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Oak Trees

Donna Giustizia in Ontario, Canada, is asking that the oak trees near her daughter’s school be cut down due to the risk of a nut allergy reaction from the acorns off the trees. Because she felt strongly about the possible hazards, she appeared before the Vaughan, Ontario, City Council to ask the council to remove the trees. Giustizia heads the school’s allergy committee, and although the school says it is nut-free, she feels that the school isn’t doing enough to protect its students.

The Vaughan City Council has said that they will prepare a report about the nut problem that will be read at their next meeting. Giustizia has said that she is not requesting that the entire town become nut free, but wants the school to be free of all nuts, including acorns.

When asked about the possibility that acorns are a hazard to children with nut allergies, Dr. Clifford Bassett, medical director of allergy and asthma care at New York University, said he has never encountered a case of an allergic reaction by playing with acorns found on the ground. “There’s no relationship between acorns and peanuts,” said Bassett.