One of the more controversial areas in current medicine, this subject is highly charged.
In the U.S. alone, peanut allergy causes 100 deaths and 15,000 emergency room visits a year.
To be the parent of a child who dies of an allergic reaction after eating something with peanuts in it - whether labeled or not - is to become forever afire.
This website is excellent, with very detailed information and multiple links to more specific areas of this very charged subject.
No one knows how common peanut allergy is; it can develop after many uneventful exposures and can disappear over time.
So sensitive can an individual be that there are reports of anaphylactic shock and death in highly susceptible individuals after smelling peanuts or peanut butter.
Last week, Arroyo Vista Elementary School in South Pasadena, California banned foods containing peanuts not only from its school cafeteria menu, but from its entire campus.
Yes, you read correctly: children are no longer allowed to bring peanut butter-and-jelly sandwiches to school for lunch. School lunches, snacks, and classroom treats must be peanut-free.
Principal Julie Jennings, in a letter to parents, said the the new rules "may seem a bit extreme" and be "difficult to get used to," but that it was necessary to protect the 20 students at the school (4% of the school population of 500) who suffer from the potentially life-threatening allergy.
School staff members have identified the allergic students and have been trained to inject EpiPen - which counteracts the reaction - if one should come into contact with peanuts.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Jason Koulouras
Our local daycare centres and elementary schools have banned Peanuts as well as other nuts. The odd thing is that peanuts are a legume and are not actually the same family as true nuts such as almonds, cashews and brazil nuts (for example), yet people tend to be allergic to peanuts and the above.
We will not allow our children to come into contact with peanuts until they are at least 3 years old. Whilst not proven, we are suspicious that the spraying and treatment of peanuts with things such as fungicide combined with exposure at too young an age might be part of this growing problem
Thanks
2 - bhw
My daughter is in a peanut allergy class in her school. She doesn't have any allergies, but we opted into that class because we heard such good things about the teacher. The nut allergy classes sit at their own tables at lunch -- all the lunch periods use the same tables for those classes -- to reduce contamination.
So now we just have to watch the snacks we buy and read all the labels. I honestly don't mind at all because the teacher is more than worth it, and also because I know that the allergy can be quite serious.
A 19-year-old college freshman who had gone to my high school died after eating a cookie that had been made with canola oil. She was in a room full of people who were not able to save her before help could arrive. That's a pretty serious allergy. The sad thing is that she asked first if the cookies had nuts in them before eating them. Nobody thought that the oil could hurt her. I would have never thought it, either. I stopped buying canola oil because of it, too.
Needless to say, I wouldn't have a problem with any public or private school completely banning peanut products. It seems like a minor inconvenience for a safety tradeoff.
3 - a mom
This is a great site to buy allergy alerting tee -shirts for young children. It also offers tips on managing food allergies.
www.imallergic.com
4 - larry
i didnt agree with the airlines decision to stop serving peanuts in flight. by the time a person is old enough to book a flight that person should know his allergies! this is a situation you are responsible for your own safety. not the public
larry
5 - susanconnick
My son has a life-threatening peanut allergy and I am facing him entering grammar school in Metairie, Louisiana. I have worked with his teachers and the principal to develop an action plan to protect him if he were to have a reaction. There will be a peanut-free table set up in the lunch room, wipes/anti-bacterial soap for kids who consume peanut products at other tables, and I plan to speak to the kids and parents to educate them on Michael's allergies. I do not know if its the right thing to do to eliminate all peanut products from school --- the rest of the world still eats peanut butter and peanuts. We cannot have a false sense of security and must be prepared at all times.
By the way, why did the canola oil kill someone?
6 - NeeNee
My 2 grandsons are allergic to peanuts; a 2 year old with a class 3 and a four year old with a class 6. It's the class 6 that makes us most fearful. We are teaching him things like not touching handrails because someone who ate something like a peanut butter cup could have touched that handrail. That small exposure could be fatal.
My question also is where's the connection with the canola oil?
7 - Common Sense
Wow, peanut allergies suck, but what ever happened to common sense. I mean if you have a child that can die from just touching something that someone else touched who was eating peanuts or peanut products, why in the world would you want to endanger them by sending them to a public school.
