Shea nut and other nut allergies

Dr. Phil Lieberman answered a similar question and based upon my review of the literature, his response remains up-to-date. I have copied below for your reference:

Shea nut is considered by the FDA a true nut, and the FDA requires listing of Shea nut or Shea butter as an ingredient. Shea nut is a member of the Sapotaceae family and appears to be distantly related to Brazil nut. However, there are no reports to my knowledge of any allergic reactions to Shea nut or Shea butter in spite of its common use Shea butter seems to be no threat to children allergic to nuts or peanuts.

In summary, although Shea is a nut, and butter is derived from the nut, allergic reactions to either must be extremely rare or, and Shea appears to be safe, at least according to all of the published data that we could find for children allergic to peanuts and tree nuts. Of course this can in no way guarantee that such reaction could not occur, but is very reassuring in this regard.

Thank you again for your inquiry and we hope this response is helpful to you.

Shea butter contains no IgE-binding soluble proteins, J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2011 Mar;127(3):680-2. doi: 10.1016/j.jaci.2010.10.022. Epub 2010 Dec 13. Chawla KK, Bencharitiwong R, Ayuso R, Grishina G, Nowak-Wêgrzyn A.

Sincerely,
Phil Lieberman, M.D."

I hope that you find this information helpful.

Regards,
Daniel J. Jackson, MD, FAAAAI