Nut Allergy

According to yellowbrix.com, 1.8 million Americans are allergic to tree nuts, a leading cause of fatal and near -fatal food reactions.As we have previously discussed, tree nuts are not peanuts, which are legumes, or seeds, such as sunflower or sesame seeds. Tree nuts include walnut, almond, hazelnut, coconut, cashew, pistachio, Brazil nuts and more.  The Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network advised that people diagnosed with a tree nut allergy must avoid those nuts for life.

Phil Lempert, a food industry analyst and creator of supermarket guru.com, reminds us “… tree nuts are very versatile ingredients and can sometimes pop up in unexpected places.  It is important to stay vigilant and read labels. Here are some unexpected foods that may contain tree nuts, salads, and dressing, barbecue sauce, breading for chicken, pancakes, meat-free hamburgers, pasta, fish dishes, pie crust and honey.”

If you suffer from a nut allergy, avoid foods that contain nuts but also keep an eye on labels for foods contain  these ingredients: almond, artificial nuts, beechnut, Brazil nut, butternut,, cashew, chestnut, chinquapin, coconut, filbert/hazelnut, ginkgo nut, hickory nut, litchi/lichee/lychee nut, macadamia nut, marzipan/almond paste, nut pieces, pecan, pesto, pili nut, pine nut - also referred to as Indian, pignoli, pignolia, pignon, pinon and pinyon nut - pistachio, praline, shea nuit and walnut.  In 2006, the FDA classified coconut as a tree nut. Check with your health care provider about the risk of cross reactivity of tree nuts and coconut.If you have questions about your allergic condition or symptoms and live in the NYC area, call my office for a consultation, 866-632-5537 For more on tree nut allergies see Allergy U.