Woman Claims She Developed Peanut Allergy in Mid-30s After Eating Uncrustables Daily
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A woman’s viral TikTok has sparked conversation about adult-onset food allergies after she claimed she may have developed a peanut allergy in her mid-30s following months of eating Uncrustables sandwiches every day.
Viral TikTok Raises Concern
The content creator, known as Jo (@lifewithhhjo), posted a video with over 373,000 views describing how her throat began feeling itchy and scratchy after five months of eating the same peanut butter-filled snack for lunch.
@lifewithhhjo Full panic mode activated #allergy #uncrustables #peanutbutter #lunch #advice
“Y’all I’m panicking. I’ve eaten an Uncrustable every day for lunch for five months now and my throat just started to feel scratchy and hurt. Now I’m getting scared. What if I’ve developed an allergy?” the video’s text overlay read.
Her caption added: “Full panic mode activated.”
What Experts Say About Adult-Onset Allergies
While many people assume food allergies only appear in childhood, doctors confirm that new allergies can develop suddenly in adulthood. The Mayo Clinic notes that peanut allergy symptoms often begin with itching, tingling, or throat irritation and can escalate to dangerous reactions like difficulty breathing or anaphylaxis.
A report from the Harvard Medical Journal adds that adult-onset food allergies are more common than many realize, especially among women. The condition occurs when the immune system mistakenly identifies a harmless food — such as peanuts or shellfish — as a threat.
Community Reactions
Jo’s post prompted hundreds of users to share their own late-in-life allergy stories.
- “It’s possible. My all-nuts allergy came on out of nowhere,” one person commented.
- Another wrote: “For me it wasn’t itchy throat, it was sinus issues. Turns out I’d been allergic to peanut butter for 20 years.”
These stories reflect a growing awareness that allergies can appear unexpectedly, even in people who have safely eaten a food for decades.
Medical Guidance
Doctors emphasize that self-diagnosing food allergies can be dangerous. Experts recommend seeing an allergist for testing, which may include a supervised food challenge to confirm the diagnosis safely.
People diagnosed with peanut allergies are generally advised to avoid peanut-containing products entirely and carry an EpiPen in case of severe reactions.
The viral Uncrustables story highlights both the unpredictability of adult-onset allergies and the importance of taking new symptoms seriously. For more updates on health trends, lifestyle stories, and community conversations, keep following ChicagoMusicGuide.com.