Are coconuts a fruit or a tree nut?
The FDA considers coconuts to be tree nuts, but that’s primarily for labeling concerns. We have had patients with nut allergies in hospital, though, and none of them have had a problem with coconut that I’m aware of. Actually, from what I’m given to understand- coconut allergies are actually rather rare. I asked this same question two years ago when my son had a best friend with the same nut allergy. The kid loves coconut, as it turns out- and can eat it by the bagful. One link I found on this is http://www.allergy.org.au/content/view/1… They say pretty much exactly what I was told then. It would seem coconut falls into the grey area as to whether one considers it a nut or a fruit- unless you talk to a botanist. They would classify it as a nut, since it’s a single seed with a hard brittle cover, usually oily- and that fits a coconut fine. Allergy-wise, though- it’s not in the same category. To be safest, it woul
