Pine nut

You can offer pine nuts once your baby is ready for solids, usually around 6 months, but only finely ground or as butter. Whole pine nuts and thick butter are choking risks, so learn how to prepare them safely.

Pine nuts are seeds taken from pine cones and eaten. Names you may see are pignoli, pinon and pinyon. They grow across the Northern Hemisphere on 18 kinds of pine suitable for eating. Their texture is creamy and a little softer than other nuts. The buttery taste deepens when they are baked or toasted.

Pine nuts are packed with antioxidants, fat, protein and minerals. They carry B vitamins for cell growth, vitamin E for immunity, vitamin K for bones, copper for iron absorption and magnesium for bones and tissues. They also hold iron, folate, zinc and lutein for eye health.

First try

A pinch of finely ground pine nut mixed into another food is enough the first time. If there is no reaction, increase the portion over the next meals.

If your baby has severe eczema, has had an allergic reaction before, or you suspect nut allergy, talk to your pediatrician or a pediatric allergist before offering it at home.

Whole pine nuts

From the age of two, a child who chews and swallows very well, sits calmly, and follows directions could be ready to try whole pine nuts. Still, medical bodies count nuts as a choking risk until age 4. In this app whole pine nuts are not given before age 4.

Even later, give one at a time. Show an exaggerated chew on your own molars. Pine nuts that are stirred into a dish or baked in it are less likely to cause choking than loose ones from a handful, since they are chewed along with the rest of the bite.

Storage and pine nut mouth

Pine nuts can go rancid. They keep fresh up to 2 months in the fridge and up to 6 months in the freezer.

Some raw pine nut kinds leave a bitter, metal-like taste for a time. People call it pine nut mouth. It is not an allergy, begins within 2 days of eating, and can linger for days or even weeks.

All whole nuts, nut pieces and lumps of nut butter are choking risks for babies and young children. Pine nuts are one of them.

To lower the risk, grind them to a powder. Loosen the butter with water or yogurt to a smooth, non-sticky texture and spread it very thinly. Stay close while your baby eats and keep them upright.

Pine nut is not seen as a common allergen worldwide, but pine nut allergy is more common in Australia. Botanically a pine nut is a seed, yet allergy specialists group it with the tree nuts. Tree nut allergy affects 0.5 to 1.2 percent of people and usually lasts for life. Only about 9 percent of children with tree nut allergy outgrow it. Pine nut allergy is relatively rare, but the reaction can be severe.

Allergy to one nut raises the chance of allergy to another, but it does not mean every nut must be dropped. If pine nut allergy is present, work with an allergist to decide whether other nuts can be eaten safely.

In most cases, babies need no allergy test before nuts are introduced, and that holds when allergies run in the family.