Becky Irvin allergic to Christmas food (From York Press)

Becky Irvin allergic to Christmas food

10:20am Saturday 22nd December 2012 in News

MEET Becky Irvin, the girl who is allergic to Christmas – or at least the food.

As millions of Brits tuck into their festive treats, Becky, 33, will be stuck with dry beef and veg after learning 15 years ago she was allergic to the main ingredients.

Turkey, stuffing, gravy, pigs in blankets, wine and sweet treats are all off-limits for the University of York administrator, due to the yeast extracts contained in them.

“This year I’ll be having a measly bit of dry beef, with potato, veg and no gravy because of the yeast.

“I don’t really like veg either but it’s one of the few food groups I can get away with.

“I’ll then be faced with everyone else’s plate piled high with all these delicious Christmas treats which I can’t have unless I want to feel horrendous.”

Becky realised when she was 18 she was getting poorly while feasting on traditional Christmas fare.

“I would get terrible bloating in my stomach and then stabbing-like pains, headaches, fatigue and sickness would follow. At Christmas, I would often eat and drink more than usual and so I was always particularly ill around this time of year. I was 18 the last time I had turkey with all the trimmings and my stomach bloated so much it looked like I was six months pregnant. That was when I decided to get tested.”

After being wrongly diagnosed with appendicitis, Becky took a food intolerance test which showed she was allergic to yeast, eggs, sugar and fish.