My first thought when you said it was a teenaged boy and girl was, I wonder if they disappeared from the party together for a period of time. Hmmmmm. (That might explain a contact allergy "all over".)

The only problem with this theory is that they say that the rash came back after eating leftover cake. (Unless they were together then, too.)

I agree that you are not to blame, but I would do the same as you, and give an ingredients list, just to be helpful.

RedPanda

I am betting the parents of the kids called her, so her next step logically would be to call the person who baked the cakes to find out what the ingrediants are!

If my kids ate something and got an allergic reaction, I would want to know what was in it, so I could figure out what the allergy was so they could avoid it in the future. It's not about placing *blame*...it's about figuring out what the allergen was!

It's still highly unlikely to think that two kids suddenly developed allergies from a cake.

I had a food allergy (to Orange Juice ) when I was really little. It would give me hives on my legs when I drank it. Now I can drink it but if I spill any on me I'll get hives on that area, so I have to quickly wipe it away. That being said though..

My brother is deathly allergic to peanuts. Even if he eats from a spoon used for peanut butter that wasn't cleaned utterly he can get very sick. He's been hospitalized a few times because of his allergy. He knew about this allergy from when he was 14 years old (that's around when he developed it).. and he knew ESPECIALLY when he ate baking stuff to ask first very carefully if the food item a) has any peanut product in it, and b) was made with utensils that had recently been used with something that had a peanut product. If the answers were yes, it was simple, he didn't eat the product.

I guess I can understand wanting to examine everything at the party that could have caused a reaction. However, if I was a parent of one of the teens, I'd be looking at a contact cause due to the nature of the reaction.

Really, I wouldn't lose sleep over it. Even if a kid was allergic to an ingredient in your cake, it's not your job to be a mind reader. The customer should tell you of any allergies if they want them to be worked around.. I like the chicken mcnugget example, haha.

Anyway, hope that the mom finds out what happened and that the kids are OKAY in any way, and I hope you get another cake order.

I have a coworker that is allergic to chocolate. Everytime she has eaten one of the chocolate cakes I've taken to work or the one she ordered from me, she has broken out in a rash. She was aware of the problem but ate it anyways. There's a good chance they are aware of the allergy and ate it anyways.

btw - allergies do turn up overnight. you develop allergies AFTER one or more exposures to something. meaning, you have to have eaten eggs at least once to develop the antibodies that have the potential to trigger the allergy the next time. but I still don't see why she wants your list of ingredients. I'd just tell her there isn't anything unusual in it - normal flour/sugar/eggs/etc you find any any typical cake recipe.

After reading the thread...my inclination is to blame the chocolate. Hey! I LOVE chocolate, but, one day (much AFTER my teen years) I discovered that if I eat "concentrated" chocolate (like a heavy choc. cake or a candy bar) my face will get LUMPS under my skin, on the lower portion of my face. I kinda get a "Planet of the Apes" look!

Teenagers....hormones....chocolate!! What more can I say! LOLL

Beth in KY

Okay..... call me crazy, but why didn't the PARENTS contact you ? Do you know for sure this even happened ? Perhaps she wants to know HOW you bake your cakes........ I would contact the parents themselves, if you feel you need to contact anyone........ Something is just WRONG about this whole thing........

I agree with the other posts who have allergies. Food ingested would take a long time (a couple of hours) to illicit a reaction. So when they ate the cake again it would not have come up that quickly. It is something they physically came into contact with.
People with severe allergies know what to do and know what to avoid believe me! Both my boys and I have allergies and we never get rashes. All sorts of other things but never rashes from food.
Now I hate to be the devil's advocate here and forgive me for throwing this into the mix however, she ordered another cake from you? Does she expect a discount for this cake? I am not trying to make your customer look bad but people can do some funny things if they think they can get away with it. If my guests were affected as she claims and thinks it is your cake then you would be the last one I order from again. Just food for thought.

I'm counting my blessings that I and my family don't suffer from food allergies. I get hay fever in the spring sometimes but that's it.

