Chervil is a herb in the Apiaceae family of plants which includes a lot of herbs and spices. Other plants in this family include coriander, caraway seed, celery, parsley, cumin, dill, fennel and aniseed

Chervil is a less common food allergy, there are no recorded allergens for chervil by the World Health Organization (WHO), because there have not been enough study into allergic effects from this food. If you are interested in what is needed by the WHO before they add an allergen to their allergen database you can check that out HERE.

Lipid Transfer Proteins (LTPs) have been identified in chervil, these proteins are resistant to heat and are found in many types of plants. Patients suffering from a more severe allergy to cooked fruit may be sensitised to this group of proteins.

Mild allergic reactions to chervil are most likely to be caused by Bet v 1-like proteins, which cause reactions in people sensitised to birch tree pollen and give oral allergy type symptoms.

Chervil contains chemicals called furanocoumarins, these can act as a contact allergen. When they come in contact with the skin it can become more sensitive to sunlight which can cause blistering. This is more common as an occupational allergy with people who pick, pack and process chervil. This is known as phototoxicity. Additionally there have been case reports of ingestion of chervil causing severe sunburn and blistering in rare cases.

Chervil is a low FODMAP food. FODMAP stands for Fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides and polyols. Foods high in FODMAPs can cause symptoms of food intolerance, affecting the gastro intestinal system and this can be mistaken for a true IgE food allergy.

You can read more about Food Intolerances on the dedicated Food Intolerance Page.

You may be suffering from LTP Syndrome if you have reactions to various fruits, vegetables and nuts and your reactions continue to be severe after you have discarded the peel and have cooked the food.

Allergy to chervil is loosely linked to Pollen Food Allergy Syndrome. You may have Pollen-Food Allergy Syndrome if you suffer from dill allergy with oral allergy symptoms to 3 or more of the foods mentioned in the cross reactivity section.

Common foods involved in LTP allergy include parsley, hazelnuts, almonds, walnuts, apples, dried fruit, lettuce and tomatoes.

If sensitised to Birch pollen you may have Pollen Food Allergy Syndrome and may also react to apple, carrot, kiwi, pear, peach, plum, nectarine, apricots, cherries, tomato, celery, potato, parsnip, pepper, cumin, peas, dill, fennel, hazelnut, walnut, almonds, coriander, peanuts, lentils and beans.

Note these food lists are not exhaustive, you can find the most up to date information on the Cross Reactivity Tool.

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