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dbspringe... dbspringe...
 
M$1 December 17, 2008 07:13 PM

Why do I sneeze whenever I eat dark chocolate?

I've noticed lately that whenever I eat dark chocolate I sneeze. In fact, that darker the chocolate, the greater the chance/intensity of the sneeze.

Does anyone know what causes this? Sources please!
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johnsonaar... johnsonaar...
 
 December 17, 2008 07:19 PM
Seems to be a possible correlation between either the Cocoa content of the dark chocolate or the milk product in the chocolate. Some of the valid questions seem to be: Do you have this reaction at all to any milk products? If not you may have already self identified the cause of the issue. You may have a slight, very slight, allergy to cocoa.

I read the first 3 or 4 results and threads here and they offered some insight, but nothing seems definative.

http://www.google.com/search?q=sneeze+dark+chocolate&rls=com.microsoft:en-us&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&startIndex=&startPage=1
Asker's Rating:
• Thanks for helping me get to the bottom of this. Big props to carriep too!


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dbspringer dbspringer
 
December 17, 2008 07:24 PM
Unless I've recently developed an allergy (which is possible), I've never had any previous issues with chocolate or milk. I can eat/drink as much as I want without any ill effects.

Also, I can eat milk chocolate no problem, but it seems that once a certain "darkness threshold" is crossed it causes me to sneeze.

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carriep carriep
 
December 17, 2008 07:28 PM - New Source
A couple additional sources for you. Although if the darker the chocolate the more likely you are to sneeze, then it's probably the chocolate and not the milk.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oral_allergy_syndrome

http://ask.metafilter.com/50368/Why-does-dark-chocolate-make-me-sneeze

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dbspringer dbspringer
 
December 17, 2008 07:59 PM - New Source
Here is another interesting source I got from carriep's metafilter source (which is eerily like my question). Seems like "unexpected" pleasures cause people to sneeze... guess may just like dark chocolate!

http://www.universalreflex.com/article.php?story=20051027150722171

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johnsonaar... johnsonaar...
 
December 17, 2008 08:47 PM - New Source
Well, it seems apparent that its the chocolate as Milk products are not affecting you. Here's an idea: Are you just sneezing because you believe you will sneeze when you eat it? I posit this: Maybe you "happened" to sneeze a couple of times when you ate the chocolate, then you noticed, and now each time you take a bite you are anticipating, and thereby causing the sneeze.

Have someone feed you something that is dark chocolate but not tell you it is dark chocolate sometime soon.

(Maybe tell a wife/girlfriend to do it sometime over the next week without giving you warning of when or what)

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greenscree... greenscree...
 
December 17, 2008 07:24 PM
You may be allergic to snack food. What happens when you eat a Ho-Ho? Same effect? If you rub dark chocolate on your skin does it change in color? That's how they tested my kid for food allergies, maybe that will work for you too.

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dbspringer dbspringer
 
December 17, 2008 07:28 PM
Snack food doesn't really seem to affect me (I've been eating chocolate Pocky all morning). It seems it's only intensely concentrated dark chocolate that causes it.

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girmant girmant
 
December 17, 2008 07:25 PM
maybe you just have some sort of mild allergy? I notice that I sneeze when I eat ripe bananas.... go figure :)

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alexdegruv... alexdegruv...
 
December 17, 2008 07:43 PM
Sounds more like just a sensitivity than an actual allergy, particularly considering that your reaction increases with the intensity of the chocolate.

An allergy, while definitely having the potential to cause sneezing, would also have some other type of histamine reaction in most cases. Do your sinuses also get stuffy, or anything like that?

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mrhelmsc mrhelmsc
 
December 17, 2008 07:51 PM
Because you're alergic to it

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cianw cianw
 
December 17, 2008 08:58 PM
lupus
Source(s):
House. Every series


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light7 light7
 
December 17, 2008 09:20 PM
either u have a reaction or a allergy to dark cholocate

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