Poppy seed allergy and anaphylaxis in case reports
What it found
Poppy seed allergy is rare but can cause rapid, whole-body reactions, often in children and often after eating cake made with ground poppy seed.
Reactions have been reported even with tiny amounts or traces.
What they found
Studies in people
Reactions often from cake
Most described reactions happened after eating cake made with ground poppy seed. In one report, up to 10 g of unground poppy seeds caused no symptoms, but a ten-fold lower amount of ground seeds caused a severe reaction.
Mostly children
Most case reports of poppy seed allergy are in children under 18 years old. In a group of 139 Czech patients with food allergy, poppy seed triggered anaphylaxis in 14% of 83 children and 25% of 56 adults.
Sensitization rates
Sensitization to poppy seed was found in 8.7% of the general population in India. In Europe, the average rate was 3% in adults with many allergies and 4.8% in schoolchildren.
Animal and lab studies
Proteins involved
In lab tests on blood sera from allergic patients, four IgE-reactive poppy seed proteins were found. Two were named Pap s 1 and Pap s 2, which are similar to allergens in tree nuts, buckwheat and sesame.
Studies in people and animals
Cross-reactions
Poppy seed allergy has been linked with reactions to sesame, buckwheat, cashew, walnut, wheat, rye flour, rice and kiwi. In case reports, sesame allergy was often also present.
Other findings
Diagnosis and treatment
Diagnosis uses clinical history, skin prick tests, blood IgE tests and sometimes oral food challenges. Treatment is based on avoiding poppy seed and promptly treating reactions; oral desensitization has been suggested for some high-risk patients but has only been used in one case.
What the authors conclude
- They advise that therapy is based on an elimination diet, but oral desensitization could be hypothesized in some high-risk allergic patients.
- They state that a shared decision-making between patients and allergists is mandatory for any use of poppy seed oral immunotherapy.
How it was done
Poppy seeds are used more and more in foods like cakes, bread and fruit salads, so the authors wanted to describe the allergic reactions that have been reported.
They searched medical literature from 1990 to October 2025 for original studies and review articles in English about poppy seed anaphylaxis. They also described case reports, allergy testing methods and treatment options.
What it can’t tell you
- This is a review of case reports and small studies, so it cannot show how common poppy seed allergy is in the general population.
- The reports cannot prove that poppy seed causes anaphylaxis in every person who is sensitized, or predict who will react.
- There is not enough information to know how well oral desensitization works for poppy seed allergy or what side effects it may have.
Who paid
- Funding
- Funded by This research received no external funding. (from the PubMed record).
- Conflicts
- MG reports personal fees from Sanofi, Thermo Fisher Scientific.
- Authors work at
- University of Florence, Italy; Pediatric Hospital Giovanni XXIII, Italy; Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital IRCCS, Italy
The paper
- Title
- Poppy seed anaphylaxis: clinical and allergic features
- Type
- ReviewThe authors read earlier studies and describe what they found. It isn’t a new study.
- Evidence
- Studies in people · animals · lab
- Summarised from
- Full text
- Cite
- Novembre E, Mastrorilli C, Pecoraro L, et al (2026). Poppy seed anaphylaxis: clinical and allergic features. Allergologia et immunopathologia. doi:10.15586/aei.v54i2.1404Free full textPubMed 41814618DOI
Summary written 30 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error