Hidden Allergens: Pink Peppercorns, Tree Nut Allergies and how an Amazon Reviewer Helped Solve a Mystery
Pink peppercorns seemed like an innocuous ingredient until they almost killed my daughter. I’m so thankful for an Amazon reviewer for solving the mystery for us.
Originally published February 20, 2014
The information about this hidden allergen is extremely important to share among the nut allergic community and I continually thank the Amazon reviewer who solved a mystery for us.
This post about pink peppercorns could very well save many lives; maybe even the life of someone you know.
My daughter has a severe tree nut allergy,* meaning if she ingests any form of tree nuts, she will stop breathing (anaphylaxis) and die. Even a trace could do the deed–it’s that severe.
Discovering that my daughter was allergic to tree nuts (she was 4)
We learned this the hard way when she was four years old. Denisa ate a chocolate Christmas ornament which was filled with a hazelnut paste. I cannot adequately describe to you what it feels like, and the terror that fills every part of your being when you hear your child barely choke out the words, “I can’t breathe”, and to see her gasping for air.
I immediately called 911, and she was rushed to the hospital in an ambulance. This was my family’s very first experience with any sort of allergy, and it was life-changing for all of us. Nuts were now a dreaded, dangerous and life-threatening food.
The incident at the restaurant
Fast forward 10 years: on the 4th of July, my daughter was at a restaurant at Disneyland with one of her best friends when I received a phone call from her friend’s mother. She told me that she thought my daughter had ingested some form of tree nuts, and was wondering whether to use the EpiPen (a shot of epinephrine) for her anaphylactic reaction.
Of course, I was petrified, and told her that my daughter had to be the one to make that decision.
Luckily, she ended up getting the nuts out of her system and the use of the EpiPen was averted. I’ve since read several news reports that prove that this doesn’t always happen. Sometimes there’s a death, instead of a happy ending. My daughter was incredibly fortunate.
PRINT THIS FOR TRAVELING WITH NUT ALLERGIES!
A mystery
At this point, the biggest problem was that the chef was baffled as to how this occurred, as he was certain that the Tortellini Alfredo and focaccia were nut-free. It was the only incident in which we had no idea what had caused her reaction. I spoke to the chef the next day, but there was still no luck in deducing what had instigated her anaphylaxis, so we were left with a mystery.
Mystery solved!
About two weeks after this incident, I was browsing peppercorns and pepper blends on Amazon.com, when I clicked on a Four Seasons Pepper Blend, which included pink peppercorns, or pepper berries. The first review caught my eye:
I couldn’t believe what I was reading, and wondered if the chef might have used this pepper blend in the pasta or focaccia that my daughter had eaten. I quickly did some research, and confirmed what the reviewer had posted. Pink peppercorns were in fact related to cashews!
Immediately, I called the restaurant, and began to ask the chef if he used this pepper blend. I hadn’t even finished asking the question, when he exclaimed, “Yes! Yes! Yes!” What a relief to finally know what had caused her reaction.
It’s disconcerting to think that we actually had a pepperberry tree in the backyard of our previous house, and I used to cut the berries and use them for various crafts. This is what the berries look like.
From Wikipedia:
Peruvian pepper (Schinus molle, also known as American pepper, Peruvian peppertree, escobilla, false pepper, molle del Peru, pepper tree, peppercorn tree, Californian pepper tree, pirul and Peruvian mastic.) is an evergreen tree that grows to 15 meters (50 feet). It is native to rhe Peruvian Andes. The bright pink fruits of Schinus molle are often sold as “pink peppercorns” although S. molle is unrelated to true pepper.
This information needs to be spread as widely as possible:
Pink peppercorns, pink pepperberries, pink berries, Peruvian pepper and whatever else they may be called, are related to CASHEWS and can cause an anaphylactic reaction in those who are allergic to CASHEWS/TREE NUTS.
Here’s what you can do to help spread the word:
- Forward this information to anyone you know who has a nut allergy. I have contacted Penzey’s Spices (who have still done nothing to label the warning 5 years later!) and other spice retailers to ask them to place this warning on their labels. If you can do the same thing, changes will happen more quickly, and hopefully avert potentially life-threatening allergic reactions in future (see update below: great news!)
- If you or your child has a nut allergy, make sure to ask at restaurants, at friends’ homes, and wherever your food is prepared if a pepper blend including pink pepper berries has been used. Inform them that the berries are related to tree nuts.
- Contact newspapers, local TV news, etc. to feature articles or segments on this information.
- Spread the info via social media; ask others to share, re-tweet, re-pin, etc.
- Translate the info into other languages, and share outside our borders.
- Pass on the information by word of mouth; you never know whose life you might save.
PLEASE click here to CHECK OUT THIS POST AS I HAVE DISCOVERED MORE HIDDEN ALLERGENS!
My concerns and some points to remember ~
* Many people throw the word “allergy” around loosely. Please be aware of how important it is that this term is used correctly.
It terrifies me that the server who is used to hearing guests order something “on-the-side” due to an “allergy”, notices they ate it anyway. Consequently, they won’t take allergies seriously anymore. Food Babe, who has hundreds and thousands of followers and has written books on the subject of food choices, advises her readers, “Go as far as telling the server you allergic to butter and dairy, soy and corn.”
I, and many others have commented on her post to tell her how this is endangering those who have LIFE-THREATENING allergies which occur within seconds. However, she refuses to remove this wording in her post. In fact, she banned me from her Facebook page when I wrote to tell her the consequences from her advice.
