Treenut & Peanut Allergy
About MeHi, my name is Kerri!
I'm 9 years old and I love going on adventures and spending time with my friends. I've had a severe allergy to tree nuts and peanuts since I was born. My allergy is an anaphylactic allergy meaning it is very serious and dangerous and it can make me very sick. This means I have to be extra careful of what I eat so that I don’t eat anything with any treenuts or peanuts. Because my allergy is anaphylactic, it means I can't eat anything that has touched tree nuts or peanuts and I can have a mild reaction if I go to close to tree nuts and peanuts. |
About My Allergy
My allergy is an anaphylactic allergy to tree nuts and peanuts.
Because peanuts are legumes and not actually nuts, not all nut allergies are peanut allergies and not all peanut allergies are tree nut allergies. Although, when you have either allergy it's safer to avoid all nuts as they are normally processed in the same place meaning there will be cross-contamination.
Peanut and tree nut allergies aren't always anaphylactic, and can range from being mild to severe allergies but peanuts are one of the most common anaphylactic allergies.
Because peanuts are legumes and not actually nuts, not all nut allergies are peanut allergies and not all peanut allergies are tree nut allergies. Although, when you have either allergy it's safer to avoid all nuts as they are normally processed in the same place meaning there will be cross-contamination.
Peanut and tree nut allergies aren't always anaphylactic, and can range from being mild to severe allergies but peanuts are one of the most common anaphylactic allergies.
Dealing With My Allergy
Every day I have to be careful of my allergy and stay alert.
When I go out to birthday parties or when my class has shared lunches I have to be extra careful of what I eat so I don't get sick.
Because I have a severe allergy I need to be really careful, this means I definitely shouldn’t eat something if I don't know exactly what is in it.
It also means I have to carry an epi-pen around just in case I have a reaction and so that I'm safe to go out and eat at restaurants. More can be found about epi-pens here.
Whenever my parents buy food I need to check the label so I don't get sick and make sure that the food doesn’t have any nuts in it. Normally things say 'May contain traces of nuts' which is ok but if it says 'May contain nuts' or 'Contains nuts' I can't eat it.
When I go to icecream places or restaurants it's important to ask the server if the food has any nuts and let them know about my allergy so they can be careful so I don’t get sick. It's important to ask, even if the food shouldn’t have nuts in it as the food could be contaminated by nuts if they're not careful.
Some foods that may have peanuts or tree nuts in them are things like these:
International foods, such as African and Asian cooking (especially Thai and Indian) also in Mexican and Mediterranean foods as they use nuts and nut oils frequenetly
Baked food like cake, cookies, candy, pastries and more
Sweets and candy such as chocolate, lollies, nougat, marzipan, ice cream, desserts, hot chocolate, honey and more
Granola, trail mix and cereal
Soup and chili
Bread, especially grain bread
Energy bars and muesli snacks and bars
Sauces such as barbeque sauce, hot sauce, pesto, gravy, mole sauce, glazes, marinades and more
Salads and salad dressing
These foods don’t always have peanuts or tree nuts in them but it's important to check.
Some foods that should definitely be avoided are things like:
Nut butter, such as almond butter, cashew butter, peanut butter, and others
Nut pastes and ingredients like marzipan, almond paste, and nougat
Nut oils such as peanut oil, and others
Hydrolyzed plant or vegetable protein
Peanut flour
Nut extracts
When I go out to birthday parties or when my class has shared lunches I have to be extra careful of what I eat so I don't get sick.
Because I have a severe allergy I need to be really careful, this means I definitely shouldn’t eat something if I don't know exactly what is in it.
It also means I have to carry an epi-pen around just in case I have a reaction and so that I'm safe to go out and eat at restaurants. More can be found about epi-pens here.
Whenever my parents buy food I need to check the label so I don't get sick and make sure that the food doesn’t have any nuts in it. Normally things say 'May contain traces of nuts' which is ok but if it says 'May contain nuts' or 'Contains nuts' I can't eat it.
When I go to icecream places or restaurants it's important to ask the server if the food has any nuts and let them know about my allergy so they can be careful so I don’t get sick. It's important to ask, even if the food shouldn’t have nuts in it as the food could be contaminated by nuts if they're not careful.
Some foods that may have peanuts or tree nuts in them are things like these:
International foods, such as African and Asian cooking (especially Thai and Indian) also in Mexican and Mediterranean foods as they use nuts and nut oils frequenetly
Baked food like cake, cookies, candy, pastries and more
Sweets and candy such as chocolate, lollies, nougat, marzipan, ice cream, desserts, hot chocolate, honey and more
Granola, trail mix and cereal
Soup and chili
Bread, especially grain bread
Energy bars and muesli snacks and bars
Sauces such as barbeque sauce, hot sauce, pesto, gravy, mole sauce, glazes, marinades and more
Salads and salad dressing
These foods don’t always have peanuts or tree nuts in them but it's important to check.
Some foods that should definitely be avoided are things like:
Nut butter, such as almond butter, cashew butter, peanut butter, and others
Nut pastes and ingredients like marzipan, almond paste, and nougat
Nut oils such as peanut oil, and others
Hydrolyzed plant or vegetable protein
Peanut flour
Nut extracts