Urticarial contact dermatitis in food handlers

To show that prick testing (using fresh samples of the food suspected from the patient's history) and not only patch testing is the appropriate investigation in selected cases of hand dermatitis in patients who spend considerable time handling foods (for example, catering workers, cooks).

The Contact and Occupational Dermatitis Clinic at the Skin and Cancer Foundation, a tertiary referral centre in Sydney.

Fourteen patients with hand dermatitis present for an average of 6.17 years referred by dermatologists and occupational health physicians.

Patch and prick tests were performed for each patient.

In all patients prick tests identified the food allergens. Seafood was the most common allergen giving positive results in 10 patients. Patch tests did not identify any of the food allergens. Of the 14 patients nine were followed up and seven of these had been forced to change their career direction.

Prick testing is the appropriate investigation in selected cases for the diagnosis of urticarial contact dermatitis in food handlers.