Tree nuts in the United States: label rules and introduction guidance

Are tree nuts on the FDA's list of 9 major food allergens?

US law requires the specific type of tree nut to be declared, so a label cannot simply say 'tree nuts'; it has to say almond, cashew or walnut. The FDA's Edition 5 guidance, published in January 2025, narrowed the list to 12 tree nuts with a robust body of evidence behind them: almond, black walnut, Brazil nut, California walnut, cashew, filbert or hazelnut, heartnut (Japanese walnut), macadamia nut, pecan, pine nut, pistachio, and English or Persian walnut. Coconut, beech nut, butternut, chestnut, chinquapin, kola nut, ginkgo nut, hickory nut, palm nut, pili nut, shea nut and lichee nut came off the major allergen list. They must still appear by name in the ingredient list, but FDA says they should no longer appear in the 'Contains' statement, which is reserved for major food allergens.

In the United States, the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, as amended by the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act (FALCPA) and the FASTER Act, names nine major food allergens: milk, eggs, fish, Crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans and sesame. A packaged food has to declare each one either in parentheses after an ingredient, such as 'whey (milk)', or in a 'Contains' statement printed immediately after or next to the ingredient list.

• FDA: Food Allergies
• FDA: Questions and Answers Regarding Food Allergens (Edition 5, January 2025)

What CDC guidance says about introducing tree nuts

The NIAID addendum guidelines are about peanut only and do not set out a plan for tree nuts. CDC's advice to parents is to introduce potentially allergenic foods when you introduce other foods, and nut butters are one of the four examples it gives, alongside eggs, shellfish and wheat. CDC does not name individual tree nuts, so there is no US federal order for almond, cashew or walnut. If your baby already has a food allergy or severe eczema, ask your paediatrician how tree nuts should fit into first foods and in what form.

US advice on first foods comes from several places. CDC's page for parents says to introduce potentially allergenic foods when you introduce other foods. For peanut specifically, an expert panel sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) published addendum guidelines in 2017. Neither replaces a conversation with your paediatrician about your own baby.

• CDC: When, What, and How to Introduce Solid Foods

Logging tree nuts in the app

Set your region to the United States and the app's allergen schedule follows the FDA's nine. In the schedule, tree nuts appears as Tree Nut. Each allergen entry moves from not started to introduced, cleared or reaction, and the 14-day window keeps new foods spaced out so a delayed reaction is easier to match to a food. Log each nut by name, almond or cashew rather than 'nuts', so your record matches the way labels name them. If you see a symptom, log it with its severity; the paediatrician report gathers the dates into one PDF for your next appointment. It is a record for you and your doctor, not a diagnosis.