coconut

[babalicious]

hi i want to bake a australian crunchie and it requires desiccated coconut, was wondering if this is concidered to be possble allery nut! in other words would my 18 month old be able to have some with out any great risks as there would be with a normal peanut!

[nickmo]

Coconut is not a nut in the same way a peanut is - but peanuts are not nuts anyway in the biological sense, just to confuse things. Coconut, sago palm and date palm are all in the same biological family, but not related to peanuts.

However, it is likely that due to the manufacturing processes, you may find warnings on labels that factories used to process the coconut also handle peanut products and other nut items, so you have to be aware of cross contamination.

There is a rise in coconut allergy as a seperate issue to peanut allergy, and an allergy to peanuts may laed to an allergy to tree nuts - which may lead to a coconut allergy.

Best advice is do not use the dessicated coconut in the recipe. Add a diced fruit to substitute the coconut - don't use an almond oil etc for the same allergy reasons of course - and bump up the amount of cornflakes perhaps to create a more crispy effect.

[tictactoe]

Hi babalicious,

Some people have a nut allergy, that includes all nuts, whilst others (somebody I know), only affected by peanuts(!).

Another factor is the safety one of your 18 month old eating the coconut. It can be considered a choking hazard...lots of food bought (ready made meals particularly) state that it should not be given to children under three, certain sweets etc carry this warning also.

Hope this helps

n00dles

[nickmo]

TTT - mental picture here - 18 months old chewing a coconut and choking cos he got the whole thing in the mouth.........................?

[tictactoe]

Are you having a laugh nickmo? LOL ;o)

I was referring to the desiccated coconut in the Australian crunchie...sticking in the bairn's throat...

Not a scaremonger, at any stretch of the imagination - just highlighting that some foodstuffs are considered risky.

n00dles
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