Food allergies involve an abnormal response of the immune system to naturally occurring proteins in certain foods that most individuals can eat safely. Although peanuts seem like members of the same nut family as almonds, they aren’t. The peanuts are legumes, a separate plant family that includes lentils, beans, soy, and peas like green split peas. By contrast, almonds are a tree nut, as are walnuts, cashews, pecans, and macadamia nuts. According to Food Allergy Research & Education, an allergy to a legume like peanuts is not a certain indicator that you will also be allergic to a tree nut, such as almonds. You should not experiment with any form of nut or product containing nuts until you speak to your doctor. The only way to ensure safety for the person is to go to a licensed professional where skin and taste tests can be performed in a safe place to exactly determine what allergy is present. The only treatment when diagnosed with a peanut allergy is to remove the trigger entirely from the environment and to not eat any foods that contain the allergen. This leaves people looking for substitutions and almonds give the nutty ambiance without the risk. For example, almond butter can be a substitute for peanut butter.
Inquiries we have received from concerned parents:
“Hello! My son has recently been tested by an allergist as being safe to eat almonds so long as they are in a dedicated facility. Our doctor also referred us to Valley Harvest to purchase almonds that would be safe for him to eat (he has life threatening allergies to nearly all other nuts).”
“My son is allergic to tree nuts except almonds. As you can imagine it’s difficult for us to find almonds that are processed in a facility that does not process other tree nuts. I am wondering if it would be possible to have a few packages of almonds from your organization shipped to my home….”
“My daughter has life threatening allergies to many tree nuts, however, she just passed her almond challenge with her allergy doctor! We can now introduce almonds into her diet! We are looking for an almond company that does not process other tree nuts. We are located on Southern California and would like to purchase online if possible.”
Cross Contamination Policy
Minimizing cross contamination of allergens is an important part of overall food safety and quality. Parents of children who have these allergy issues are vigorously researching the world for a substitute to maintain the nutty flavor in their household without endangering their child. We are happy to assist this group of people and their families to the best of our ability. Please email us at info@valleyharvestnut.com to place an order. We offer almonds at current market pricing, therefore, prices quoted will remain valid for 24 hours. The minimum pounds required per order is ten (10) pounds which can be a combination of items totaling ten (10) pounds. Payment must arrive within 7 days via check or Venmo (@Janine-Runnels). Once we receive your payment, we will ship the order directly to you after the product is ready. We can ship to street addresses in the United States of America.
Although we are an almond-only facility, our almonds are processed at another plant for pasteurization (also an almond-only facility). You will need to make the decision if you want to purchase almonds from Valley Harvest Nut or not. I can tell you than many, many people with severe allergies purchase almonds from our facility. We haven’t every received a bad call from any of them, the decision is for you to make.