advice re nut allergy

[mamado]

Dd2 is peanut and sesame allergic (never had a reaction, so only know through skin prick test at 6 months), obviously I know to avoid all nuts but can anyone help me with whether I can use any of the following (she is now 17 months btw!)

• shea butter for skin
• coconut oil for skin/or coconut in food - I'm aware coconut is really a seed
• sunflower/poppy seeds
• other seeds?

TIA

[mamado]

bump

[tatt]

few people have a problem with coconut. A few do but its rare. Don't know about seeds.

For shea nut his is a paste from an answer elsewhere

Q My daughter has an extreme allergy to tree nuts, and now there are so many soaps and lotions out there with shea nuts or shea nut butter or oil. I have never heard of this ?nut? before. Is it a true nut? If it is, am I right to assume that my daughter should avoid the many products that contain it?

A Dr. Watson: Interestingly, the shea fruit is similar in appearance to avocado. The shea tree grows in the Sahel region of West Africa. As an aside, the harvesting and processing of shea is primarily an activity of rural women (300,000 to 400,000 in Burkina Faso alone). The fruity part of the nut, when crushed, yields a vegetable oil that is used, not only in cooking, but also in soap-making and skincare and hair-care products. This is what you have seen in products.

With regard to your question as to whether or not this is a true nut, the Food Allergy Research and Resource Program reports the shea nuts are a tree nut, but that they do not belong in the list of commonly allergenic tree nuts. There are no reports of allergic reactions to shea nuts or its products. For soaps and cosmetics, it is the oil from the shea nut that is used. The oil contains little protein, which is what triggers the allergic reaction. As with everything, if you are worried or doubtful, avoid the product. I am sure there will be further information with regard to this product in the future.

And here is the info from the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN) which is based in the US:

We suggest you ask your allergist for advice about this. The shea nut is a tree nut that has not been widely used in foods in the past, but shea butter and shea oil are being used increasingly in lotions, bath products, shampoos, and cosmetics. Although no reactions to shea nut have been documented in the medical literature some doctors advise patients with tree nut allergy to use caution and avoid products that contain ingredients derived from the shea nut.

[stirlingmum]

My dd is allergic to nuts, peanuts, seseme seeds etc. I try to avoid seeds like in seeded bread etc, mainly because you just dont know if there are any seseme seeds in there (and I am not sure if linseeds are the same).

As for coconuts, they are definitely not a nut. I use coconut milk in food for her and she is fine.

Out of interest, do you know that peas are related to peanuts? My dd is sick immediately if she even has one pea. Peanuts are not in the nut family they belong to another family.

[mamado]

thanks for your very informative replies - I was hoping to use shea butter for dd2s awful ezcema, so maybe I'll give it a go! Also, the coconut reply sorts out lunch - thats curry then!

We were aware that peanuts and peas are both legumes, and are thinking they might make her ezcema worse - problem is she loves them!

anyone know about other seeds? The dietician said poppy seeds are ok, but didn't mention any others...I was hoping to try sunflower seeds to make a kind of pesto.....

[brixtonmum]

I'm new to the allergy world but my DS (nearly one) has one to sesame and some nuts (not peanuts but of course he's allowed none). I only found out because I gave him houmous which was scary - and then we had the skin prick test. I have therefore kept giving him everything I gave him before I found out and that includes that vogel bread and similar breads with linseed and others. He seems to love it and I figure it gives him good oils he will probably never get from nuts.

[Christywhisty]

DS 12 is allergic to most treenuts, was peanuts but last test clear, seseme seeds. He is also allergic to sunflower seeds, so I have never tried him on any seeds.

[MeMySonAndI]

DS is allergic to nuts and he has developed a sensitivity to sunflower seeds products.

We mostly used sunflower in cooking oil form and as part of the rice milk, but as I said, he has started to react to it, albeit a bit mildly. Therefore, I have no plans of using sunflower seeds "straight", as I'm already worried enough about keeping the doses low so he can continue to drink rice milk.