Nuts long have been considered part of a healthy diet, and they certainly are among the most popular snack ingredients around. But what if you can’t have them? With allergens an increasing concern among American consumers (see “Allergens Update,” PF, September 2016), nuts—one of the leading causes of food allergen-related deaths—have been under attack in some quarters.
Still, nut consumption in the US increased by more than double in a generation, from just under 2lb per capita in 1981 to more than 4lb in 2014. The demand for alternatives also has increased in recent years.