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Peanut-free football game Saturday at Northwestern
Chicago Tribune ^ | October 15, 2013 | Lauren Zumbach

Posted on 10/15/2013 6:11:53 AM PDT by ConservativeStatement

When the Northwestern Wildcats face off against the Minnesota Golden Gophers at Ryan Field in Evanston on Saturday, something will be missing: peanuts.

Northwestern University is hosting its first peanut-free football game to give fans with allergies a chance to focus on the game instead of worrying about negative reactions to the popular stadium snack, which can range from mild irritation to life-threatening anaphylactic shock.

(Excerpt) Read more at chicagotribune.com ...


TOPICS: Food; Sports
KEYWORDS: allergies; football; ncaa; northwestern; nuts; peanuts
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To: ConservativeStatement
I wonder what the root cause of this allergy really is?

Given the number of kids in my daughter’s school that are afflicted, if I look back to my school days we had one kid in our entire grade (maybe 200 kids) who was allergic to ragweed and had to be careful during gym in the Spring if we played outside.

I'm not downplaying it at all, just wondering how it became so pervasive that a football game would need to be adjusted to accommodate.

21 posted on 10/15/2013 6:57:25 AM PDT by Reagan Disciple (Peace through Strength)
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To: flintsilver7

You are just making that up. What “vast majority” are you referring to, exactly? The ones who carry epipens everywhere and keep their kids home from birthday parties? What exactly do they get out of that? What’s in it for them?


22 posted on 10/15/2013 7:02:19 AM PDT by dinoparty
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To: Responsibility2nd

Follow the thread, dude. Did anyone say anyone should get suspended for that?


23 posted on 10/15/2013 7:03:15 AM PDT by dinoparty
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To: ErnBatavia
Tidbits There is a correlation between soy milk and peanut allergies.

It's called a mass psychogenic illness...aka...It's all in your head dude.

2000 hospitalized a year. 150 children and adults die every year.

Penaut butter is a great healthy food with lots of protein. PB&J is the perfect sandwich for lunch along with a bowl of soup. Fills you up!! You won't need a snack.

And PB&J doesn't go well with chips.

24 posted on 10/15/2013 7:03:23 AM PDT by Sacajaweau
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To: dinoparty

It’s very easy for your child to wear a mask which filters airborne particulates. I keep one handy for my own medical issues. I don’t make it everyone else’s problem.


25 posted on 10/15/2013 7:03:30 AM PDT by BykrBayb (Somewhere, my flower is there. ~ Þ)
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To: Reagan Disciple

The most commonly accepted theory is that homes are so clean and relatively germ-free these days,the body’s immune system looks for something else to view as an enemy and attack, like peanut proteins.


26 posted on 10/15/2013 7:05:42 AM PDT by dinoparty
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To: Reagan Disciple

Part of the reason why I asked is not knowing the severity of the situation. Is sitting behind someone on an airplane the same as sitting behind someone in a football stadium? Shells tossed on the ground is a different matter from an airplane to a stadium, that was an interesting variable to the discussion.


27 posted on 10/15/2013 7:05:56 AM PDT by ConservativeStatement ("World Peace 1.20.09.")
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To: BykrBayb

LOL, who says I do make problems for anyone else? Knock knock, anyone home?


28 posted on 10/15/2013 7:06:42 AM PDT by dinoparty
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To: Martin Tell

It’s because parents these days make their kids live in a virtual “plastic bubble”.

We are meant to play in dirt to be around germs, that’s how the immune system gets developed....Use It, or Lose It!


29 posted on 10/15/2013 7:08:54 AM PDT by dfwgator
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To: dinoparty

Everything I know about peanut allergies, I learned on Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peanut_allergy

So its not much...but..

There has definitely been a rise in peanut allergies in recent years...or at least awareness and/or fear over it has risen. We have had peanuts on airplanes for half a century, without people boarding early to sanitize the seat, for example. That’s changed.

For a hundred years, schools served food cooked in peanut oil, gave out peanut butter cookies, sold peanut butter crackers in vending machines, and gave out PB&J if you forgot your lunch money. Not anymore. My kids’ school is a peanut free zone.

And for a hundred years, peanuts were staples of zoos, the circus, and ball games. That is rapidly going away.

So what happened? Why the sudden sensitivity to peanuts?

