Ask the allergist is a daily characteristic in our newsletters the place Canadian allergists reply your questions!
Please observe: The allergists featured on this collection reply questions on normal subjects, please discuss to your physician you probably have questions on your individual well being or the well being of your youngster.
This month Dr. Julia Upton solutions a query about chestnuts and tree nut allergy.
Are water chestnuts protected for somebody who’s allergic to tree nuts? What about chestnuts?

Water chestnuts are totally different from chestnuts.
Water chestnuts will not be nuts, they’re aquatic greens that develop in marshes and different shallow water. Since they don’t seem to be botanically associated to tree nuts, folks with tree nut allergy can eat them.
Chestnuts are tree nuts. Some persons are allergic to a number of varieties of tree nuts, whereas others are allergic to just one sort of nut. Even so, chestnut allergy shouldn’t be that frequent. You probably have a tree nut allergy and are involved about consuming chestnuts, discuss to your allergist.

Those that are allergic to chestnuts can comply with security practices like studying labels. If chestnuts are an ingredient in a pre-packaged meals, they have to be listed on a meals label.
Remember that different tree nuts are thought-about “precedence meals allergens” and are related to 90% of the reactions in Canada: almonds, Brazil nuts, cashews, hazelnuts, macadamia nuts, pecans, pine nuts (pignolias), pistachio nuts and walnuts. Precedence meals allergens have to be listed within the ingredient checklist or in a “Incorporates” assertion that follows the checklist.
Study extra
Mythbuster: Somebody with a tree nut allergy has to keep away from all meals with “nut” within the identify
Do you’ve got a meals allergy-related query you’d wish to ask an allergist within the months to return? In that case, ship it alongside to us at data@foodallergycanada.ca.

Dr. Julia Upton is the Division Head of Immunology and Allergy at The Hospital for Sick Kids and a Professor within the Division of Pediatrics on the College of Toronto. She is on the Board of Administrators of the Canadian Society of Allergy and Scientific Immunology, and is a member of our Healthcare Advisory Board.
Please observe: Dr. Upton is answering as a person allergist and her solutions don’t represent an official place of her affiliated organizations. Her responses are for informational functions solely and don’t represent particular medical recommendation, suggestions, analysis, or therapy. Please discuss to your physician about any considerations or questions you will have relating to your individual well being or the well being of your youngster.
The submit Ask the allergist – March 2026 appeared first on Meals Allergy Canada.