Many people don’t realize that simply touching nuts, and then touching other food is enough to cause anaphylaxis in some allergy sufferers, my daughter included. However, there are others whose allergies are even worse than hers. Think about the nuts being consumed in planes; it’s frightening.
UPDATED 10/19: I flew Norwegian airlines for the first time in June and was horrified at the filthy condition of the floor, including peanuts! I gave them another try this past week and guess what? The same conditions! Do they never clean their planes? This is unacceptable, especially for nut allergy sufferers!
Similarly, there is no barometer to measure or communicate how serious an allergy is. It’s completely open to interpretation. These things directly impact my daughter’s life and so many others’, too.
Finally, please be mindful of the impact that use of the word “allergy” can have.
UPDATE: my daughter attended Villanova University which has a “no nut” policy, which we didn’t discover until after we placed our deposit! I was elated. If you are concerned about your child going off to university with a nut allergy, besides being a top university, Villanova takes allergies extremely seriously. She graduated without an incident at the dining halls and restaurants.
pink peppercorns
Thank you so much for sharing. My daughter is seriously allergic to cashews , we found out when she was 2, and has since determined many nut allergies. I too suffer from nut allergies as well as Sesame seed & oils. Of which many frozen foods use in their seasonings. Thank you for sharing !! I can relate to your scare, I have been there 1 to many times with my daughter also.
So sorry to hear of all your allergies and your daughter’s, Liz. I am so happy to know that now you know about pink peppercorns and can hopefully always avoid them in future! Thanks so much, CC
Thanks for the information. Maybe I didn’t read your post correctly…but it sounds like you haven’t been to an allergist with your daughter in a long time. I would recommend getting her skin tested and getting a treatment plan in place. Good luck. My daughter was diagnosed as teenager. In some ways it’s been easier because she great at reading labels but not so great because she won’t always carry an epi-pen
No, you are correct, Cynthia, I have not ever taken my daughter to an allergist, just because her doctor gave instructions (which don’t sound like good ones) on what to do in case of a reaction. I will be taking her before she goes to college, for sure.
I share articles with my daughter to make sure she truly understands how important it its to have her epipen with her at all times. For example, just a few months ago, a family was eating at an Asian buffet in Ireland, when the nut-allergic daughter accidentally ate some peanut sauce or curry which I believe they misread or was mislabeled. She had not brought her epipen, so they ran down the street to a pharmacy and the mother went in, begging the pharmacist for an epipen. He refused to give it to her without a prescription and her daughter died on the sidewalk. These are horrific stories, but they are true, and we surely don’t want the same thing happening to our daughters. Please try to convince her to have it be a part of her…always. Good luck, CC
I had no idea! Thank you for posting this. A friend shared it with me. I shared, this could save lives!
Absolutely, Crystal! Thank you for passing it on! CC
Btw, thank you for this rich discussion. I was aware of the pink peppercorn issue, I stumbled on it somehow when researching cashew allergy (my 5 yr old is allergic), but it’s great to be reminded since it’s one of those easily missed things.
Also, wanted to say that I find the hardest thing to explain to someone unfamiliar with real allergy is that reactions are not predictable. While many people seem to react the same way to each exposure, some people have hives one time then full blown anaphylaxis the next. There’s no predicting how someone will respond to an exposure, which is why complete avoidance is the golden standard. Most of the people who die from allergic reaction had never had a severe reaction previously and either didn’t have an epipen or didn’t use it.
People (well meaning) always ask “how severe” my son’s allergy is, as if that actually means anything. Allergic is allergic. And yes, many people live their whole lives with mild allergic responses to their allergies (my husband is like this, hopefully it won’t bite him on the ass one day) and nothing bad ever happens. But there really is no predicting when or why the body might mount a massive allergic response that is life-threatening, so you just have to assume it could be any time. That seems to be difficult for people to comprehend.
You make some very good points, Maia. This is exactly what scares me the most: than one reaction will be a massive allergic response and not like the others in the past. Thank you so much for commenting and your suggestion for the FDA, I really appreciate it. CC
Seems like Pink Pepper Berries pretty clearly fits the FDAs definition of treenut.
(I know several posters have mentioned that cashews, pine nuts, etc are not true treenuts- but most of what we call treenuts aren’t botanical treenuts yet are considered culinary treenuts which is how the FDA seems to group them.)
Maybe contacting the FDA to have them included in their list if treenuts… This would mean all sellers of these pepper blends would be required by law to label the allergen.
Mind if I share with my readers on my Food Allergy blog, Allergy Shmallergy? Thanks for putting this out there!
Please, please share and pass this on to anyone who may have allergy issues! Thank you so much for asking though! CC
The question I have from the following is – what condition were they being grown in before and are other foods grown in those same conditions? – What changed?
from wikipedia
Pink peppercorn
In 1982, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the United States banned the import of Brazilian peppercorns from France into the US, asserting that people who eat the berries risk an array of acute symptoms, such as swollen eyelids and indigestion. In response, the Government of France maintained that the berries are safe to eat if grown in prescribed conditions.[1] The United States later lifted the ban.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pink_peppercorn
Wow! This is really eye-opening, Brett! So they used to be banned! I too, would like to know what has changed?
Thanks so much! My daughter is allergic as well and this helps so much!
Very happy that you found this information, Brendan, and good luck to your daughter! CC