This additive is salty and savory just like MSG. It is found in many of the same foods as MSG. The chemical name is Ribonucleotide, and often the reaction people get from eating it is an extremely itchy, irritable rash which we call the ‘Ribo Rash.’ Below is my personal story of suffering from the ‘Ribo Rash.’
In 2004 I arrived in Australia and I started to develop a very itchy red rash on my body. It started under my arms, in my inner arms, on my lower back, on my breasts and around my eyes.
An unhappy sufferer of the Ribo Rash - - - Reclaiming my health (no more rash!)
The rash quickly got worse. It seemed to spread like fire actually, itching like crazy and making me mental. I had never experienced anything like it before, and there seemed to be no rhyme or reason to what would trigger it. Creams seemed to make it worse – somehow they felt like they were ‘trapping’ the rash inside of me. I could not control my desire to tear my skin off from the itching; I especially enjoyed scalding my skin with hot water – what a sick feeling of relief that provided!! I also started getting heart palpitations…at any time my heart-rate would increase from 60 beats per minute to 140, and I had no history of anxiety whatsoever. I was generally eating quite healthy (at least so I thought); I didn’t smoke, barely drank, exercised (obviously), so how could I be so sick?
Friends told me to meditate. Doctors told me it was a simple case of excema. I had a complete round of testing done and everything came up fine. I was tested for heavy metal poisoning, various viral infections, standard food allergies (milk, wheat, eggs, gluten, etc); I had chest x-rays and EKG’s done – and they found nothing. The only thing that came up suspect during that time is my URIC ACID levels were high. The doctor suggested that I go on medication to bring down the uric acid; he said I was in danger of having gout. (I now know that food additive #635 Ribonucleotide can cause uric acid levels to rise.)
At the best of times, the rash was mainly around my eyes
Eventually, out of desperation, I started my own ‘elimination diet’ in an effort to narrow down the possibility of it being a food allergy. I just had this feeling that the rash was being caused by something I was eating. I had tried all the changes of soaps, washing powders, etc etc, and I felt like I had no other option to even try. It was at least 1 year of suffering with the rash at this stage, not always as bad as the photos mind you, but always present and always itching like hell. The elimination diet was worth a try.
I started off by telling people at my new job that I was a celiac (i.e. no wheat or gluten). I also started keeping a food diary, writing down what I ate daily and when I had an outbreak. The wheat and gluten-free diet helped tremendously, and now I know it is because ribonucleotides are often found in products containing wheat. About once a month or so I would still have an outbreak, but it seemed manageable – I kind-of got to the point where I accepted the rash as a part of my life and decided I could tolerate it in the small amounts I was getting.
Puffed out after a nice anaphylactic reaction to #635
Finally the day of reckoning came to me. I hadn’t eaten anything the previous day and I made a salad using the cheap salad packets at work. About an hour later I started to feel the itchiness start in my face, eyes and lips. Somehow I just knew it was the salad dressing. I quickly did an internet search on ‘food additives itchy rash’ and instantly found Sue Dengate’s site. Actually I sobbed tears of joy while I read countless stories of others who had suffered with the SAME EXACT symptoms as me, and I KNEW that I was not crazy, I knew at that moment that I had found the cause of my suffering. There was no doubt in my mind that I was suffering from the Ribo Rash. I noted the list of foods on her site that contain 635, and when I checked my food diary, EVERY SINGLE TIME I HAD A REACTION I had eaten #635. Even on the wheat-free gluten-free diet, I realized that I had eaten seaweed-flavored rice crackers, the veggie burger at Hungry Jack’s (with no bread), cheap salad dressings, and other flavored tofu products which were causing my outbreaks. Sometimes when I try to tell people what happened to me, they cut me off and say, well I don’t eat any of that crap…and I say YOU HAVE NO IDEA THE CRAP THAT YOU ARE EATING!!
I was not eating junk food. If you think seaweed crackers are healthy you are wrong!! If you think flavored tofu is healthy you are wrong!! We are being poisoned slowly by these additives. It was 9 months into the elimination diet when I finally made this life-altering discovery.
This additive, can be ANY of the following 3 names or numbers on a food label and they are universal, i.e. the same in every country in the world:
Ribonucleotide – #635 – E635
Disodium Guanylate – #627 – E627
Disodium Inosinate – #631 – E631
Foods to Avoid, All Containing Artificial Flavoring
It took about 3 months from the time I eliminated #635 from my diet for the rash to go away entirely. It did not itch whatsoever during that time, it just slowly but surely started to clear up.
After 3 months I finally contacted Sue Dengate personally to thank her and tell her my battle with the Ribo Rash so she could include my story on her site. She told me I had one of the worst cases she had ever seen. Since then I have worked with her to help educate people to the dangers of this chemical. My photo is on her site and is also in her DVD entitled ‘Fed Up with Children’s Behavior – How Food Additives Affect Behavior.’
