I am allergic to tree nuts. I have eaten food smoked with hickory, pecan, and oak with no problems. But everything I've read says to err on the side of caution, and not use nut woods, although I haven't found any
specific examples of allergic reactions to nut wood smoke. I don't know about smoking actual nuts or smoking with nut shells though. There are also some questions as to whether wood cutting boards made with nut woods (walnut for example) can be a problem. I know there are different allergies to tree nuts, where certain nuts are more lethal than others for different people. Nut allergies are triggered by an immune system response to a protein. My theory is that the
wood from nut "trees" does not contain the protein that the nuts do, and neither does the smoke. Don't know if that's true or not. I've also found that I've had less deadly allergic reactions to nuts when they have been roasted (heated to a high temperature), rather than eating them raw. Not that I did this on purpose. All accidental research. But if you are concerned about it, you should avoid it. These are my own personal experiences with my own severe tree nut allergy. I've been around for a while, and have an Epi-Pen handy, although I've never used it. And I probably live on the edge
I would ask the allergist/doctor, but I pretty much guarantee they will tell you not to use nut wood, or smoke nuts, or anything remotely related to nuts...because of potential lawsuits. I'd be really interested if anyone finds out any reliable, real world, and unbiased information on smoking with nut woods.