That would be like knowing your child can't swim, yet still sending them to swim in the ocean with a strong undertoe alone.
People need to get a grip and become responsible for themselves and their own needs and not expect the world to inconvenience themselves for you.
The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.
8 - Amy
My 14 month old son just had an allergic reaction to peanuts. We're sending him to an allergist asap and in the meantime have been given instructions to avoid peanuts.
To the PP:
So I'm not supposed to give my child an education? I'm not even sure that peanuts should be entirely banned from schools, but I don't think that it is a huge sacrifice to put in precautions and try to avoid the most obvious dangers. I love eating peanuts and peanut butter but it doesn't seem like that huge of a sacrifice to avoid it at school if it can really save lives. Have we become so selfish that we can't imagine inconveniencing ourselves in order to help children with a very real, deadly allergy?
It's going to possibly be a long, hard road ahead of us making sure that our son stays away from these things. I don't think that he should be sentenced to a life away from education and socialization because he has an allergy that can be managed if his environment is appropriately managed.
9 - Brian Sorrell
Incidents of peanut and tree nut allergies are on the rise worldwide, so it's not unreasonable to address this in schools.
I take issue with the author with respect to the following:
"No one knows how common peanut allergy is; it can develop after many uneventful exposures, and can disappear over time."
In my teenage years I started developing an allergy to tree nuts -- thankfully I can still eat peanuts! At the time there was little research that had been done, but in recent years, this has changed.
It turns out that peanut and tree nut allergies are related to many other food allergies and many people will develop these further sensitivities. Raw carrots and celery, peaches and apples and cherries, avocado, and many others can cause the same kinds of symptoms. For more information, google "oral allergy syndrome" and "birch pollen allergy".
Furthermore, and I can personally attest to this, the condition has not been seen to disappear over time. In fact, most data indicates that it just gets worse, especially with more exposures.
Again, given that more and more people are developing these allergies, I wholly support the moves that the schools have made.
10 - Bob the builder
peanuts are cool, they own you
CAN WE FIX IT!? YES WE CAN!
11 - angel
Some of these comments infuritate me. First, some of you are assuming that we parents who have kids with nut allergies, don't have common sense. HELLO you selfish jerk! My kid has severe peanut allergies. He went through elementary school, jr. high and now high school. I made sure all his teachers knew the appropriate protocol for anaphylactic shock (which means you can die within minutes). I also had them send home notices when they served snacks that they had a child with peanut allergies in their room. Suprisingly, all of the parents were more than accomodating and considerate. My son was also taught at age 5, how to give himself and injection if he needed it, and to always carry benedryl with him as this helps for an immediate fix until the ambulance can get there. As for the airlines, they need to pull the peanuts. Not just adults fly. Kids fly too. The recycled air from peanuts can be deadly, as well as if someone ate peanuts and rubbed their hands on the seats or tray tables. This is a serious allergy. The ignorant ones are the people who refuse to understand the allergy and don't seem to care if a kid dies. Oh yes..and adults have peanut allergies too. Do you care wether an adult dies or are you just a cold heartless individual? This is a very emotional illness. My son is now entering high school and is terrified about getting a girlfriend. Imagine what kids go through having to tell someone, "if we are ever going to kiss, you can't eat peanuts or I can die." Imagine the trauma a kid gets being the one who kissed someone after eating a peanut butter sandwhich or candy, and their boyfriend/girlfriend dies. It's a horrible thing to live with. Not just people with peanut allergies, but those with shellfish etc. Get a grip those of you who don't understand. How would you like to have that allergy?
12 - coopedl
For those trying to educate both children and those adults who are providing care for children with nut allergies...a new teaching tool Beyond A Peanut Allergy Flashcards. You may not be able to get people to sit down and read a book but after they flip through these 36 flascards, they will understand why the vigilance is necessary both at home and the schools to keep children safe. Without a medical cure, education plays a key role in safety. I hope some on this page will take the time to become educated and possibley save a life!