You have referred to the two as kids, are they two who got rashes teenagers or younger? I am asking because my three year old has exzema and does get full body rashes if exposed to a new product sometimes but ONLY something like a new bubble bath, detergent, ect.. I would think they had a reaction to something viral, like fifth disease as suggested before. Unfortunately(and fortunately!) people try new things every day they forget about and perhaps they should list all the things they ate, tried new, clothing worn, ect for the 24 hours prior and then narrow it down.
I am sure it was not your cake though!!
Tracy

I guess if the issue continues ask if it was hives or a rash. Some people call hives a rash and they are two different things. Yes allergies cause hives not rashes. As for timeline of breaking out in hives from food allergies it depends on the person. Some people break out within minutes of being exposed and others it takes hours. Red food coloring is linked to being a trigger for allergies and is being blamed for causing hyperactivity in children. The alleged victims should go to a doctor and find out what the cause of the rash is if it is an issue.

I have many food allergies and agree with most of what has been said. I am allergic to milk products and corn products. Some dairy products I can eat with out any problems others I can't. Corn I can't eat any whole corn or corn syrup. Both allergies cause severe stomache upset.

Rashes often occur with Drug Allergies, chocolate having caffene in it falls under that catagory. It will cause one of two types of reactions both are mild reactions but a rash will appear usually on neck and face or the person will become very sleepy and not be able to stay awake.

chocolate can also cause hives and anaphalactic shock but is only in very rare circumstances.

I would look for drugs or other environmental contact.

Not your cake

WOW, thanks again for all your help and replies!!

Well, I spoke with the customer again today and she did place another order with me, she wants a cake for next Sat (her son really loves my cakes), she is a return customer and by all means I will not give her a discount, I honestly don´t think that is what she is after...

Anyway, I found out more about this whole allergy mistery... They started with this "rash" (not hives for what she told me) about 2 hours after eating. It was NOT 2 teenagers as I first thought (for what I understood at first) but it was a young girl, 16 years old and the "boy" was the grandmother´s new husband, he is around 40 years old (Demi & Ashton´s syndrome good for her!) and apparently he is allergic to TONS of things, he takes Claritin like it was candy, he lives on those medications, day in and day out. Neither one of them went to the doctor so it is hard to tell now. The guy really does not concern me, since he has a history BUT the girl had never developed an allergic reaction to anything before. They both had cake the next day, both had a rash again and then this guy had cake for a 3rd time (I guess he really liked it) and had a rash for the 3rd time!!!

The customer told me that even though he is allergic to lots and lots of things, chocolate is not one of them neither is milk products, wheat, peanuts or eggs. His allergies are mostly to things around him, pollen, mold, humidity, etc.

Oh well... I´m not losing any sleep over this and if she is coming back for another cake then this tells me she is satisfied, even referring me to her friends... this time I will make her sign an allergy disclaimer. I did send her a list of all my ingredients and she was going to forward it to the girls mother, which has not contacted me for anything, she (girl´s Mom) also had a big piece of my cake at the party and did not develop any allergy either. Anyway... I´m thinking it was the red dye (the only one used) or the chocolate, since it was a very strong chocolate flavor.

Oh well, will keep you posted!!!

And BTW, this 2 people will attend the party on Sat and will have cake, again (customer told me that... I don´t get it...) so since it is a snowboard themed cake I will use no color gels this time (lots of snow) hoping to find out this way if it was the gel or something else... Only color fondant will be used for the little snowboarder boy, which is not meant to be eaten anyway.

Thanks again!

I agree with BlakesCakes. It wasn't your cake. And if it was (HYPOTHETICALLY-speaking) those kids knew better (please don't hit me).

It was probably something else, and the hostess just wants a free ticket out of a lawsuit.

Well thanks Nick! What I heard last is that the girl´s mother was not upset at all and this 40+ year old guy knew better! I´m thinking it was not my cake (since it has been eaten by kids as well with no problems) OR maybe the red dye. So when they pick up the cake on Sat I will have my little cluase ready for her to sign. Thanks again!

As someone else posted, when we thought it was two teenagers, my first question was whether the "rash" looked like beard burn. Now that we know differently, IF your cake was involved at all, I would look at the red food dye. I don't think the customer (or the rash folks) are too concerned about litigation or they wouldn't be coming back for seconds and thirds - or digging into another cake.

