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Ouzo? That's Nuts! (& other surprise allergens.)

effiestar
Jun 27, 2017
2 min read

Photo Cred: http://www.kosteas.gr/en/node/3

At every Greek party a little Ouzo must fall. But do you know what's in this famous liquor? Until I recently researched, it was all Greek to me. If you or a loved one suffers from nut anaphylaxis or even a nut allergy, you'll want to read this. Ouzo has mastic in it which is from the pistachio family.

Mastic, a sap that's harvested off the mastic tree, is the resin of Pistacia lentiscus, a shrub of the sumac family (Anacardiaceae). It's a resin based ingredient with a flavour similar to licorice. Both Ouzo and the popular Greek wine Retsina - which contains Pine resin - can be allergens for those allergic to nuts.

So, stay away from Ouzo and Retsina if you suffer from tree nut, pistachio or general nut allergy or anaphylaxis.

Moving on from Greek liquor, I recently had my first taste of lychee juice at my publisher's suggestion. It tasted like a delicious blend of pineapple and pear, but I thanked him too soon for introducing me to the delicious new flavour; after some research, I learned that lychee is a complicated fruit with nut-like qualities that some tree nut allergy sufferers are allergic to. Lychee is even listed on foodallergy.org as one of the nut allergens to avoid. So, let's add to our new list of things to avoid if you're allergic to nuts:

Ouzo Retsina Mastic (the chewing gum, or any variation of the flavouring) Lychee (variously spelled)

Please add your rare allergy experiences or insights to our Discussion page, and share this article. Anaphylaxis is a serious blood condition. If you or a loved one is living with anaphylaxis, avoidance of new or unfamiliar foods is the safest strategy for safety assurance.