When I was going through elementary school during the 1970s, most of us brought peanut butter sandwiches to school (I didn't have a school cafeteria until high school). We would have laughed then at anybody who said they were allergic to peanuts.
Then when I was sending my children through school, I would constantly get notices from the school warning me against having my children bring any peanut products into the school. So something definitely changed. Could it be the genetics in the peanuts we are growing?
The only peanut sanctuary left is the Texas Roadhouse restaurant chain, which not only puts a pail of peanuts on every table but has a waiting area with a huge barrel of peanuts and which patrons are encouraged to throw the peanut shells to the floor.
I'm amazed that this chain hasn't come under attack yet from the peanut-nazi crowd. Until they do, it's one of my favorite places to eat out because I love peanuts. I could eat them all day long.
Five Guys burgers also has roasted and salted peanuts in the shell for you to snack on while you wait.
No. Monsanto hasn't gotten it's hands on peanut genetics... yet. The peanuts grown today are the same peanuts we've always grown. However, Monsanto is coating the seeds with chemicals to produce higher yields. Could be this is what is causing the problem but we'll never get it studied or will Monsanto ever back off destroying our food.
BTW, the peanut itself is the seed. The peanut plant is relatively disease free so doesn't need much in the way of chemicals or human intervention to help it flower, pollinate and ripen like other fruits and vegetables. It isn't a nut so those who claim they're allergic to peanuts and other nuts are nuts themselves. Peanuts are legumes like beans and peas. The peanut itself grows underground like potatoes and is protected by a husk/shell. It's growth process is a brilliant protection shield from disease and infestations but nothing can stand up to evil Monsanto chemicals.
There appear to be at least a couple of issues:
1) “Peanut allergies” includes anyone who tests positive for said allergy, including everything from those who would die at exposure to a trace contact with peanut proteins, to those who while testing positive can eat peanuts with impunity. A friend of mine is in-between: He has peanut allergies, but eats peanuts regularly - having to limit himself to a couple of PBJs a day or risk coughing a bit. Most who test positive simply don’t risk it, even if they are not actually symptomatic or are only minimally so.
2) There appears to be an actual increase in serious peanut allergies - as well as allergies in general. The cause is hotly debated. It seems too dramatic an increase to be purely genetic.