I had a mental block about this the other day so I asked font of all freefrom knowledge Editor Michelle at FoodsMatter.
I asked: in freefrom world, is coconut classed as a nut?
Here’s her reply just in case you were wondering too:
FDA do in the US but that is only because it is called coco’nut’ – they also class ‘nut’meg as a nut….. The general concensus is that allergy to coconut is very rare and has nothing to do with treenut/peanut.
Doesn’t mean you can’t be sensitive to coconut of course, as with any food, just not classed as a nut for allergy purposes as it is not botanically a nut, it’s classified as a ‘drupe’!
So there you have it: a nut free recipe CAN contain coconut.