Peanut Allergies & Tree Nuts
Nearly 90 percent of people allergic to peanuts could likely eat almonds, cashews, pistachios, pecans and other tree nuts safely, but one third avoid these nuts to minimize the risk of a potential reaction. Of the 258 people with documented peanut allergies participating in a newly published study, 37 percent reported that they ate all tree nuts, 24 percent consumed some but not all, and 39 percent never ate these nuts. Of the 100 people who avoided all tree nuts, 50 said they feared cross contact, 16 said they had no desire to eat tree nuts, and 13 were still too young to introduce nuts into their diets. Another 12 percent reported staying away from tree nuts because of a high likelihood of being allergic. However, the study authors wrote that emerging data has shown that the rate of true tree nut allergy in people allergic to peanuts is much lower than the commonly reported figure of 30 percent.
Source:
Shahzad Mustafa et al, “Forty percent of people with peanut allergies can eat tree nuts but choose to avoid them,” Annals of Asthma, Allergy & Immunology, December 18, 2019, DOI: doi.org/10.1016/j.anai.2019.11.027
More from this week’s bulletin:
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- Green Spaces & Women’s Weight
- A tasty Japanese street food to try: Japanese Pancake
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