Sesame, Safe for Peanut and Tree NUt Allergics?

Filed in archive Food Allergies on November 2, 2007

Are sesame seeds safe for someone with allergies to nuts and tree nuts?

Dr. Robert Wood, author of Food Allergies For Dummies, has been quoted as saying:

...sesame seeds "do not fall into the same category as peanuts or tree nuts. However, they are potent allergens, and sesame allergy appears to be increasingly common.

"For the average child who has not shown any signs of allergy, we do not recommend restricting sesame until any particular age," says Wood, a member of the medical advisory board of the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network. "However, if your pediatrician is worried because your child has shown other signs of allergy or because there is a strong family history of allergy, you should check with him/her for a specific recommendation about sesame seeds."

My son has allergies to peanuts and tree nuts but can eat sesame seeds without reactions. Particularly during his toddler years, sesame seeds featured a lot in his diet. I used to serve snacks such as crackers and pretzels with sesame, and cooked with sesame seeds quite often. Why? Because sesame seeds are rich in calcium. Just a quarter-cup of sesame seeds supplies 35.1% of the daily allowance for calcium, and thus a good non-dairy source of calcium for a kid with cow milk allergy.