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
Wow! Actually, I had the AR while driving, eating celery, on my way to exercise!!! Thank you for the warning I had no idea. I was truly blessed that day as my throat closed to the point I could not speak but I could still breathe. I had no idea how serious it was or could have been. We walked into a pharmacy and the pharmacist just said to take benadryl. I see you are part Scottish. I have heard that celeriac related allergies are more common among Europeans. I’m part German. Thank you for what you are doing to help educate regarding cross related allergies. I hope we all grow out of it. Is it just me or are food allergies on the rise?
Yes, it’s terrible that we have to learn all these things by trial and error and accidents! I do hope your allergies dissipate, as well as my daughter’s. I was actually born in Scotland to Italian parents, so yes, I am European, just not Scottish. I do believe they are on the rise as well, and I truly believe it’s due to all the genetic modifications to our food and the chemicals and pesticides being used on our food and included in packaged and processed items. Very scary indeed.
PS–I didn’t get full-blown anaphylaxis (to my knowledge) until age 34! You never know when eating any food of any kind will be the “event” you might not come back from. Furthermore, my allergist thinks it may be related to a Mugwort Allergy. We had to stop the skin prick testing because I am so severely allergic to common allergens–trees, grasses, etc. You can have blood tests done instead. Latex Allergic individuals be warned that somehow celery is also related. When I would go to the dentist, just the latex dust in the air from the latex gloves would make my throat scratchy and cough. http://latexallergyresources.org/cross-reactive-food
I haven’t used my epi-pen yet. I’m kinda scared to. I will certainly research up on it to get better informed.
Yes, I think you should work on the fear of your epipen as it can save your life. Good luck, Tammy!
PS–I didn’t get full-blown anaphylaxis (to my knowledge) until age 34! You never know when eating any food of any kind will be “event” you might not come back from. Furthermore, my allergist thinks it may be related to a Mugwort Allergy. We had to stop by skin prick testing because I am so severely allergic to common allergens–trees, grasses, etc. You can have blood tests done instead. Latex Allergic individuals be warned that somehow celery is also related. When I would go to the dentist, just the latex dust in the air from the latex gloves would make my throat scratchy and cough. http://latexallergyresources.org/cross-reactive-food
I haven’t used my epi-pen yet. I’m kinda scared to. I appreciate the information about using it if you think you need it. I will certainly research up on it to get better informed.
Thank you for the information and attention you have brought to this matter. I think “spices” are not specific enough on ingredient labels. I have an anaphylaxis reaction to celery and any celery-related ingredients…it is often a mystery hidden ingredient in soups, stews, sauces, salads, stuffings, etc. Do you know if there is any movement with the FDA or regulators to declare ALL ingredients–no matter how minimal?
Hi Tammy, so sorry to hear of your celery allergy, and I will give you another warning: there is an exercise allergy called “cholinergic urticaria” and I have read that some people who have this condition, can have an anaphylactic reaction if they eat celery and then exercise. Sounds crazy, but it’s true. I know someone who had it happen three times, and celery is so innocuous! I actually have the cholinergic urticaria, but have never experienced an AR, thank God. I truly don’t know what the FDA is doing about labeling spices. I think companies sometimes do not want to specify everything because then they are giving away their prized recipe (for example, for KFC to list all their spices). However, if people are dying from lack of information, I really think things need to change!
We think this may be the culprit for the severe reaction I had yesterday at a local festival, as it makes sense. We got a list of ingredients from the vendor (local restaurant) of my meal and nothing on the list I should react to…except the spices. I thought of this today. I am now wondering if pink peppercorn was listed or Brazilian pepper or Peruvian Pepper (all about the same thing) in the spices they use.
For me, it was several rounds of epi and benedryl, one trip by ambulance to the hospital, and 5 hrs there with more rounds of drugs.
Oh no! I’m so sorry to hear this, but am glad you made it through. I continue to see the 4 blend pepper more and more, and no labeling for nut allergies! I truly hope this information spreads quickly because you are the prime example of why it is so urgent and important to share. Please let me know if you find out that they did use the pink peppercorns. Many others are reading these comments and so these are helpful, too. Good luck!
I found out tonight my cousin has a lot of food allergies also….and some are similar to mine. She does have the celery and latex combination.
Now sunflower lecithan is becoming more and more popular to use in gluten free foods. I’m very allergic, and found out the hard way.
Hi Janet, sorry to hear that! I’ve never even heard of sunflower lecithin. When will it end? :(
I have heard that honey helps people with allergies. However, I was wondering how it might affect people with severe allergies. Say, for example, honey collected from the pink peppercorn tree or here in Florida, we have Brazilian Pepper. Is your daughter allergic to honey?
I have also thought of this in the past, Tammy, but I don’t think it matters. My daughter has never reacted to any honey, and hope it stays that way. Thanks for your comment. CC
I would suggest for all with a life threatening allergy, that if you start to have a reaction, go find someone to be with you. Don’t wander off to the bathroom to throw up and possibly die. Our daughter was diagnosed with gluten intolerance at 19 and with a tree nut allergy at 24. She is now so severely allergic to nuts that just touching it could cause anaphylaxis. She recently was going out with friends and I told her that if she got sick to find a friend to be with her and to help her. Well, one week later she accidentally was exposed to tree nuts. She wasn’t feeling well, came and got me and I ended up using her EpiPen and calling 911. We were at a family wedding and we left the venue and she sat in the car and vomited into the street and then she started swelling up and having trouble breathing. It would have been too hard to use the epinephrine and call 911 by herself.
Don’t be alone if something is happening! Find someone to go with you or just be with you while you figure out what is going on.