Ingredient decoder
Cherry
Cherry is a birch-pollen cross-reactive food — its PR-10 Proteins protein resembles the birch allergen closely enough that pollen-allergic people can react to it.
Allergen family data
| Family | Category | Severity | Mapping |
|---|---|---|---|
| PR-10 Proteins | pollen_food | Usually mild (oral allergy syndrome) | Curated mapping |
Sources: SleuthIt curated dataset
Also appears as
Cross-reactivity
~70% of birch pollen allergics react to raw apple
~50% of birch allergics react to cherry
Birch-celery-mugwort-spice syndrome
Case notes
Cherry rarely announces itself in plain language. On a label it can appear as Prunus avium — the botanical name — and in allergy testing paperwork it shows up as Pru av 1, the protein designation. All three refer to the same fruit, so a parent scanning for the word "cherry" may pass right over a panel that technically discloses it.
The other reason cherry is easy to miss is that it belongs to the PR-10 protein family, which is heat-labile. PR-10 proteins are often destroyed during juice processing, but they may persist in fresh or minimally processed juice. That means the same fruit can behave very differently depending on how the product was made, and the ingredient line alone won't tell you which version you're holding. Reactions in this family are usually mild and fall under oral allergy syndrome.
Cherry also sits inside a wider pattern worth knowing when you read labels. Its PR-10 protein, Pru av 1, cross-reacts strongly with the birch pollen allergen Bet v 1 — roughly 50% of birch-allergic people react to cherry, and about 70% react to raw apple. Celery shares a moderate link through the same family, as part of birch-celery-mugwort-spice syndrome. If cherry is on your watch list, the related PR-10 foods — apple, peach, carrot, celery, hazelnut, and soybean Gly m 4 — are the ones most likely to turn up alongside it in your own tracking notes.
Questions
Cherry is a birch-pollen cross-reactive food — its PR-10 Proteins protein resembles the birch allergen closely enough that pollen-allergic people can react to it.