Understanding Paprika Allergy and What to Do About It
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Paprika Allergy

Paprika Allergy
Everyday Health
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Updated on August 6, 2025
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Paprika is a reddish spice made from finely ground peppers belonging to the Capsicum annuum plant, such as bell peppers or chili peppers. Its taste can vary from sweet to smoked to spicy, and it gives food an earthy flavor.

 Plus, a teaspoon of paprika contains small amounts of several healthy nutrients, including fiber, calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, zinc, vitamin C, and folate.

Paprika not only gives flavor to food, but it may be used in extract form to color foods as well. It can give coloring to meats, snacks, baked goods, soups, sauces, dressings, canned goods, and more.

 For this reason, it may be classified as a food additive.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has long considered paprika safe for its intended uses.

 But paprika may not be safe for you if you have an allergy or intolerance to the spice.

Read on for details about paprika allergy and intolerance, plus when to get medical help and how to avoid the seasoning if you’d like.

Paprika Allergy Explained

Paprika allergy is uncommon, with few documented cases, and dangerous allergic reactions due to spices are uncommon, too.

When they do occur, spice allergies are related to proteins in certain fruits and vegetables, which are similar to pollen proteins that cause allergic reactions. With bell peppers, that’s mugwort pollen, which may trigger oral allergy syndrome.

This typically causes your mouth or lips to itch, tingle, burn, or swell. Less commonly, oral allergy syndrome can also cause skin reactions like hives, a rash, or itching. In severe cases, it can result in trouble breathing and anaphylaxis (a potentially life-threatening reaction).

So if you’re allergic to peppers, it’s likely that you’ll be allergic to paprika as well, given that the spice comes directly from the peppers. And with a pepper allergy, you’ll likely need to avoid all pepper-related foods in all forms, including ground as a spice like paprika.

If you don’t have a pepper allergy but still have an adverse reaction after eating paprika, you might be experiencing symptoms due to capsaicin, present in hot peppers like chilis. This chemical component can act as an irritant and cause symptoms including pain and stomach discomfort.

And take note of whether you’re eating pure paprika or a spice blend that contains paprika along with other spices. You might have an allergy to one of the other spices included in the blend, or even to preservatives that may be present in some seasoning blends.

When to Contact a Doctor

If you think you have an allergy to paprika, you may want to consult your primary care doctor or an allergist. They can do a skin prick test to check whether your body has a reaction to the spice and help determine whether you could tolerate the spice in the future.

If you have signs of a severe allergic reaction, go to the nearest emergency room as soon as you can. Symptoms may include swelling of your face or tongue or trouble breathing or swallowing.

Paprika Intolerance

A food allergy occurs when your immune system reacts to a specific food in a way that causes adverse reactions. A food intolerance, on the other hand, happens when your body experiences a chemical reaction after you’ve consumed a certain food.

Because a food intolerance happens in your digestive system, it typically causes symptoms such as gas, diarrhea, and upset stomach.

It usually does not cause severe or life-threatening reactions, and you may be able to eat small amounts of the food without any symptoms.

Paprika Avoidance

If you do have an allergy to paprika, you’ll need to avoid any foods that contain it. It’s important to read ingredient labels carefully to make sure paprika isn’t included, and know that it might just be labeled as “spices” or “natural flavorings.”

A doctor might also help you create an anaphylaxis plan and teach you how to use an epinephrine autoinjector pen, in the event that you experience a severe allergic reaction.

To get a similar earthy flavor in your dishes as from paprika, you could consider using spices like cumin or turmeric. Ginger could help add a bit of zing as well.

The Takeaway

  • Paprika allergy is uncommon, but if you have symptoms like mouth or lip tingling or swelling, it’s important to consult with a medical professional. For more severe symptoms, such as trouble breathing, visit the nearest emergency room right away.
  • If paprika causes gastrointestinal symptoms and discomfort, it might be a sign of a food intolerance instead of an allergy.
  • Whether you want to avoid paprika due to an allergy, intolerance, or other preference, you can consider using alternative spices like turmeric or cumin instead.
EDITORIAL SOURCES
Everyday Health follows strict sourcing guidelines to ensure the accuracy of its content, outlined in our editorial policy. We use only trustworthy sources, including peer-reviewed studies, board-certified medical experts, patients with lived experience, and information from top institutions.
Resources
  1. What Is Paprika? A Guide to Its Types, Benefits, and Cooking Tips. Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts. June 20, 2024.
  2. Spices, Paprika. U.S. Department of Agriculture FoodData Central. April 1, 2019.
  3. Paprika Extract. International Association of Color Manufacturers.
  4. 182.10 Spices and Other Natural Seasonings and Flavorings. Code of Federal Regulations. April 1, 1996.
  5. 73.340 Paprika. Code of Federal Regulations. December 27, 2001.
  6. Nguyen AT et al. A Dash of Danger: A Rare Case of Paprika Anaphylaxis. Brown University.
  7. Food Allergy. Mayo Clinic. August 30, 2024.
  8. Oral Allergy Syndrome. Cleveland Clinic. August 11, 2022.
  9. Allergy Diet - No Capsicum / Chilli. New South Wales Government - Agency for Clinical Innovation. February 2025.
  10. Yu J. Can a Food Be Too Spicy to Eat? Columbia University - Irving Medical Center. January 24, 2024.
  11. Can Spices Cause Allergic Reactions? American Academy of Allergy Asthma & Immunology. September 12, 2024.
  12. Food Allergy and Intolerance. Better Health Channel - Victoria State Government. April 10, 2022.
  13. Food Intolerance. Cleveland Clinic. August 11, 2021.
  14. Food Allergy vs. Food Intolerance: What’s the Difference? Mayo Clinic. February 28, 2024.
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Reyna Franco, RDN

Medical Reviewer
Member of American College of Lifestyle Medicine

Reyna Franco, RDN, is a New York City–based dietitian-nutritionist, certified specialist in sports dietetics, and certified personal trainer. She is a diplomate of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine and has a master's degree in nutrition and exercise physiology from Columbia University.

In her private practice, she provides medical nutrition therapy for weight management, sports nutrition, diabetes, cardiac disease, renal disease, gastrointestinal disorders, cancer, food allergies, eating disorders, and childhood nutrition. To serve her diverse patients, she demonstrates cultural sensitivity and knowledge of customary food practices. She applies the tenets of lifestyle medicine to reduce the risk of chronic disease and improve health outcomes for her patients.

Franco is also a corporate wellness consultant who conducts wellness counseling and seminars for organizations of every size. She taught sports nutrition to medical students at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, taught life cycle nutrition and nutrition counseling to undergraduate students at LaGuardia Community College, and precepts nutrition students and interns. She created the sports nutrition rotation for the New York Distance Dietetic Internship program.

She is the chair of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine's Registered Dietitian-Nutritionist Member Interest Group. She is also the treasurer and secretary of the New York State Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, having previously served in many other leadership roles for the organization, including as past president, awards committee chair, and grant committee chair, among others. She is active in the local Greater New York Dietetic Association and Long Island Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, too.

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Assia M. Mortensen has over 12 years of experience as an editor and journalist, and has published hundreds of articles in magazines, newspapers and online at "The Santa Barbara Independent," "Frontiers Magazine," "805 Living Magazine," Huffingtonpost.com, Everydayhealth.COM and many other outlets. Mortensen graduated from the University of California in Santa Cruz with a Bachelor of Arts in literature and creative writing.

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