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
I just found your article this morning when I was searching for other possible allergins related to tree nuts. I am a 40 year old woman who just developed a sensitivity to tree nuts. It creates stomach issues. If I eat them regularly they make me feel like I have flu like symptons. This is how I discovered I had an issue, because I use to eat raw almonds daily. Last night we had steak with a peppercorn marinade and this morning I am miserable! So glad to see this is the culprit and I now know what to watch for. I would have never thought about pink peppercorn. Thank you for sharing!
For those of you who have signed up to be notified when comments are updated on this post, please note that I have another warning for other tree nut related allergens on this post I published today: https://christinascucina.com/2015/07/another-tree-nut-allergyallergen-alert-for-sumac-argan-shea-butter-and-mango.html
[…] will find that post here, but I can tell you that the offending allergen was the pink peppercorns (which are related to […]
[…] depending on where they are produced, so be sure to check with the company if you are not sure. Pink peppercorns are a hidden allergen that can cause reactions in those with cashew allergies, so beware of […]
[…] a reaction to the pink peppercorns as well. I first read about this from Christina’s Cucina, here in this post. I found it to be very interesting, and informative, and if you have family who has nut allergies, […]
DO NOT FEAR the use of the Epi Pen! If you could update any of the above information in your blog, it should be to not fear using the Epi Pen, which can save a life.
There is another article out there where the mother was afraid to use the epi pen and their child died. Don’t reenact that mothers pain, when in doubt use the Epi pen!
It’s not a fear of the EpiPen per se, Mark, but the fear of not knowing when to use it. Some say use it every time, but that’s unreasonable as we’d be going through EpiPens and hospital visits like mad. I’ve also read articles where there are negative reactions to actually using the EpiPen, too. It’s a very difficult situation.
Mark is SPOT ON !!
Take a look at: FARE’s Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Emergency Care Plan ! It’s now easier to read ! And comes in multiple languages! I ask my patients to roll a copy around every epipen 2-pak. Hope it helps!
http://www.foodallergy.org/faap
Thanks, Susan!
Such important information. Thanks so much for sharing!!!
Thank you! This is such important information to have and spread. On a side note. I know you comment about Food Babe suggesting that people Say they are allergic if they don’t want a good to be served to them, and feel that it’s dangerous to do so. However I just want to offer an alternate opinion. I don’t negate any of the seriousness of anaphylactic allergies because I do know that side too. But others in our family are severely sensitive to certain foods but not anaphylactic. I’ve found some restaurants and establishments are less than accomodating if you don’t say it’s an allergy. And before anyone tells me that it’s not as serious- I beg to differ. There are those that can eat foods and end up severely in pain and unable to get up the next day. Seeing kid in pain for a week because of one tiny exposure is no less important. For others to tell me I shouldn’t use the word allergy and just deal with the consequences is highly misguided. It’s all a matter of perspective. No side is right or wrong!
I disagree, I think there are some people who are wrong, but I think you’re misunderstanding what I’m saying: if someone just doesn’t “like” something, it IS wrong to say they have an allergy. You are absolutely correct in telling your waiter that your child is allergic if they get sick for a week! Of course, that is serious too, however, imagine if the consequence is death. You understand why I think it’s wrong to claim an allergy to lose weight, or forever other frivolous reasons, right? I never claimed that anyone who has real issues not to deal with those as they must, it’s Food Babe telling people to claim they have a dairy allergy so that they use less calories when they don’t cook their meal in butter, that I have issues with. I’m tired of hearing people die because restaurant staff didn’t take allergy claims seriously, and feel I am justified in what I wrote in my post. And in the end, yes your child may get sick and no one wants to see their child suffer, but be thankful that is the worst consequence. My worst nightmare is that I will no longer have a child and you can’t even imagine what that feels like, knowing it can happen today or any day.
MV are you certain this extreme sensitivity isn’t a legitimate allergy? If these family members have not been evaluated and tested (via both scratch and antibody blood testing) by an allergist, it may be worth looking into. The definition of anaphylaxis now encompasses severe GI distress including nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, as well as mood symptoms that either proceed or accompany the reaction such as anxiety or a sense of impending doom. The expansion of the definition is due to the fact that certain allergens (dairy products in particular) do not cause the release of histamine when the reaction cascade begins, and therefore individuals with these allergies do not experience the classic symptoms of anaphylaxis we think of like swelling of the lips, tongue, and throat which result in the closing of the airway. HOWEVER as scary as the closing of the airway is, one of the biggest concerns with allergic reactions is SHOCK – and allergies that don’t cause the histamine release still cause the antigens to be released into the body, and activates the reaction cascade which can result in shock and ultimately death. A GI reaction that severe could indicate a legitimate allergy which requires treatment with an EPIpen to eliminate that potential for shock. In my opinion these allergies are far more dangerous than those resulting in classic anaphylaxis because they tend to be dismissed because they don’t present with breathing difficulty and instead with GI upset so many people tend to think these allergies are the same thing as lactose intolerance (which they are not) and that an antacid or something like a Lactaid pill will treat this allergy (again, it will not, because it isn’t an intolerance to lactose and an inability to break it down, but instead it is a true autoimmune reaction to the presence of dairy as an allergen). These allergies are just as life threatening as those which cause breathing difficulty, though they are often viewed as much less serious due to misconceptions about their severity and their true nature. One additional note: with these allergies, reactions can have delayed onset (hours to days) from the exposure to the allergen and can present for up to a week later. For clarification I am an RN, BSN, CPN, CNCC and have a child with this type of allergy