[PilloryHillary]

Both of my sons have severe food allergies....peanuts and fish. The only way people can object to the "peanut gallery", is if they don't understand what a food allergy can do to a person. My oldest son almost died from having his throat close up after TOUCHING (not eating) a peanut butter sandwich in the cafeteria. Some people get extremely sick just from SMELLING peanut butter. Until one has had to have their kid (themselves or someone they love) rushed to the emergency room choking and gagging for air while completely covered in huge hives, they may not understand the seriousness of food allergies. I think this is a good idea. My youngest son's school will not allow peanuts or peanut butter on the premisis. As a parent, I am relieved.

[bikepacker67]

My youngest son's school will not allow peanuts or peanut butter on the premisis. As a parent, I am relieved.

No offense, but your sons should be the ones "quarantined".

Where does this stop? As I posted earlier, some folks are severely allergic to sunlight (or any UV radiation). Should schools shutter their windows, and ban recess?

[sticker]

I am sorry for your son's allergies and don't get this wrong, but why should everyone have to change, give up things and compromise so that your sons don't have to?
PS: I carry an Epipen with me at all times because of my allergies

[Mach9]

With all due respect (and this isn't rhetorical--I have a daughter who breaks out in the same hives, suffers the same throat-clogging but with no known cause), whatever happened to personal responsibility? And how in the world is the ban on peanut-butter-toting enforced? Suspension? Jailing? Detention? Expulsion?

[nuke rocketeer]

Put your kids where they are with others like them. Don't force the majority to not have something they like just to protect 1 or 2. You should have to accomodate to us, not vice versa.

[TFine80]

What is causing these food allergies with peanuts et al.? Is it related to diet or something?

How come we never used to hear so much about them?

[mudblood]

"As a parent, I am relieved"

Yeah, I've heard these penut alergies are the absolute worst of the lot. None of the recent parents I know even let their kids touch penuts - not for the first few years of their life. I'm incredibly prone to blasting it all as a bunch of PC, wimpy liberal crap that we now have to deal with, but the more rational part of my brain knows that as soon as some kid is exposed as having a penut alergy, some jackass kid is going to come up and force him to eat a penut. Indeed, I read an article a few years ago about a kid who touched a penut to a kid in the school lunch line, and the kid had to be rushed to the hospital. It sucks, but for once the liberal, PC "ban everything" answer makese sense, in this one instance at least.

[snarkytart]

>>My oldest son almost died from having his throat close up after TOUCHING (not eating) a peanut butter sandwich in the cafeteria<<

Why did your son put his hands on another persons sandwich??

[PennsylvaniaMom]

I am truly sorry for your sons' afflication. With the violent reactions noted, has you ped. ever required that they keep an Epipen at the school for their use in an emergency? Or why doesn't the school cafeteria (with the great liability of serving kids who may be allergic) keep an Epi kit in the with first aid supplies?

I am allergic to the iodine in shellfish...I cannot eat any fish due to the risk of cross containination. I also don't eat out (sadly) very often because of the risk of corrupting the integrity of my product by someone who has handles lobster or shrimp. The peanut allergy is five times worse...peanut oil in something as benign and presumed safe as a french fry can cause systemic reactions (worse symp. being the swelling of the trach.) As I noted above, if you don't already have an EpiPen...please get your doc to prescribe it for you.

[Two-Bits]

Please do not take this as giving you a hard time. I am sorry that your children are faced with these obstacles but
I am an unyoung woman and peanut butter/peanuts has been a staple as common as white bread and milk for all the time I have been blessed to be on this earth. For all those years, I have never once seem, heard, or knew of anyone who had died from allergies to peanuts. Only in the last ten years has this been an issue. My question is why is this a life threatening issue now and not then in the forties, fifties, sixties, seventies, eighties etc.......Again, I not trying to give you a hard time but I would really like to know so I can understand this better.

[dvwjr]

Terrible about your children's peanut allergies, but they would be safer if they were quarantined at lunch. Their physical deficiencies should not impact those whose economic status dictates peanut-butter sandwiches as a lunch staple. It is unfair, as is Life but imposing their physical handicaps on others is unreasonable.

This comes from someone who carries an Epipen due to the risk of dying from a simple bee sting... It's my problem. The quarantined room (area) could admit those children who agree not to have peanut products so that your children would not be socially isolated at lunch. Sort of like the smokers/non-smokers areas in restaurants except with a much stricter school enforcement for the obvious health reasons. I understand this is elementary school, but what happens in middle school, jr High and High school. Will the 'peanut' ban continue for their complete public school career?

Best of luck,

dvwjr

[Pablo64]

I, for one, do not doubt the severity of peanut allergies. I am severly allergig to walnuts and pecans. I can eat every other kind of nut (love almonds, cashews, hazelnuts, brazil nuts, etc.) but don't let me near walnuts or pecans. I really don't care about not being able to eat walnuts because I think they taste like crap (or what I would imagine crap tastes like!), but pecans taste good for about the first 30 seconds to a minute, then the fun begins.

What I am extremely curious about is why it seems we are having an escalation of this allergic reaction to peanuts in our society today. I'm 40 years old (okay, almost 41) and I can not remember one single case of anyone being allergic to peanuts when I was a kid (and we were very aware of food allergies in our house). Everybody ate PBJ sandwiches, or brought peanut brittle to class at the holiday's and nothing was said. I wonder what has changed in our environment, or such, that has brought on this rash (no pun intended) of food allergies? I have a pet theory that it has something to do with all the pre-packaged and processed foods we eat today (and all the preservative agents, etc. in them), but I can't prove it. Just a gut feeling I have, but I try my best to cook from "scratch" as much as I possibly can and try to limit pre-packaged and processed foods as much as I can.