Profile: jfoltman
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An allergy is not a handicap or a disability. Everyone is allergic to something, so by your misguided definition, everyone is disabled or handicapped.
Other allergens can be detected in the air and cause a reaction; peanuts and latex are not the only things. Once you start to ban certain foods, you go down the slippery slope of banning other foods because someone will be allergic to one or more ingredients in that food.
You are responsible for your condition and that of your children. Trying to shift that responsibility to other passengers is unreasonable in the extreme.
I think the large majority of the population doesn’t understand that a severe peanut allergy is unlike other allergy. Many people think “oh I have allergies-I take an antihistamine when I get itchy or feel sick”. People with a severe allergy can die from a reaction to the peanut protein in the closed confines of a plane with recirculated air. This is not an irrational fear, but rather based in the reality that you can take all the proper precautions, but there is nothing you can do if the peanut protein is in the air on a plane. It’s not like you can go outside for fresh air. An epi-pen is only a stop gap solution. It lasts for 15-20 minutes and allows the sufferer time to get to an emergency room for further treatment. We first discovered that my son’s allergy… more »
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As a mother of a child who had a (luckily) mild reaction to someone else’s peanuts on a plane, I would like to say that as a physical disability this should be treated as any other. People in wheelchairs are given ramps and special treatment which is also somewhat inconvenient to other passengers, why not do the same for people with severe allergies? For those who say all possible allergens would be banned, they obviously do not understand that only a couple of allergens (peanuts, and latex included) travel through the air in dust form. I cannot comprehend people who are not willing to give up one certain snack-food for a couple of hours for the safety of others. There are so many laws to protect the handicapped that I don’t understand how this is even a debate. Peanuts should be banned on planes.
After reading other people posts it is clear that most do not even understand what a real allergy is. As a registered nurse I can tell you that a person who get nauseous at the smell or an upset tummy is not allergic, that is an intolerance and is not life threatening. My son spent 2 days in intensive care as a small child from a true peanut reaction. For those saying that a small amount of peanuts in the air is not harmful, my child’s throat closes up when he eats food that was processed in the same facility with peanuts and began this reaction on a plane with peanuts 5 rows in front of us. We would not travel on air planes if not for the fact that we have family in both Florida and New York. We cannot live near both. We have to avoid many restaurants that serve peanuts, and he cannot… more »