Question:
My wife broke out after eating some cashew nuts yesterday. She has loads of
allergies, but never this item. Has anyone heart of this allergy.
Answer:
Nut allergies are pretty common. Here's a link:
http://labspec.co.za/l_seed.htm My husband is allergic to all types of nuts. He is not allergic
to peanuts - but peanuts are a legume and not a tree nut.
His reaction from a little bit is constriction of his throat. So,
I do taste testing for him when we are out at a dinner where we
don't have control over the menu.
Which nuts are which? I am allergic to peanuts (asthma attack), almonds
(vomiting) and whatever is in Honey Nut Cornflakes (brasil nuts?).
However, I can eat coconut and sesame seeds. Can't eat honey, never very
tempted as to experimenting with other nuts. Can't eat cashew nuts - which
turn up in pesto sauce with pine nuts, reactions range from vomiting to
nausea and headache. The restaurants I go to print a symbol against foods which contain nuts.
But I always ask wheerver I am. Occasionally you get a problem with snarky
waiters, which can be met with the reply that it will be embarrassing fro
the restaurant if you collapse, and even more embarrassing when you sue. Yup. My (now 8 year old) son ditto. He's anaphylactic: it could kill him if
help (primarily adrenalin) doesn't arrive within 5 minutes. It' s also
assumed that he's similarly allergic to all other nuts: he's had similar
(swelling, progressive breathing problems)reaction to walnut traces. I'm a
member of the (British) Anaphylaxis Campaign as a result.
I missed the original post to this and would be happy to "talk" with the
original poster if you e-mail me direct. My daughter has cashew allergy
too. She can eat peanuts, walnuts, almonds, pecans, filberts, almost
any nut, but NOT cashews! She reacts with severe hives (though no
internal swelling of throat) and vomitting. The hives only appear with
raw cashews, not cooked. The nuts that seem to be related (that is, she
vomits) are pistachios and macadamia nuts.
We feel lucky, since cashews and pistachios are fairly rare (compared to
other nuts). The only time we mistakenly fed her some was on an
airplane (should've known not to eat airplane food in the first place!)
when they had "chinese chicken" but didn't tell us it had cashews, and
once at a friend's house she had Ben & Jerry's Rainforest Crunch ice
cream. Those are the only slip ups in 6 years. If there are brownies or
meals or anything being served with nuts of any kind I always ask
first. If there's doubt, she doesn't eat it.
