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 also have a treenut allergy. I remember specifically the day when I felt like I could not breath. They took me to the doctors but since it subsided by the time I arrived at the office, they did not take it seriously. I can, for whatever reason, eat cashews and I have had Nutella (hazelnuts) as well peanuts. Walnuts, pecans, and almonds are my nemesis, especially raw. It has gotten to the point that items that are made at the same area as things with treenuts. I also get hives, severe heartburn, itching and sometimes the hard time breathing from the skin on apples and peaches. Nectarines have had me running to the bathroom to vomit. Yet, I can eat apples and peaches. I worry about the day that I will have the full fledged reaction as many of my friends have. I have had a similar reaction to your daughter at an Applebee’s restaurant from eating at a salad bar that claimed to be nut free.
Wow, how random and confusing these allergies can be, Holly! I am so sorry to hear of all your allergies. Good luck to you and I hope you never have to experience a full fledged reaction, ever!
Thank you so much for the info re the peppercorns. I had no idea. My daughter, a college sophomore, has a nut allergy as well as anaphylactic OAS. With these life threatening allergies, it is impossible to know which reaction will be the deadly reaction, so using the Epi pen, followed by a visit to the er and steroids to stave off a latent reaction, is definitely the safe thing to do.
Thanks, JJ-I definitely need to get more info on when to administer the epipen as we’ve obviously been very lucky so far. Thank you for your comment, CC
Thank you so much for this information! Your blog was shared on Facebook and I will again share it with my friends that have children with nut allergies.
I believe CETAPHIL lotion has macadamia nut oil in it – NO LABEL. So even some products that our children may put on their skin can cause a reaction. :-(
Thank you, Molly! Thanks for the notice on Cetaphil. My daughter has reacted to some lotions in the past, so that is very good to know! Thanks again! CC
Thanks for the notice. There’s an easier-to-use alternative to the EpiPen out now called Auvi-Q (http://www.auvi-q.com/) It fits in your pocket, talks you through the injection process, and the needle auto-retracts upon injection.
If pink peppercorn is in the cashew family, then it is not in the tree nut family. Cashews are not tree nuts (neither are coconuts, peanuts, etc). I understand if someone has a cashew allergy, but it is not a nut, so why not just label the cashew allergy separately? My nephew has a tree nut allergy (I had custody- got him the testing , etc), but he has no problems with peanuts, cashews, or coconut.
Honestly, I thnk it’s better to be safe than sorry Leah, because many tree nut allergy sufferers are also allergic to cashews (my daughter is). It’s the exact same thing with almonds and pine nuts; neither one are tree nuts and while my daughter can eat almonds, she is allergic to pine nuts. I’d rather have my daughter stay away from all of them than start picking and choosing and end up having an anaphylactic reaction. Many times, these “non-nuts” may have been cross-contaminated with real nuts, too. I’m glass your nephew isn’t allergic to other similar foods, and hope he stays safe. Thank you for stopping by. CC
Dear Christina , your article was a tremendous help. My daughter is 21 and just became an RN,With that said,back in February, while at college, she ate 2 kale chips from trader joes, they are made with cashew! She had to go in an ambulance,to the ER , and the emts used the epi pen,My point is, the older they get the harder it is to control, and they cannot get lax when it comes to trying new foods.This article was very helpful, we are foodies and eat out frequently.Hope my tip was helpful as well .
Oh no! That’s terrible, Andrea! Is it listed on the packaging or not? I must tell my daughter, but am very glad your daughter was okay. Yes, I’ve read that the most dangerous time for nut allergy sufferers is late teens and early twenties because they become less vigilant, and we are not there to guide them and remind them for every thing they put in their mouths. Yes, your tip was very helpful to me and hopefully to other readers as well! Thanks so much! CC
My mother chooses not to eat gluten or sugar, and it makes me furious when we’re in a restaurant and she tells them she’s “allergic.” Nothing bad will happen to her if she eats these things, but she uses the word “allergic” so be sure they “take her seriously.” Yet she’ll often take a bite of pasta, baked goods, etc. off of other people plates. No amount of my explaining to her that she shouldn’t do this has made her change. We discovered my son was allergic to tree nuts at age 3 when he grabbed an unmarked walnut cookie off the cookie bar at Whole Foods and took a bite. He went into anaphylactic shock. From that moment on, I don’t just tell people he’s allergic to nuts. I always say he’s anaphylactic to nuts, so people know it’s not just an imagined allergy.
Thank you for your comment, Tia. As you know from my post that I too, am so frustrated with the situation you described with your mother. Maybe if you have her read my post and explain to her that her actions are actually a serious threat to her grandson, the information may register with her? I love what you say about your son being “anaphylactic to nuts”! I am very concerned about my daughter going to restaurants alone (with friends) because she is quite meek about telling wait staff that she is allergic to nuts. I hope your mother realizes that her actions are truly a threat to people with real allergies, including your son, and changes her statement when eating out. Thanks again, and I wish your son a nut-free life!
Thank You so much for sharing. My daughter is allergic to cashews and I had no idea.
All these comments like yours are really making my day, as there is a good chance that a terrible incident can be avoided in future! Thank you for letting me know and you are SO welcome!! CC