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Peanut Free Diet

Disclaimer: This fact sheet is for education purposes only. Please consult with your doctor or other health professional to make sure this information is right for your child.

This sheet is a guide to avoiding peanuts in your child's diet. Peanuts are found in a variety of foods, often in foods we don't think about such as chocolate, cereal bars/muesli bars, breakfast cereals and bakery items.

It is important to use common sense and read food labels carefully.

Avoid these nuts/ nut products:

• Peanuts, ground nuts, beer nuts, monkey nuts
• peanut oils - cold pressed, expressed, or expelled
• arachis oil is peanut oil
• nutmeat
• peanut butter
• nut pieces, crushed nuts
• mixed nuts
• ground nuts
• peanut slab
• peanut brittle
• peanut flour
• satay sauce, peanut sauce

Check the ingredient list of these foods for peanuts:

Baked goods	Cracker biscuits	Ice creams
Biscuits	Dried fruit mixes	Pastries
Breakfast cereals eg muesli	Flavourings (natural)	Salad/ salad dressings
Cakes	Fried food (peanut oil)	Sauces
Chocolates	Health bars, eg muesli bars and energy bars	Snack foods eg nut bars
Chocolate spreads	Home made food	Soups
Confectionery ie lollies	Hydrolysed/textured vegetable protein (HVP & TVP)	Takeaway/restaurant foods
		Vegetarian food

Note:

• Beans, legumes, pulses, nutmeg and coconuts are not related to peanuts and are allowed in the diet if the child is not allergic to these.
• Highly refined peanut oils are unlikely to cause a reaction in those with a peanut allergy. Avoid peanut oil which is cold pressed, expressed or expelled.
• "May contain traces of peanuts" on a label indicates that the food is made in a facility that makes a food containing peanuts, or that the raw ingredients may have a chance of being contaminated with peanuts, however the food may not contain peanuts. Discuss what to do about these foods with your doctor.
• Avoid foods that don't have a food label or that you haven't made yourself, as there is no guarantee that the product doesn't contain peanuts.
• If you are allergic to peanuts, ask you doctor before starting the drug Roacutaine.

Eating out

International cooking may contain peanuts, particularly African, Asian, Indian, Chinese, Middle Eastern, Indonesian, Mexican and Thai dishes. When you are booking it pays to say you need to avoid peanuts. Check again with the waiting staff when ordering and ask for advice from the chef if you are not clear on what to choose.

Changing Recipes:

Most recipes can be easily changed to avoid peanuts. Crushed peanuts can be substituted with rice bubbles, coconut, or cornflakes (nut-free).

Nut-Free Chocolates

Sweet William - milk chocolate/ tangerine milk chocolate (dairy free, gluten free, lactose free, peanut free)
chocolate spread (gluten free, lactose free, dairy free, peanut free)
available in Woolworths, Coles (health food isle), IGA (confectionery isle), health food shops.
www.sweetwilliam.com.au

Kinnerton- milk/dark chocolate (nut free, dairy free, gluten free, egg free)
available at Big W, Target, Aldi, Darrell Lea, Kmart., Myer, Sugar Fix

Willow - chocolate bars, Christmas, Easter and Valentine novelties, frogs
Available 03 9587 1079 or via www.allergyblock.com.au

For more information

• www.chw.edu.au/parents/factsheets/#allergy
• Australian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy (ASCIA)
• FSANZ - Food Standards Australia and New Zealand for information on food labelling

The Children's Hospital at Westmead Tel: (02) 9845 3585 Fax: (02) 9845 3562 www.chw.edu.au	Sydney Children's Hospital, Randwick Tel: (02) 9382 1688 Fax: (02) 9382 1451 www.sch.edu.au	Kaleidoscope, Hunter Children's Health Network Tel: (02) 4921 3670 Fax: (02) 4921 3599 www.kaleidoscope.org.au