When the DVD was released in Australia in 2006, I was featured on Today Tonight, a 30-minute news program, to discuss my story.
NO ONE should go through what I went through. It it so obvious to me now that I was suffering from an extreme allergic reaction, and it angers me that doctors are so completely ignorant! How could any medical professional shrug off such an extreme reaction and say it was stress?? I went to many different doctors during that time. It is unfortunate that they are not being educated about the dangers of food additives.
It’s been 5 years now since I eliminated #635 from my diet. I have no rash whatsoever, not even the tiniest spot anywhere on my body. People often compliment me now telling me I have ‘amazing skin.’ Sometimes I tell them, ‘You have NO IDEA how much that compliment means to me.’ I think they think I’m crazy, but they just have no idea what I’ve been through. For 2 years I was embarrassed to go out in public; I felt unattractive and uncomfortable all the time. Now I have beautiful skin which radiates from the inside out.
Eating Natural, Whole & Pure means NO RASH for me!
On occasion I have been accidentally exposed to some ribonucleotide, especially when eating out at restaurants. It happens less and less to me now as I learn from experience what foods it is in and what foods are ’safe.’ But if I do have a reaction, I go home and immediately take about 10-12 charcoal tablets. That seems to absorb the toxins and chemical and usually after about 30 minutes I started to feel better. If after 45 minutes I still feel itchy or hot, I take another 3-4 tablets. It is much more natural on the body to do this rather than even think about taking any anti-histamines.
If you think you are having a reaction to ribonucleotides or you want to ask me specific questions about my rash, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Also please be sure to read Sue Dengate’s site and educate yourself on the dangers of all of the nasty additives.
If you know anyone who has a child suffering from ADHD or Autism, please refer them to this site as well; we are only now just discovering the links between food additives and behavioral problems in children.
There is some good additional information on food allergies, food intolerances and rashes on the Lance Armstrong livestrong.com site.
Wow, what a great post! I learned so much from it. I totally agree that people have no idea what they are eating. I suffer from multiple food allergies myself, so I feel your pain! But glad to hear you are better with raw foods, same with me : ) You are beautiful person…inside and out!!
Hello.
I am 16 years old and I believe I have the “Ribo Rash” also. There are several problems though. Some of the food I have had reactions to, (Ramen Noodles, Tony Chacheres Creole Seasoning, chips, things like that.) have never affected me before. But suddenly they just started setting me off like crazy!!! Do you have any information about how it can just start randomly? Even now as I type I can feel another attack coming on-It is driving me CRAZY!!!!
Any help you could provide would be most appreciated.
Matt Graves
Hi Matt,
I’m sorry to hear about your suffering..but be thankful that you may have found the cause. To be honest, I can’t explain why this intolerance seems to start for no reason. I myself ate these additives for many years with no reaction at all and bang, all of a sudden, the rash began. In my case, I was putting my body under extreme stress through sport (I was cycling up the east coast of Australia averaging 60-70 miles per day). I think the stress wore my body down and made me more susceptible to such allergic reactions. In other people, it may be a case of weakened or stressed liver due to illness, medications, or de-vitalized foods. I have seen others who seem to react when they move to a new country – this leads me to believe that different countries are using slightly different chemicals formulas.
Believe me you will feel much, much better when you simply eliminate these foods from your diet. In fact, no one should be eating them – they are not even foods in my opinion, just chemical junk that we are all better off without! Your body will be forever grateful!
Thank you so much for sharing this information! I got my first nasty rash about 2 months ago – red, enflamed and puffy all over and couldn’t stop scratching – and I had no idea what it was!
Last week, I got a bout of nausea, headaches and heart palpitations, then I started to itch. For once, I thought about what I had eaten, and the only thing I had eaten was 2 minute noodles – after jumping on Google, the penny finally dropped!! I had never felt great after eating noodles (what I call desperate late-night office food). I had never had the rash before (like Matt) until this year, but with a full-on job and a baby, I have been very run-down. Also, lately I have noticed an increase in bouts of excema.
Thank you so much for sharing your story and knowledge (and making me feel sane again!) You are an angel. I’m sure my little girl will be so much better off because her mother is finally informed.. thank you thank you thank you!!!
OMG ..finally I have an answer to this horrendous rash which started on the 7th January 2010 with 8 spots on my thighs… this rash some days covered my entire body and drove me to ablsoute despair – my doctor had no answer other than antihistamines and pinetarsal baths. Being that I am an RN I just had a inkling that something I was consuming was causing this rash.
