Seal and whale meat: two newly recognized food allergies.

Background: Alaska's marine mammals compose a large portion of the diet of indigenous coastal Alaskan people. Bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) and bearded seals (Erignathus barbatus), inhabitants of the Bering and Beaufort seas along Alaska's western and northern coasts, are 2 of the most important subsistence species, serving as major food sources to the native population.

Objective: To describe an Inupiaq boy with symptoms consistent with an IgE-mediated food allergy after ingestion of bowhead whale and bearded seal meat.