Profile: schachgeek
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Zero seems like an acceptable level of risk to me. to reiterate – There has NEVER been ONE single death. No Risk Whatsoever. You are correct, death due to peanuts would not be an acceptable outcome. Thing is, it doesn’t happen. A few hives on the other hand, that seems pretty acceptable.
This makes my point better than anything I could ever say. You put your selfish needs ahead of the health and safety of the ENTIRE PLANET?!?! Really? The Ozone Layer is pretty important to the rest of us, I don’t think your need for an inhaler trumps that. Same argument with the peanuts. People who might be slightly impacted by a mild allergic reaction want to institute a ban that will impact the vast majority of the rest of us. Simply selfish.
Thank you for noting things you think we missed. We will note them for inclusion in the final summary.
schachgeek, you will be glad to know that we invited experts in peanut allergies, whom we identified from a list of studies commenters cited (see that list here). You can see what, if anything, the experts are saying here. We will send this list of studies to the DOT along with the final summary of discussion on the rule.
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I can’t believe there is any debate on this at all, since there are no emergency rooms at 40,000 feet! It should be obvious to those for whom passenger safety is a priority that all peanut products should be banned from aircraft. Standard disclaimer I am one of those who is severely allergic to peanuts – for me exposure to even the slightest bit of dust is potentially fatal. I don’t have to eat them. Once, I went into Anaphylaxis when a co-worker from a previous shift left some peanut oil and residue on a shared workstation. Remember, aircraft at altitude generally pressurize the cabin to 10,000 feet and when hundreds of those little bags packed at sea level are opened, the pressure difference propels the dust straight into the air…which I should remind everyone is not… more »
In response to the post from a member comparing religious dietary restrictions to allergies (not serving pork on a flight with muslims, for example) that is not a valid analogy. Domestic flights don’t serve food anyway, but for those that do include meals are more than happy to serve you a variety of meal types (diabetic, kosher, vegetarian etc) if you just ask. Plus I’ve never seen a pig fly – it’s highly unlikely pork particles will become airborne and float about the cabin to offend someone with a religious sensitivity.
After reviewing the summary, it seems to miss several important points:
1. There are no hospital emergency rooms at 35,000 feet.
2. Epi-pens are not without risk and when deployed can cause strokes.
3. There is no such thing as an “acceptable” level of casualties/deaths. Especially if you are that one in a thousand with potentially fatal allergies. Why should I sacrifice my rights to live/breathe so someone else can have a snack?
4. Allergic reactions and death due to peanuts are preventable. That’s why the only rational response is to ban peanuts from aircraft.
P.S. – Howie makes a valid point, scientists should have input in this discussion too. Real scientists, not peanut industry lobbyists and shills. Those of us with asthma now have to buy our albuterol from India because the only effective rescue inhalers (made with cfc’s that ALLEGEDLY deplete the ozone layer) have been banned in the USA.