Need a Food Allergy Shopping Guide? - Peanuts

Category: Just for Parents

Written by Cilie Yack

PEANUT ALLERGY

A list for the newly diagnosed

A peanut allergy is not likely to be outgrown and the number of children with peanut allergies has tripled since 1997. Only about 20% of kids with peanut allergies will eventually outgrow them. Kids with peanut allergies are very sensitive and have pretty severe reactions because the peanut protein is stable and does not change when it is cooked or baked.

So kids will have reactions to the smallest amount of peanut protein they are exposed to. They can react after breathing in tiny particles in the air or touching a railing that was touched by a child who recently ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

Peanut allergy is not the same as a tree nut allergy because technically, peanuts are not really nuts. They are actually a legume. They grow on roots under the soil. Peanuts are more related to soybeans than they are to almonds and walnuts.

Kids with peanut allergies can have mild reactions that simply cause hives. But it is also a potentially serious or deadly allergy.

Peanuts are the most common cause of anaphylactic reactions in people. They also account for the highest number of allergy related deaths in America.

The Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN), cites a study that says peanut allergies are on the rise and have doubled in children over the last decade.

 Peanuts are found in foods like:

breakfast cereals
protein bars
chili sauces
hot sauces
pesto
gravy
mole sauce
salad dressings
boxed salads in deli
puddings
nut butters (unless made in a dedicated facility)
any baked goods, foods in a bakery that do not contain peanuts are cross- contaminated with nuts if it is not a nut-free facility.
hot chocolate
candy bars, chocolate chips (if they are not made in a dedicated facility they will have traces of peanut).
ice cream
egg rolls
potato pancakes
pet food
specialty pizzas
all ethnic foods, especially Mexican and Asian dishes
vegetarian dishes with meat substitutes
glazes
marinades
granola
rice cakes
carmel corn
nougat
candies
satay sauce
crackers
veggie burgers
marzipan

Important Issues with Peanuts:

Alternative nut butters like soy nut butter or sunflower seed butter can be produced on equipment shared with other tree nuts or peanuts, commonly called, "shared equipment" on product labelling. Contact the manufacturer before purchasing these products.
Ice cream parlors should be avoided because the employees use the same scoop when they move from their non-peanut flavor to their peanut containing flavor.
Sometimes, foods that say they contain almonds or other tree nuts really contain peanuts instead.
Peanuts are also called ground nuts, beer nuts, or monkey nuts.
Younger brothers and sisters of children allergic to peanuts are at an increased risk for allergy to peanuts.
Traces of peanut are often found in chocolate candy.

Peanut Containing Ingredients to Avoid:

peanut
peanut butter
peanut starch
peanut flour
cold-pressed peanut oil
expeller-pressed peanut oil
mixed nuts
crushed nuts
beer nuts
artificial nuts
hydrolyzed plant protein
hydrolyzed vegetable protein (may or may not contain peanut)
vegetable oil (if source isn't specified)
natural flavoring (depending on the food, may contain peanut protein)
peanutamide
advisory statements like "may contain traces of peanut"
Arachis oil (another name for peanut oil)
Defatted peanuts
Egg rolls
High-protein food
Marzipan
Nougat
Peanut flakes
Peanut meal
Peanut soup

Ingredients that may contain Peanuts:

Lecithin (can also come from soy, animal byproducts, corn, and eggs)
Pie crusts
Salad dressings
sauces
Sunflower seeds (through cross contamination)
Candy

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