Factsheet - Allergy - Peanut and Tree Nut Diet
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Peanut and Tree Nut Free Diet
Disclaimer: This fact sheet is for education purposes only. Please consult with your doctor or other health professional to make sure this information is right for your child.
This sheet is a guide to avoiding nuts in your child's diet. Nuts are found in a variety of foods, often in foods we don't think about such as chocolate, cereal bars/muesli bars, breakfast cereals and bakery items. Your doctor may advise you to avoid a single nut, all types of nuts or a combination of nuts.
Packaged foods will state on the ingredient list whether or not a food contains nuts. Read the labels carefully and avoid the product if it says it 'contains nuts'.
Avoid these nuts/ nut products:
- Peanuts, ground nuts, beer nuts, monkey nuts
- Nut oils that are cold pressed, expressed, or expelled, eg;
- almond
- brazil nut
- cashew
- chestnut
- hazelnut
- hickory nut
- macadamia nut
- mixed nuts
- pecan
- pine nut
- pistachio
- walnut
- praline, marzipan, nougat, peanut slab
- arachis oil is peanut oil
- nut butters eg peanut butter
- chocolate nut spread
- almond paste
- nut essences i.e. almond essence/extract
- nutmeat
- nut pieces, crushed nuts
- ground nuts
- peanut flour
- satay sauce, peanut sauce
- friands
- pesto
- nut based alcoholic liqueurs eg Amaretto, Frangelica
Check the ingredient list of these foods for peanuts and other nuts:
| Baked goods | Croissants | Ice creams |
| Biscuits, baklava | Dried fruit mixes | Pastries Pesto Pasta sauces |
| Breads and buns | Flavourings (natural) | Salads/ salad dressings |
| Breakfast cereals eg muesli | Fried food (peanut oil) | Sauces |
| Cakes | Gravy | Snack foods |
| Chocolates | Health bars, eg muesli bars, energy bars, nut bars | Soups |
| Chocolate spreads | Home made food | Takeaway/restaurant foods |
| Confectionery ie lollies, fudge | Hydrolysed/textured vegetable protein (HVP & TVP) | Turkish delight |
| Crackers | Vegetarian foods |
Eating out
International cooking may contain peanuts/tree nuts, particularly African, Asian, Indian, Chinese, Middle Eastern, Indonesian, Mexican and Thai dishes. When you are booking it pays to say you need to avoid nuts. Check again with the waiting staff when ordering and ask for advice from the chef if you are not clear on what to choose.
Changing Recipes
Most recipes can be easily changed to avoid nuts. Crushed nuts can be substituted with rice bubbles, coconut, or cornflakes (nut-free). Nut essences can be substituted with artificial or imitation essences.
Note:
Beans, legumes, pulses, nutmeg and coconuts are not related to nuts and are allowed in the diet if the child is not allergic to these.
"May contain traces of nuts" on a label indicates that the food is made in a facility that makes a food containing nuts, or that the raw ingredients may have a chance of being contaminated with nuts, however the food may not contain nuts. Discuss what to do about these foods with your doctor.
Highly refined nut oils are unlikely to cause a reaction in those with a nut allergy. Avoid nut oil which is cold pressed, expressed or expelled.
Avoid foods that don't have a food label or that you haven't made yourself, as there is no guarantee that the product doesn't contain nuts.
If you are allergic to peanuts, ask you doctor before starting the drug Roacutaine.
Nut-Free Chocolates
Sweet William - milk chocolate/ tangerine milk chocolate (dairy free, gluten free, lactose free, peanut free)
chocolate spread (gluten free, lactose free, dairy free, peanut free)
available in Woolworths, Coles (health food isle), IGA (confectionery isle), health food shops.
www.sweetwilliam.com.au
Kinnerton- milk/dark chocolate (nut free, dairy free, gluten free, egg free)
available at Big W, Target, Aldi, Darrell Lea, Kmart., Myer, Sugar Fix
Willow - chocolate bars, Christmas, Easter and Valentine novelties, frogs
Available 03 9587 1079 or via www.allergyblock.com.au
For more information
- www.sch.edu.au/health/factsheets/#A
- Australian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy (ASCIA)
- FSANZ - Food Standards Australia and New Zealand for information on food labelling
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| The Children's Hospital at Westmead Tel: (02) 9845 3585 Fax: (02) 9845 3562 www.chw.edu.au |
Sydney Children's Hospital, Randwick Tel: (02) 9382 1688 Fax: (02) 9382 1451 www.sch.edu.au |
Kaleidoscope, Hunter Children's Health Network Tel: (02) 4921 3670 Fax: (02) 4921 3599 www.kaleidoscope.org.au |
& Kaleidoscope, Hunter Children's Health Network - 2005-2009.