| The Nuts vs. Seeds
To: nuts@TheNutFactory.com
Subject: nuts vs seeds
I am the reference librarian at the Sharon Public Library in Sharon,
Massachusetts.
I have a patron who wants to know if sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds,
or sesame seeds are actually nuts.
Apparently she has a medical condition that allows her to eat one but not
the other. I called the Treadwell Library at Massachusetts
General Hospital and after an afternoon of two people searching they
came up with your web site.
Your site gives the definition of nuts as any hard shelled fruit or seed
of which the kernel is eaten by mankind.
Can you tell me anything more specific? Thanks for your help.
Barbara Katz bkatz@ocln.org
Barbara:
Suggest you go to our website on edible nuts throughout the world which tells you this is
a much more complex discussion than simply whether a seed and a nut are similar.
http://www.thenutfactory.com/kitchen/edible.html
technically, ALL nuts are seeds of a plant and the sunflower, sesame, and
pumpkin seeds are simply seeds in the truest sense because they originate at the center of
the plant.
The sunflower and sesame seeds are growing at the end of a stalk. The
pumpkin seed is found inside a gourd. In all instances the seeds are what the plant does
create to reproduce itself.
In other words, seeds are the genetic code of plant reproduction. That
makes them all seeds in the truest form of the word. I think the word nut is simply
describing the hard outer coating that protects the softer inside seed.
Now if you are speaking medically there is a tremendous difference in
starch, protein, and fats in the tens of thousands of plant seeds. As for the medical
concern of the person you are speaking of.... It sounds like an allergy. In my career of
two decades and with millions of people eating our products -
I have NEVER heard of someone responding differently to a nut vs. a seed.
I have heard of a person who is allergic to a specific nut or a specific seed. We have two
allergy testing laboratories in our city.
Both firm buy from us and have bought from us for over 20 years. They test
peanuts and other seeds for allergic reactions and make the proper serums. They are:
Biopol Laboratories and Mile Laboratory which was owned by Bayer (Aspirin) >
-----Original Message----- >
From: Barbra Katz
Sent: Wednesday, July 12, 2000 9:17 AM
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