Stewed, Cooked, or Raw

The Holidays are so difficult when it comes to food allergies. You're not in full control when visiting friends and family. You're kind of at the mercy of what they have prepared. The worse part is, you don't really know what foods are safe based on how they look.

I traveled up to Mammoth with my boyfriend for Christmas to be with his family. At Christmas dinner I inhaled bowls if this spicy Thai soup. It was so yummy! The problem: I had no idea there were tomatoes stewed into it. There were no traces of tomatoes in it so I thought it was ok. I was up all night with a massive headache and blowing my nose every hour. It was one of the worse nights I had with my sllergies since I was tested.

Here's the thing; last night I cheated and had a slice of pizza, and only had a mild attack. Not too long ago I accidentally ate a small slice of raw tomato hidden underneath some nacho cheese in a plate of nachos, and I had a medium attack. So what's the difference? Is stewed more powerful than raw tomatoes? And why does cooked pizza sauce only yield a mild attack? Any one out there know the levels of severity in cooked versus raw?