Profile: jmb
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What's Happening Now
Thank you for your comment, jmb. In case other contributors are interested, a press release summing up the Mt. Sinai study mentioned here is available at http://www.mountsinaifpa.org/about-us/news-archive/rate-of-childhood-peanut-allergies-more-than-tripled-between-1997-and-2008.
That Mount Sinai “study” is completely bogus and inherently flawed. It was done via telephone survey, which is unreliable and unscientific, as it requires people to recall things from imperfect memories. At the same time, these are people who “report” an allergy; there is no clinical diagnosis of an allergy based on observation and blood tests for IgE antibodies after eating peanuts, which is the only way it can be confirmed.
Scientific data shows no doubling or tripling in peanut allergies during any period of time. People who preach this nonsense and those who buy into it as fact are hurting themselves and spreading needless fear.
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As the father of a three year old daughter who was recently diagnosed with a life-threatening peanut allergy, I fully support a ban on peanuts and food containing peanuts. While my daughter does not have an inhalation allergy, she is extremely sensitive and if she ingested even a minute particle of peanut protein, she could have a life threatening reaction. While we have epi pens and benadryl to administer in the event of such an event, those medications are only a short term response and immediate medical care is essential. As a parent, it is my job to insure she does not ingest anything that will cause a reaction and we do everything we can to create a large buffer between her and such products. That said, we have little control over the environment in an airplane. Others eating peanuts… more »
The simple fact is that a peanut allergy is life threatening and should not be compared to other intolerances or allergies that are not. Doing so is naive and bordering on ignorant. Balancing both the seriousness and scope of the threat involved against what could only be described as a petty inconvenince associated with banning peanuts and peanut products, the choice seems clear. That is, unless the peanut lobby or ill-informed airline passengers are making decisions in Washington.
I commend the DOT for being on top of this issue and urge the adoption of a final rule banning peanuts and peanut products from airplans. « less