13 - mom
Ok, well, now my son goes to a private school, very small, they eat in the classroom. I just got a letter stating, not only do they not want peanut butter sandwiches, but also to read the the lables on the other products (chips, crackers, cookies, etc) because they MAY contain traces of peanut oil and to not send those items, as well. My son is very skinny and he is a picky eater. (ironic because i love to cook) He takes peanut butter sandwiches EVERY DAY. (they don't offer hot lunch). He is not malnourished but now I can't send the one thing he will eat because of one child? The child is new to the school, the parents have not met with the teacher to inform them of the severity of the problem....it was causually mentioned. Apparently, it is so severe that it is life threatening. None of my family has food allergies and I feel badly for this child, but they have to learn how to cope, too. Plus, if I had a child that were SO severely allergic to something, I would NOT put his life in the hand of an over-worked teacher and a classroom full of 7 year olds! I understand a want/need for "normalcy" but,if, in order to be sure and healthy is to stay home, so be it. There's kids that are allergic to the sun and they only come out at night!
So, my question is, if we're making large decisions regarding one child (peanut allergy), why not make a decision based on another child (will only eat peanut butter sandwiches).
Someone could become quite wealthy making "peanut/nut free" private schools, no?
14 - nopeanutmom
It is unfortunate that your son is a picky eater, but there is a difference between a picky eater and anaphylaxis. I strongly believe your comments would be different if you saw a child who is gasping for breath, swelling up, given an epi-pen, and an ambulance called. Peanuts are as life threatening as rat poisening. You wouldn't want that in your 7 year old child's classroom would you?
15 - mom
Ok, so, bottom line: what should I send for lunch? I don't mind making homemade things at all. He likes brownies. He likes bacon. He likes spaghetti. He likes chicken noodle soup. I can send soup to school. Spaghetti, eh, maybe sometimes in a thermos.
Don't you think that a peanut allergic child should learn to adapt to "the real world" rather than the other way around? They will have to live cautiously for the REST of their lives, shouldn't they learn it from the "ground up?" Our country was not founded on a "woe is me" attitude. Do you think that an employer will honor this when this child is 25? No employer will outlaw peanut products in the lunch room of a business!
No, I do not ever want to see a child hurt! I get down on my knees and thank God because the worst thing my son has ever had was strep-throat. But, unfortunately, life is not homogeneous. Life goes on, whether or not you have limitations. It's harsh, as life often is, but THAT is the bottom line. You can only shelter your kids so much...
16 - mom
By the way, now I'm also thinking about my own liability in this situation, with my son in the class with a child that is so severely allergic that it is life threatening. What if my son has some un-seen peanut butter on his shirt from breakfast (but don't send it for lunch, etc) and this child gets a reaction from it? Will I be sued for causing a reaction? What about the school? (I'm on the school board)
17 - Jane
Peanut allergies are invisible life threatening conditions. To expect a child to manage this on his own is not reasonable.
Children will have to learn to cook and drive and pay bills but we dont expect them to do it in elementary school!
Whether you like it or not children with severe medical conditions can be considered disabled and are protected by laws in the United States. Public schools must accommodate them!
There is a right to a free and appropriate educuation. There are no rights to peanuts.
18 - nopeanutmom
If the condition wasn't so life threatening, I would agree. But we are talking peanut butter for heavens sake; it is not a necessary staple for a healthy life. If your child truly can't go without it during one meal per day, then you should talk to the principal and have your child moved out of the classroom.
Two years ago, my son sat next to a girl who bought a peanut butter treat into class. She thought his treat looked better so she picked it up after she ate her own. She gave it back and he ate it. He immediately began to hive and feel ill. He was given bendryl and I took him to the emergency room. He felt ill, he missed a day in class all over peanut butter. The mother felt terrible because she felt it was no big deal at the time. Her daughter felt terrible and said, eating a peanut butter snack was not worth making a classmate sick. If peanut butter is truly that important to your child, move him/her and everyone will feel better.
19 - mom
You made my point exactly. If this child's reaction is so severe, why even take the chance of having her in a classroom? Because, let's face it, her school life is not just a classroom, it's: the railing on the stairway, the library books, the art room, the basketball, the monkey bars, door handles, toilet flushing handles.
