A mother has issued a warning to other parents after an innocuous act left her seven-month-old daughter with a burn-like skin reaction around her mouth.
Reanna Bendzac took to Facebook to share photos of her daughter’s mouth with the severe reaction, colloquially known as Margarita Burn, around her mouth.
The Canadian woman said her daughter was chewing on celery while enjoying the sunshine to help soothe her teething gums.
“She was in the sun for 20-30 minutes, the celery juice/drool was wiped away with a dry cloth and bathed that evening,” she wrote online.
Reanna told Good Morning America that the severe redness and burn didn’t show up until the next day.
“It wasn’t warm by any means, but it was sunny so she was covered neck-to-toe in a onesie and we had a sun hat on her, so we thought she was fairly well-protected,” she revealed to the breakfast show.
The burn blistered and peeled, with the mum revealing it was healing well but her daughter would have a long road of hyperpigmentation and scarring to treat.
She said with warmer weather approaching in the northern hemisphere, she wanted other parents to be on the look out.
Margarita burn (phytophotodermatitis) is when the juice of foods that contain furanocoumarins, which include carrots, celery and citrus fruits, comes into contact with skin that is then exposed to sunlight.
“As any parents out there would know, your first reaction is just like, ‘Oh my gosh, what did I do? And how could I have prevented that,’” Reanna said.
“But you’re only as good of a parent as the knowledge you have, and we did what we thought was best at the time.”
She said looking back, with the knowledge she now has, she should have instead taken her daughter inside after the celery and wiped her face with water and soap.
With her daughter’s face now healing well, Reanna wants to help educate other parents in the risks of phytophotodermatitis, and how it can be prevented,