza and I do recall really enjoying it, however, an hour later it had all come back up again. At the time we were unsure what had caused me to be sick, but as time passed it was clear that I was in fact allergic to melted cheese. My father also had the same problem, he would feel sick if he ate any cheese that had been cooked.
So let me make it clear exactly what I mean by cooked cheese. I am fine with all dairy products, I can eat yogurt, drink milk and eat normal cheese to my hearts content. But soon as it melts something happens to the cheese and it makes me vomit. A big chunk of cheddar will be fine, but slice it up and pop it under the grill until it melts and you can guarantee my stomach won’t be able to deal with it.
Over the years I have come in for some pretty strong abuse from friends who claim it is all in my head. The are convinced I can’t actually be allergic and it is just something I have made up. A few years ago some of my friends put this theory to the test. I visited their house for a meal and for starters we had stuffed peppers. The peppers had several tasty ingredients, one of which was cooked cheese. As there was only a small amount and it was hidden away in the peppers my friends assumed I would have no reaction, thus proving them right. I ate the peppers and commented how tasty they were. An hour later I was hanging over the toilet and my friends were apologising. This proved that it could not be in my head.
Searching For Answers
In my past this issue has come up time and time again. When I go out for a meal or visit a friends for dinner the issue always seems to raise it’s ugly head. The fact is there are so many meals that contained cooked cheese, sooner or later you are going to find you are offered something with cheese in it. So I am often asked ‘how can you be allergic to melted cheese and not normal cheese’. I hate being asked that question as I really don’t have an answer. I have spent hours searching online for answers, I have found other people that do suffer from the same problem, but as of yet I have had no conclusive answers as to what the problem may be.
Usually when it comes to medical problems the internet is a wealth of knowledge and can answer pretty much anything. But for some reason there are very few answers to this particular question. One thing I have noticed is that there are plenty of theories out there. I have also had quite a few people offer their own theories as to why I have a melted cheese allergy. So now I want to tell you a few of the theories that people have come up with over the years.
Possible Theories
The first one is one that I really have very little faith in. It is to do with lactose intolerance. I have seen many so called professionals stick there nose out on forums and say clearly you are lactose intolerant. However, if that were the case surely I would have a problem with other dairy products. The fact is that every other dairy product I consume causes me no problems. I can eat masses of cheese, drink pints of milk and I am fine. So for me personally I would say the theory of being lactose intolerant is simply not relevant.
Another theory is that it’s the consistency of the cheese that makes me sick. This is another one I have an issue with. Admittedly knowing what cooked cheese does to me does not make it appealing when it’s dribbling off a piece of toast. But on cold pizza the cheese has the same effect. Last year I made the mistake of eating Broccoli and Stilton soup, one again I was sick after this, but the consistency was that of a liquid, not like what you get on toast. So again as far as I am concerned this theory falls flat on it’s face.
One theory that I do subscribe to is one that I actually heard from a physics teacher. He was present at a dinner party I attended and the argument once again came up. To my surprise he took my side in the argument and said that there is a chemical reaction in the cheese when it melts. The fats in the cheese separate, to be honest a lot of what he said went over my head but it involved trans fats and the way the body digests these. He also mentioned the fact that heating cheese can kill off the enzymes in it which make it easier to digest, so thus melted cheese can sometimes be harder to digest. This seems like a fair point and it could explain the problem.
Not Alone With My Allergy
One thing that I have learnt while researching this whole problem is that I am not alone in my melted cheese allergy. The fact is that there are quite a few people out there who have the same problem. Although this is something that can be a nuisance it is not the sort of issue that is going to be life threatening. That is probably one of the reasons why there is so little information about the allergy anywhere online.
If you know of anyone who has this allergic reaction or maybe you yourself struggle to digest melted cheese, feel free to post a comment on the bottom of the page. Maybe you have stumbled across this page and you actually have a conclusive answer to what exactly happens when cheese is melted and why it effects some people. Either way hopefully this article will have given you some clues as to why some people, including myself are allergic to melted cheese.
