The NutFree Support Guide
What friends and family actually need to know.
Someone in your life has a nut allergy and you want to get it right. Maybe it's a partner, a child, a coworker, or a friend who mentioned it almost in passing. You care. You just aren't totally sure what that means yet, or what you might be getting wrong without realizing it. This guide is for that gap.
A taste of what's inside:
This one catches most people.
Peanuts are a legume, not a nut
They grow underground and are botanically closer to beans than to almonds or cashews. Someone can be allergic to peanuts and completely fine with tree nuts.
Tree nuts are a separate category
Almonds, cashews, walnuts, pistachios, pecans, hazelnuts, and several others. Someone with a cashew allergy may eat peanut butter without any issue.
Always ask which they are allergic to
Do not assume the answer. Ask directly: which nuts are a problem for you? They will tell you.
"May contain peanuts" or "may contain tree nuts"
This is a cross-contact warning. It means the product was made in a facility or on equipment that also handles those allergens, and trace amounts may be present. It is not a legal technicality. It is a real disclosure of realistic risk.
For people with mild sensitivities, some "may contain" products may be fine. For people with more serious allergies, they often are not. Do not assume a "may contain" product is safe without asking the person first.
Dedicated nut-free facility
The strongest standard. Peanuts and tree nuts are not present anywhere in the building, not just managed carefully on shared equipment. Every vendor on NutFreeMarket meets this standard.
Most cross-contamination does not happen at the manufacturer. It happens at home, in a restaurant kitchen, or at a gathering, and it is almost always unintentional.
Kitchen surfaces and shared tools
If you slice walnuts on a cutting board and then chop vegetables on the same board without washing it, there is now walnut residue on those vegetables. Start with a clean surface and clean tools.
"Picking the nuts out" does not undo contact
Once nuts have been cooked into something or shared a surface with other ingredients, removing them does not remove the allergen proteins. The contact has already happened.
The full guide also covers severity, hidden ingredient names, and how to actually help without making the allergy the main event.