Well, according to the article, yes a very limited number of people risk anaphylaxis if they ingest peanuts. Makes sense, lots of people are allergic to a variety of things. So definitely, if you are allergic to peanuts, don’t eat them.

But Wiki also states that peanut residue or peanut dust most likely will not cause a deadly anaphylaxis. Instead, it could cause a rash.

Now I’ve seen tv shows where peanuts were rubbed on people who went into shock and died. Apparently, that is Hollywood fiction. Really what’s important is to not eat the peanuts.

My point? There is a reason people say things like ‘peanut allergies are made up’...and its because some people’s cognitive sensitivity to peanuts is way out of proportion with their body’s physical sensitivity. Now I wouldn’t go into a restaurant that has barrels of peanuts and shells all over the floor...but a stadium should be fine. Unless somebody is maliciously collecting peanut dust and blowing it into somebody’s face, there really is no danger (that any researcher can prove) of going into shock.

So have some Benadryl handy, and maybe even an epipen, but I wouldn’t avoid the ball game, circus, airplane ride, etc. And quite frankly, I don’t know why peanuts have been essentially banned in places like schools. I know the argument is that a kid could accidentally eat a peanut...but some people can die from seafood, and they still have fish day, I had a roommate go into shock from tomatoes...but those are still served, etc.


30 posted on 10/15/2013 7:09:17 AM PDT by lacrew (Mr. Soetoro, we regret to inform you that your race card is over the credit limit.)
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To: Sacajaweau

Seriously bro, I know logic may not have an affect on you, but do you really think that it was all in the head of my one-year-old son when his head puffed up after eating peanut butter for the first time? Really?


31 posted on 10/15/2013 7:09:34 AM PDT by dinoparty
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To: dfwgator

That may in fact be true.


32 posted on 10/15/2013 7:11:20 AM PDT by dinoparty
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To: flintsilver7
My friends grandson was allergic to peanuts.

It was so amazing. They went to a different doctor...and voila...no more allergies. All within a 6 month period.

33 posted on 10/15/2013 7:11:32 AM PDT by Sacajaweau
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To: dinoparty

In my opinion, it’s a way for an otherwise unremarkable and uninteresting child to stand out. If you can’t be noticed for your abilities and what you can offer, then you can at least be noticed out of pity for being fragile.

But in any case, plese note:

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/185263.php

...along with about 8 billion other results for “peanut allergy misdiagnosis.”


34 posted on 10/15/2013 7:11:35 AM PDT by flintsilver7 (Honest reporting hasn't caught on in the United States.)
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To: dinoparty

Well obviously you don’t think it’s a problem for other parents to have to eliminate peanuts from their children’s school lunches, but maybe the other parents would consider that a problem.


35 posted on 10/15/2013 7:12:15 AM PDT by BykrBayb (Somewhere, my flower is there. ~ Þ)
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To: Sacajaweau

I’ve babysat children with “life-threatening milk and peanut allergies” without being aware of it. Both loved the hell out of their PB&J and milk.


36 posted on 10/15/2013 7:12:44 AM PDT by flintsilver7 (Honest reporting hasn't caught on in the United States.)
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To: dinoparty

“Follow the thread”?

YOU’RE the one who hijacked it to a classroom setting. I just followed the logic to a natural conclusion.

I’m sorry if you can’t follow logic.


37 posted on 10/15/2013 7:13:13 AM PDT by Responsibility2nd (NO LIBS. This Means Liberals and (L)libertarians! Same Thing. NO LIBS!!)
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To: ErnBatavia
In lieu of Invented, the proper term is "mass psychogenic illness".

No one was lactose intolerant back when we were all getting milk in school. 1950's

38 posted on 10/15/2013 7:13:27 AM PDT by Sacajaweau
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To: Sacajaweau

Funny. Sure thus wasn’t your friend’s grandsons second cousin twice removed? Did you hear it from the waitress at the local diner who had heard it second hand from your friends dog?


39 posted on 10/15/2013 7:14:09 AM PDT by dinoparty
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To: ConservativeStatement

Take me out of the ball game
take me out of the park
can’t buy me some peanuts and crakerjacks
I don’t care if I ever go back


40 posted on 10/15/2013 7:14:32 AM PDT by Rock N Jones
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