After reading all the posts, it sounds to me like a contact allergy to the icing. My first guess would be the red dye. I have two kids that will get very red from cantact with things like ranch dressing and BBQ sauce. I recently found out that the canned icing you buy in the store will cause it too. My son's preschool made brownies frosted with it. I have no idea what is actually causing it, but as long as they wash up after eating it isn't usually a problem. My 3 year old son though has a tendency to get it all over his face LOL.

I wouldn't let it concern you. If they know it's a problem and continue to eat the cake, it's their problem. Oh, it could also be the chocolate syrup, there are probably some funky chemicals in that.

I would also think contact allergy too. Food allergies cause hives, which can be tiny (looks like a rash) or big old nasty sores. The hives can appear almost instantly or take hours to appear, depending on the severity of the allergy. If anything, I'd say they were sensitive to the red dye. It's hard to imagine neither hadn't ever eaten red dye though!

I have a severe allergy to shrimp and got a bite of one accidently this summer. Within a minute of swallowing I broke out in incredibly itchy hives, then my tongue and lips went numb and my hands swelled (it made the bridal shower a little too exciting).

I think you were very consciencious to be so helpful in trying to figure out what happeded, but I don't think you did anything you shouldn't have when making your cake.

Thanks again everybody!! OK, so I think we are 90% sure it was the red dye since both eat chocolate on a regular basis (yep, just found out) and have never had any problems. Anyway, they are all fine and I feel much better knowing it was nothing I did or did wrong.
Thanks again for all your help!!!!

I doubt it was your cake really. For 2 of the kids to be allergic seems a little unlikely to me. I think probably it was more like a viral thing or something. Rashes are pretty common.

Since you asked though, I do know of someone that was allergic to red dyes. But for 2 kids to be allergic...?

Thanks Merissa!!

OK, so it is Monday now and I made the customer a cake for this past Sat, she picked it up Sat morning, I haven't heard anything from her yet but I will keep you posted and hope to know soon if they got something after eating my cake on Sat.

And I just don't get some people... if they are claming my cake gave them an allergic reaction, why in the world would the eat cake again and again and again??

Anyway, that just makes me feel better and if they came back for more than I guess it is all good!

Yeah I dont think they are too concerned if they bought another cake from you. Plus EVEN if it was from the red dye or something, you cant be blamed for something like that. You cant blame Peter Pan or Jiffy if you are allergic to peanuts. If someone knows that they are allergic to something they need to ask questions about what they eat.

I hadnt read through the whole thread when I answered before but it still seems odd though that 2 people would be allergic to the same thing (unless they were related) and never been exposed to a red dye before (or at least never noticed a reaction to it). I have to think red dyes are pretty common.

I know and my customer knows I can't be held responsable since she never asked anything or said anything about allergies... and they both said that neither one of them was allergic to chocolate or red dye (that they knew of) or anything else, like wheat, eggs, milk, nuts, etc. so I'm guessing that the girl IS allergic to the dye (all the right symptoms) and the guy was allergic to God knows what (since I was also told he is allergic to almost everything).

Anyway, will keep you posted!!
Thanks!!

perhaps she loves your cake so much that she wants your recipe! so she can make them herself! lol

I scanned through a lot of this thread. There is so much stuff going around I would not be concerned. My husband had a heat rash from his fever last week. We all had a bug that cause fever for several days and sure enough he was red and rashy because of it.

Hello everybody!! I just wanted to let you all know how it all ended... the customer finally called and told me that, with the second cake (2 weeks ago) only one person had a reaction, it was the guy, the girl did eat cake but nothing happened to her... anyway, this person, with the reaction, now knows he is allergic to chocolate!!!
I know I know... it took him a while to figure it out!
Anyway, thanks so much everybody for your help!
And Thank God it was nothing I did wrong!

I have people in my family that are allergic to corn syrup and cornstarch...maybe the marshmallows???

you can actually develop an allergy to something at any point. It isn't always after the first few contacts. So maybe the guy has developed a chocolate alergy or maybe it is unrelated...who knows.