Mike Andrews

Crouching Legume, Hidden Peanut

This page lists foods that surprisingly have legumes of one kind or another. If you don't find something on this list, it doesn't mean it's safe, it just means I haven't seen it yet!

I'm allergic to (at least) peanuts, soy, chickpeas, lentils, and split peas. I'm probably allergic to some of the other legume-inaries, but I haven't uncovered them yet. This page focuses on foods that contain these ingredients that I need to remember to avoid.

You may wish to know more about my allergies.

Evil Foods

Tuna: Of all the damned things, most canned tuna has soybeans in it. Look for "hydrolyzed vegetable protein" or "vegetable broth". Check out this FAQ from Chicken of the Sea. I always buy the red-canned 365 brand albacore tuna from Whole Foods. It just has tuna, water, and salt.

Dunkin Donuts Muffins: The blueberry muffin has soy protein isolate in it. What is the deal with that? Some of their other stuff has soy flour, but I don't think a lot.

Edy's "French Silk" Ice Cream: We used to get this, since it's 1/2 the fat of regular ice cream, but it never seemed to be quite right to me, like it was over processed or something. Soy protein is right there in the ingredients. Damnit!

Good Foods

Sometimes, you have to live with uncertainty. But sometimes, you don't! Some companies have chosen to serve the "crazy allergic people" market segment.

AllerEnergy Allergen-Free Nutrition Bars: have only goodness, no badness. Of the vast, mind boggling selection of "energy", "nutrition", or "protein" bars available at any of my local stores, not a single one is peanut free. At best, you get the line "manufactured on shared equipment which processes peanuts". Great. With the texture of these things, would you ever know if you got a peanut in yours? What if it had peanut flour or something?

These are great. I prefer the chocolate chip ones, since, well, since I don't know. Yes, you will find that these are different animals than a their Clif or Power cousins. But, it's great knowing everything that went into them. And, they are the yum.


Vermont Nut Free Chocolates: This is an ideal gift for someone you know who is allergic to peanuts. It may not seem like a big deal, but it is. Let me explain it this way:

You, with your "haha I can eat peanuts immune system", sit down and crack open a box of chocolates. Maybe your sweetheart gave them to you, but you don't remember right now because your reptilian brain is craving the sugar rush. Surveying your sticky array, you can choose any one, but... but... you choose that one! Yes!

Now, if you were, say, going to die if you ate a peanut, your experience is somewhat different. Carefully opening the box, you crave the chocolate, but you catch a whiff of peanut butter. Aggghh.. Death!! There must be something in here you can eat. Yeah, the dark ones usually don't have peanuts. Pick that one up. Smell. Are there any funny lumps? No. Okay... Maybe just squish the bottom a little. It has some give to it. This could be a good one! But, I gotta break it open first. Hmm... color, ooh.. slightly tannish brown? Damn. No.. I'm not chancing that.

Yeah, thanks. I have enough stress from work. I'll stick with these chocolates, thank you!



Information updated on Thursday, 16 November 2006.
rocko@gweep.net