Since writing this article around six months ago I have been amazed at how many people have got in contact with me. It turns out there are more people suffering from the problem of melted cheese intolerance than I first thought. As you can see from the comments below lots of people have the same reaction as I do to cooked cheese and many people have other similar problems to various other forms of dairy. It looks as though this is an issue that is now effecting more and more people.
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I had no idea that this type of allergy existed. Good hub.
Oh my.. I was really not aware of this allergy. I know a person who is allergic to coconut. I also have allergies with seafood and poultry. Having an allergy is not cool at all. I know how you feel.
Hi andyoz, I stumbled across your post because I think I may also have a similar issue with cooked cheese and I did a search online. This was my first search on the subject, and I found your article very interesting. Thanks for sharing! I'll get back to you if I find another answer.
I have the same problem. I'm fine with cold cheese, but the second that it's melted (even just a handful of it on top of some pasta) I get violently ill. I have a different reaction to you, including stomach cramps, sweating and diarrhoea. A doctor explained that it's very unlikely to be lactose intolerance, as the levels of lactose in cheese are far lower than that of milk due to the ageing process. It's unusual as it's only something that has particularly effected me in the last year or so. My other half is a chemical engineer working in food, so I shall have to ask him what his take on what the physics teacher said.
I too thought I was unique until I read your article. I have suffered with a cooked cheese intolerance since a small child and am now retired. I do not have any explanation. But the intolerance is certainly real. Great post. R
I have this problem too. Not only do I throw up but I get the worst chest pain you can imagine.
I get this all the time. I used to be allergic to all dairy products but grew out of that and am left with this intolerance. I always thought it was something to do with a change in bacteria in cooked cheese.
Brilliant. So glad I found this. I had a friend with this problem and now my daughter has it. She has a lactose intolerance but as she gets older her intolerance is easing but melted cheese goes straight through her and makes her feel poorly. She is only 18 months now and we've been keeping a food diary for 6 months so I can say with certainty that any intolerance is not in her head!!
i'm having a reaction right now!!!!!! cooked Stilton!, fine with it in its normal state, but cooked - i'm in agony. itchy hands and feet. neck and chest too. now i'm coming out with lumps on my legs and arms.
This also happens to me as well as my grandmother and we have both been told all the theories of above but the chemical one is the one that sticks. We have no intolerance to any other dairy product whatsoever. In fact, we are kind of dairy product addicts! Its just the melted cheese we can't handle. Sometimes I can do pizza if its just a light coat of cheese but I always get nauseous for a bit afterward and for some strange reason it always makes my nose tingle... I usually strip the cheese and just eat the sauce, crust and toppings. At this moment I am recovering from a quesadilla I just attempted to eat. It made me violently ill. I also believe that certain melted cheeses seem to affect me more strongly than others. but I do my best to stick to unmelted cheese. Its just safer that way. Last time I let the roommates talk me into melted cheese- glad to find an article like this knowing i'm not the only odd one out there. :) thanks!
Thank-goodness i'm not the only one, was beginning to think i was going mad. I too can eat all other diary including uncooked cheese, but as soon as it gets cooked my IBS symptoms flare up in a big way and guarenteed within an hour i am doubled over, seating feeling faint and then on the toilet for the rest of the evening. Took me a while to work out it was the cooked cheese, went through a stage of thinking it was pasta ( lasagne, tuna pasta bake etc used to set off the sypmtoms, but then i ate another meal which didn't have aany pasta and had the same symptoms...soon realised this meal had cooked cheese in it and made the link) thought for a while it was just cheddar, but the other day had same reaction from cooked mozzerella..have been ok in the past with this but now my body has ruled that out aswell! :-(
I am lactose intolerant but can eat specific things such as cottage cheese and hard cheeses. but the second i make a grilled cheese or try to indulge in a pizza, it goes through me in 30 minutes...
why doesn't anyone have an answer?!?!
I could have written this blog - near-enough identical to my experiences. I have had people mock me - including my mother. They tell me it is all in my head. Yet I can eat something which then makes me sick and I go back to the packet and read the ingredients and find there was cooked cheese in it. Again, I have people try and sneak it into my food, which does not work well at all. I am a Pharmacist and have no answers. Lactose intolerance would be the reverse (i.e. cooked easier to tolerate and milk the worst - but milk and raw cheese is fine). I have to go with something to do with seperating the fact and destroying the enzymes on cooking. I even have to be careful how much the cheese next to warm food gets on the plate (like at a party). Thank you for this blog.
