Peanut allergy is fairly common with a prevalence rate of about 1 in 90 people in the United States. Unfortunately, peanut allergies can be severe and those with a peanut allergy need to be very cautious about eating food that has been prepared by someone else, especially in a restaurant, because even food that has no peanuts in it can cause an allergic reaction if it was prepared with the same equipment as food with peanuts. Peanuts are not actually nuts, but instead they are legumes and are more closely related to beans.