Having a wife that’s a teacher, I’ve been on the forefront of an epidemic that is sweeping the country. Seemingly overnight, the peanut is now cause for concern for parents. Suddenly all children in America have some sort of peanut allergy. I must tell you that I’ve been angry about this so-called allergy for some time now. I simply don’t believe it’s out there. Sorry if there are any parents of “peanut allergic” children reading this. If there is any issue, it’s the lack of peanut exposure causing the problem. Much like using too much antibacterial wipes can actually make you more susceptible to certain forms of bacteria. You just aren’t being exposed to it and your body can’t produce antibodies like they should.
Anyway, the reason I brought this up is because I was reading a great article in Forbes this weekend on the subject and there is a school in Hoboken, New Jersey, where students can’t bring even their own peanut butter sandwiches to school. YOU CAN’T EVEN BRING YOUR OWN PB&J SANDWICH TO SCHOOL!!
I’m not a huge PB&J guy, but the fact that kids can’t bring a staple such as this to school is ridiculous beyond belief. And according to This Article is all because of over-hype, and bad information. Here are some snippets:
A running tally of cases maintained on PeanutAllergy.com, an information forum that pushes for tighter controls on peanut products, lists only 13 U.S. deaths–six were adults–since 1996. All were caused by the accidental eating of a peanut product, none merely by being too close to someone else’s food.
One reason for the increased attention: the highly publicized story of the Canadian girl, 15, who died last November after kissing her boyfriend, who had eaten peanut butter hours earlier. One problem: An Internet search turned up 38,000 references to the story, but the coroner’s report months later showed that the teenager died of asthma after being exposed to smoke at a party. A search for that fact generates 15,000 results.
Eat more peanuts, Don’t believe the hype!
Filed under: Allergies, Peanuts, Pet Peeves
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