Thanks for all who shared their experiences. I seem to have developed this in recent years. Is that even possible?
I was starting to suspect cooked cheese after needing a long session on the loo shortly after eating pizza.
As an experiment I avoided cooked cheese for a while and was fine. Then tried a melted cheese sandwich and less than 30 minutes later I was back on the loo.
I will try avoiding it again to see if I am OK. If so then I guess I have to remove cooked cheese from my diet. A real shame because I love it. D'oh
I have no allergies whatsoever. I hve Saturday morning headaches - thanks to - it seems- Friday night pizzas. After 50 years I only now realize it is the melted cheese I love so much. I can't handle the headaches though, so I will have to give up the melted cheese.
I'm beginning to experience this exact problem! I grew up eating melted cheese but now as i'm getting older i get incredibly naucious, the inside of my mouth feels like it can't stop salivating, and minerly bloated when i consume melted cheese. I can eat all other dairy products and even most cheesey soups but if it's any other melted cheese i get symptoms. I am so glad i'm not alone on this because no one else will believe me!
Just had manicotti for supper with lots of melted cheese and 6 hrs later stomach cramps and diarhea.SOmetimes taking an antacid helps but as I get older this has become more of a problem.Never bothered me until my 30's.
Thanks so much for posting this! I too suffer from this problem. I can eat cheese normally like on crackers (although sometimes can unfortunately make me a bit gassy) but if I have melted cheese I get dry bad cramps and eventual diarrhea! I know that's gross to say sorry! But I actually like the physics teachers explanation. I hate having an allergy to cheese because it's dead set one of my favourite foods. Thanks for posting and making me feel less like a freak!!
My friend linked me to this article, because she is studying nutrition. I am mildly lactose intolerant. What I can eat: fair amounts of yogurt, cottage cheese, cold cheeses of any kind, small amounts of sour cream. What I cant (without a dietary aid, or else I will have the worst stomach pain ever and make about 10 trips to the toilet): ANY amount of melted cheese, medium-large amounts of sour cream, milk, or heavy cream.
I would think this physics professor would probably be quite correct. I have a friend who is allergic to *any* cooked foods! I think I am just going to remain thankful that I can eat cheese and have to pop a few digestive aid pills to be able to eat melted cheese... but it was really good to read this article!
So glad to have found this article, as I have the same 'melted cheese' problem, however I also cannot drink hot milk - this has the same effect. I am totally okay with cold milk and cheese. Have also just added soft fried eggs, and soft boiled eggs to the list recently, although can eat scrambled eggs! How bizarre eh?
Anyone else have problems with additional foods?
Wow, this happens to me also and I never thought it happens to other people but whenever I have melted cheese, especially mozzarella, man, I feel sick until the next day..... it's only with melted cheese though!
Thank you for sharing!!!
Another one here - I was diagnosed as lactose intolerant as a child and grew out of it.
Melted cheese over the last few years began to make me feel sick and now have explosive diarrhoea within a few minutes of eating it. This has only really happened since suffering with bad food poisoning (Campylobacter)
I am however ok with some melted cheeses - Domino's Pizza is the worst reaction by far!
We have a theory that the heating changes the proteins in the cheese change, which the body then reacts too.
Nobody apart from the missus believes me either!
I suspected that my son might have the same issue as all the other posts described. One thing I would love an answer to though, does anyone have a reaction to Parmesan cheese from Kraft that you sprinkle on your pasta? My son definitely does. I. Looked it up and it is made from cooked milk. Thank you for starting this blog. Would. Love some feedback.
I have been trying to figure my own allergy out. Cooked mozzarella causes me to go into anaphylactic shock, but I can eat string cheese with no reaction. I can't have heavy cream that's cooked, but I can have it cold. I eat cereal all the time, but a hot chocolate gives me a terrible stomach ache.
Thanks for sharing your experiences.