We have been at this (private) school for 5 years, I'm on the school board. This family is brand new, this year, and basically sprung on the poor principal, how severe the condition was 1 week before school starts. She CASUALLY mentioned it at the family picnic.
My child is underweight and all he eats is peanut butter. Why are my child's (or any other children) needs any less significant than this childs?
My questions were not answered above: What do I send for his lunch? Should I stand above him at lunch time and force him to eat a ham and cheese? What about children with other allergies such as diary, gluten/wheat, PET HAIR? Should we force all the families in the school to get rid of their pets?
I'm sorry, this country is not founded on socialism.
20 - nopeanutmom
You have already made up your mind that your child and the rest of the students are being treated unfairly so nothing anyone can say here will persuade you otherwise.
I guess you will have to abide by the principal's decision and just be unhappy that your child can not eat peanut butter at school. Obviously, your principal is a kind and compassionate individual so he/she will probably work with you to find a resolution. If you are looking for sympathy regarding your child's plight, you simply won't find it from me. I am not quite sure what the significance of being on the school board is or how socialism applies to not having peanut butter in school but you are certainly entitled to your own opinion. I hope your principal can find a satifactory resolution for your problem.
21 - CTmom
There is simply no comparison between a picky child wanting to eat PB at school and the right of a child not to die at school. To compare them is ignorant and insulting. A skinny kid who will only eat PB (first of all - "only eat PB" is probably not true - does that child REALLY eat ONLY PB for breakfast, lunch and dinner every single day?) is in need of some nutrition counseling. It's not healthy to be very underweight or stuck on one food at an age past toddler-hood. The school is asking that children do without PB for 5 meals out of 21 per week. Seems like an extremely small request in the face of an allergic classmate keeling over and dying from peanut exposure. The allergic child did not choose his or her condition. He can't choose not to have his condition this day or that. It is terrifying to him and his family, daily. How can that compare in any way to another child's choice for one meal a day, 5 days out of 7? At home, the picky eater could eat PB constantly.
22 - death by anaphylaxis
mom, I cannot understand your attitude. My peanut anaphylactic child died at pre school on the day another parent decided to breach a nut free policy. He was four years old. Young children with anaphylaxis are vulnerable and need teachers and other parents to help keep them safe. They also have a right to an education. I cannot tell you how the thought of losing a child forever over something as trivial as a sandwich filling tortures me every night. You should count yourself lucky that one of your biggest problems is not being able to send peanut butter to school. My fathers day was spent at the cemetary
23 - Roger Blake
mom, first of all what a private school chooses to do is one thing. Most people are not that wealthy to afford such luxuries of either staying at home to home school or send a child to a private school as you suggest they should do.
There are laws with regard to public schools and all taxpayers have a "right" to public education in the US. My suggestion is that you should resign from your current board seat and allow someone that is a bit more sensitive, caring, thoughtful and educated on the matter to consider the legal, ethical, and reasonableness of your schools policies.
24 - nopeanutmom
As to what you should send your child for lunch? Anything but peanut butter. That is my suggestion. Children have a right to have a good education, they have a right to be treated fairly, and they have a right to free lunch, books, supplies, etc if they can't afford it. But there is no "right" to have peanut products at school. I assure you, not having a peanut product at your school will not in anyway hinder your student's education.
25 - Mary TT
Mom, your lack of understanding and sympathy is rather unsetteling. I am glad you are not on the board of my child's school.
The big difference between, "gluten/wheat and PET HAIR" is that typically they do not become airborne and typically do not get smeared on to toys, etc... So these have not proven to be a great rish in killing children at school.
To answer your question in general. If something had the potential to kill what studies show are somewhere between 2%-4% of children entering elementary today then I would be in favor of banning that substance. Today, the only substance that reaches that type of potential risk is peanut for it gets airborne and is often messy enough to smear on things. So yes, I think it is worth having your child not eat peanut butter for 6 hours a day (5 out of 21 meals) so that an innocent child does not die for what is rather simple accommodation.
Or said another way, if a child were to die based on your child's peanut contamination would you really still feel that the trade off was worth it and that your childs rights to have their PB sandwich was justified.