I know I have an intolerence to MSG it gives me wicked migraines and dirahhoea so I always try to avoid items with obvious additives (but never a rash), so I just had a feeling this rash was coming from some kind of food I was eating and I went looking myself for answers. I found your website along with Sue Dengates infomation and what a huge relief that Im not really going mad!!! (I was waking up in the middle of the night to try and catch/see the bugs that were eating me, but actually there werent any bugs at all..) my poor suffering husband is also glad Ive finally come up with an answer. My only problem is that although we eat healthy it is so hard with a family to prepare food with no MSG in it. Two nights ago we had a roast and with this I had gravy.. woke up in morning covered again – gggrrrr I only had the smallest amount of gravy too…Culprit hydrolized vegetable protein.
But anyway I think Im finally on top of it all today Ive only about 6 spots on my body, slowly the toxins are leaving my body. I thankyou for your story as it has helped me greatly. I would love to hear about the foods that you can eat now, that are quick and easy to prepare.
Thankyou again. Im forever greatful
(one other question… Is this rash ever going to go away completely, can I ever go back to eating even the smallest amounts of these chemicals? So aleast I can enjoy a meal out with my family not worring about having a breakout the next day)
It’s a huge relief just to know you are 1) not going crazy, and 2) not alone!
In my experience, the rash did go away entirely but it took about 3 months of not eating any whatsoever for my body to be able to detoxify all the buildup. So, you will have to consider that if you think you still want to eat these foods on occasion. Only you can decide what is best for you; personally I would never want to eat such a damaging additive and I certainly would not want my loved ones eating it either!
There are many healthy alternatives, including cold-pressed oils, natural seasoners like garlic, onion, chili and ginger and so many great natural flavors for you to ex plore! I put a new recipe in my newsletter every month and I also have recipes in my blog, so check back to my site often for some good ideas and inspiration.
It’s important that we get this information out there – no one should ever suffer from the Ribo Rash.
I wrote earlier in November about how I am attacked by the ribo rash. I am happy to say that I am pretty sure I have found a product that works on completely stopping an attack dead in its tracks. I was vacationing with my family in Salt Lake City. The hotel that we stayed in for three days had supplied free gift bags with little trials of toothpaste, a burn cream and a bottle of body wash. Well we went out to eat the first night and the burger that I ate at Red Robin set me off on one of the worst attacks I had ever had. When I arrived back at the hotel I got out my little bottle of body wash and got into the shower (I have found that hot showers sometimes helps) and used the body soap that I had been given. Amazingly the attack stopped instantly. I thought it was a miracle. Two days later I purposely triggered an attack to see if the same thing happened again though this time I just took a cold shower. It worked the exact same. The product is Irish Springs new Intensity wash. I don’t know if its an ingredient in the soap or the whole mixture itself. But it works great. I don’t know if you ladies who are attacked by this would like smelling like a man but the relief is insane how fast and nice it comes.
I have been suffering with this rash since 2003. I have changed everything in my life to try to get rid of it, which was actually a blessig as I watched cigarettes, alcohol, high frutose corn syrup, and many other things disappear from my life. BUt with all of it gone, I still have the rash, and I sit here, pregnant, more miserable then ever. I had tried no gluten for months before I realized it was not gluten. I am so happy to have found this. Changes will be made immediately, thank you so much for posting this information…
Dear Sunkiss,
Thanks for your comments and for sharing your story. I hope everyone gets this information so we can stop needless suffering. Especially for you, it’s so good that you may have found the cause so as to not spread the chemicals to your newborn via breastmilk. I hope you are feeling better and are healthy and rash-free!
Hi Jennifer,
Thank you so much for sharing your experience. It’s helped me to confirm that my husband and I were right suspect these addictives and to cut them out of our diet!
My own experience started in Sept 2009, when I developed itchy skin with no rash, like bugs were crawling under my skin. I would get paranoia in the middle of the night when there was absolutely nothing there to be scared of, and either couldn’t get to sleep or would sleep restlessly. I would also get stomach upsets for no apparent reason.
Through a process of elimination and with lots of research we worked out it was MSG and the flavour enhancers causing my symptoms and cut them out of our diet. Hubby had found Sue Dengate’s website when I’d been going through another allergy, and we confirmed the symptoms against the information there. I’d been to doctors and had tests for the previous allergy symptoms and found them useless, so we did all the work in working out what it was.
It hasn’t been easy, because as you know they lurk in just about everything!! We read labels religiously now. It wasn’t easy for my body either. I felt like an addict detoxing when we came off them!! My body ached all over and I felt physically ill for about a week after we changed out diet. But I wouldn’t look back now! I feel so much better and we eat so much healthier now.
Kindest regards,
Holly
Hi Holly,
Thanks for sharing your story….it’s critical that we share our stories so people know they are not going crazy and understand the damage that these chemical additives can do to our precious bodies!
Best,
Jennifer