I have a similar story. When my son was born, I exclusively breastfed, then ended up exclusively pumping (which decreases your supply because it is based on supply and demand, and a synthetic stimulus isn't quite like a baby suckling). So we tried formula and it made my son so incredibly sick, he vomited for hours and could barely move. I suspected he had a dairy allergy, so the pediatrician had me try different formulas and he kept getting sick and finally was smart enough to catch on that ANY type of formula wasn't breastmilk. I told the peds again and she just didn't think he had a milk allergy, because "how could he tolerate [my] breastmilk" when I had eaten dairy and that should have passed into the milk and affecting him. I still thought he had an allergy. So long story short, my son saw a peds gi doc and without doing any tests said "your son has a cow's milk
protein allergy. Not a lactose allergy, that us sugar. You see, cow's milk protein molecules are very large and humans aren't really designed to break them down and therefore it causes inflammation and many times immunological responses". Sounded good to me. We did an allergy blood test and the only thing that tested positive was the cow's milk! DUH!!! Anyway, i was able to feed my son breastmilk for 13 months and then we transitioned to almond and coconut milk without any problems! I have noticed over time he has started to develop more of a tolerance for dairy, however it has to be cooked in a product. If he eats uncooked cheese he develops a rash, etc. It's the opposite for us! So my theory is heat must cause some sort of chemical reaction to the protein chains, and allows it to be more tolerable for him to digest. Don't feel bad when people give you a hard time! I had people giving us a hard time for a year saying I should just force my son to eat it! Why would I force discomfort on a baby. People can be ignorant! Good luck with your research. :-))
You are not alone, sir, you are NOT alone. Explosive liquid diarrhea within minutes of consuming melted cheese.
Glad to have found this information. I have spent years wondering why I felt so sick after eating anything containing cooked cheese. Excessive "burping" and a skipping heartbeat follows eating anything with cooked cheese. Almost went to the ER several nights ago. Found this information and now know it is not all in my mind ! I, also, can eat uncooked cheese with no problems...also yogurt and milk. It's just anything with cooked cheese! Done with anything containing cooked cheese !
Exactly the same as people describe here, I've just eaten melted cheese on a tuna pasta bake and less than an hour later I have terribly smelly gas and my guts are gurgling! My brother says he has the same problem...
I thought I was crazy trying to explain that I could eat "raw" cheese but not melted. Thank you for proving I'm not crazy, at least in regards to this.
I have sharp, serious pains in my stomach and back after eating warm cheese. It's strange because I've eaten it a million times growing up and suddenly this last year I have this horrible pain. I even thought it was an ulcer. I documented what I ate and usually warm cheese was the culprit. My nutritionist explained fats take longer to digest as well. I'm only 23 it seems like getting older is no fun! I can't eat things I just did a year ago. Now I just have to figure out how to ease my pain when it happens :( so far heat helps a little. Sometimes it's so terrible I Take sleeping pills to force myself to sleep...
i cannot even smell cooking cheese without getting a violent migraine, i cant handle any cheese with out disinfecting my hands within a few minutes or i get a migraine .i definately cant eat any cheese at all -or guess what -i will get a violent migraine!!
I can't eat melted cheese either.
I kept a food diary , as I kept " acting out" my dreams, with kicking and screaming whilst I was in deep sleep. I eventually got a diagnosis of REM Sleep disorder.
Astonishingly the only food which guaranteed a bad night was melted cheese.
I see this is a form of allergy, but am not sure why I develop these symptoms.
Thanks for posting , I feel less of a freak now:0)
I have a very similar situation. I can drink all the milk I want, and eat as much ice cream as I can without problems. I even eat a stick a string cheese almost every day with lunch. But dishes with melted cheese often have me running to the bathroom.
For me, it's not all melted cheeses. Grilled cheese sandwiches seem to be fine. It's also only pizza from certain restaurants, for example. I so far cannot pin it down to anything specific, which is very frustrating.
L.L. Woodard Level 6 Commenter 8 months ago
Until this hub I had never known there existed an allergy/intolerance to cooked cheese. I'm with the physics teacher: cooking really is about physical and chemical changes to food, so his explanation makes sense to me. Thanks for sharing.