this is one of my big pet peeves since moving to seattle, and i know that posting about it carries the distinct possibility of making certain people very upset. but i am going to throw some caution to the wind and assume we are all adults and we can handle a little bit of discourse…
since moving to seattle, we have come into a world where people are freakishly crazy about being allergic. there is not only an entire segment of the population who makes a career of having allergies, but there is an even wider segment who makes it their business to bend over backward to accommodate people with allergies, even if that means they will then fail to accommodate people without allergies.
back in detroit, people just lived. the few people who legitimately had allergies handled their own business, whether that meant taking medications or avoiding triggers. they knew what they had to do to manage their conditions, and they took responsibility for it. in cases where small children had truly life-threatening problems, they were segregated from other kids during times that were dangerous for them, like when lunches and snacks were served at school. if they went to birthday parties or sleepovers, and if their allergens were really serious, they brought their own food, since it was never ever assumed that a host would be able to reliably avoid all of their allergy triggers. that was that.
in seattle, though, allergies are a lifestyle. they are very en vogue. it is chic to be allergic, to the point where i honestly believe that only about 2% of the people who claim to be allergic probably are. in seattle, having allergies is like having dogs- if you don’t have your own, you covet someone else’s. if you can’t borrow one, you pretend to have one of your own because it gives you something in common with everyone else.
a guest in our house recently talked about her close friend who has such a severe nut allergy that she couldn’t even be in someone’s home if they had packaged food with nuts in it. she was very adamant that this applied even if the packages were closed. so i asked her if she goes to 7-11 (i know for a fact that she does). of course, she replied. oh, so i guess the packed nuts there don’t bother her then? i asked her if she was able to go into grocery stores, since they clearly have not only products that contain nuts, but actual nuts! and after hemming and hawing for a few minutes, she admitted that she did. so much for her world-crushing nut allergy. now this is an adult we are talking about. this is someone who is old enough to know what she can and can’t tolerate. and here she is crying wolf and putting everyone in a panic about her supposedly life-threatening nut allergy, which clearly exists to create drama and make her a conversation piece. very Munchausen syndrome-y…
i know that there are people who have genuine allergies, and i know that those allergies can be genuinely life-threatening. in detroit we knew a child who was hospitalized many many many times for his multiple allergic issues, and he was constantly broken out and on steroids and inhalers and nebulizers and a whole host of other- very necessary- medications. i have no doubt that his symptoms were real and his parents’ caution was warranted. but even in his case, his family knew that the onus was on them and not on others to guard his health.
what is really irking me in seattle is the way that everyone tries to kowtow to the allergic crowd by banning allergy-provoking foods from everywhere. the biggest offender seems to be nuts, with an ever-wider net of nut-free zones in all sorts of places. i am very supportive of an allergic person’s right to participate in society, but i think the accommodations for their participation need to be on them and not on me.
sorry.
so when my daughter- who will pretty much only eat peanut butter and jelly for lunch- has no other options because her school is a “nut free zone”, i have a problem with that. if her school wanted her to sit at a separate table with her peanut butter sandwich, or even in another room, i would be completely supportive of that, but to totally ban nuts from the building goes a bit overboard.
to my mind, that’s like banning microwaves from a building because someone entering it might have a pacemaker. or banning certain radio frequencies because they could interfere with someone’s hearing aids…
when my son, who is in an older class with kids who are certainly able to be completely responsible for their own health issues and wouldn’t share snacks or put food up their noses or anything, can’t bring peanuts or trail mix with nuts because again, they are in a “nut free zone”, it just about drives me bonkers. there are so many nutritious and easily packable snacks that my kids love and that would, frankly make my life a whole lot simpler.
so, for the one or two allergic kids in the entire building, i think it’s just plain unreasonable to ban nuts from the whole place.
it’s very kind.
and it’s very compassionate.
but it’s very misguided.
and in an effort to be so kind and compassionate to the two, the school ends up irritating the bejeebers out of the entire rest of the parent body.
i know this is super non-PC to ask, but what ever happened to treating the sick kids like the sick ones and letting everyone else live their lives?
because, um, here’s a news flash: the kids already know exactly who is “different”. they know who goes for allergy shots and who carries epi-pens and who is allergic to what- and most of that is because the kids themselves talk about it! and nobody makes fun and nobody really cares any more than they care who has red hair or who has dogs or whose family drives a minivan. they are just part of the fabric of who is who. so why the school goes to so much trouble to pretend to erase those markers by not “outing” the allergic kids by just moving them to a different table at snack time and letting the other kids get on with their lives leaves me quite puzzled.
it is a standard getting-to-know-you question here in seattle to ask someone you are having over if they have any food preferences or allergies. that alternately cracks me up and makes me berzerk. if you are so food-sensitive that you have to give someone a list, then just invite people to your own house or bring your own food. if there is one thing you can’t eat, then just politely refuse that one thing when you eat at someone else’s place, but good golly, why assume that everyone else should care that you can’t tolerate okra? there are people here who i literally will not have over because i just can’t deal with their dietary/pseudo-allergy rigmarole, and that’s just a darn shame.
but here’s another news flash: just because your nose ran once after you ate bananas in 4th grade doesn’t mean you are allergic to them. if you have a stomach ache and you think you may have had a tomato product within the last 72 hours, you really don’t need to go and get allergy tested for the night-shade family. and everyone sneezes when they encounter enough dust; it doesn’t mean you’re allergic.
if you spent all day at the park with your kids and forgot to drink and there was lots of yelling and screaming and running around and then you went to get ice cream afterward and you put the kids to bed and you realized you have a throbbing headache, you are probably not allergic to the dairy in the ice cream.
if you ate the leftover chinese food that was sitting in the fridge for 2 weeks and it was slightly warmish but you ate it anyway cuz you were so hungry that you barely even tasted it and then you felt queasy and you almost threw up, you are probably not allergic to the MSG (please don’t tell me about how bad MSG is because that is not the point here at all…).
i think it’s time for people to let go of their allergies and embrace their lives.
i think it’s time for institutions to get rid of their “nut free zones” and create “people friendly zones”. people with real allergies will be able to cope; i have confidence in them.
this is not about hating on people with real allergies; it’s about restoring balance and sanity to life that includes both people with and without allergies.
please don’t comment about how you or your loved one has all kinds of serious allergies and i am being insensitive and limiting their ability to enjoy their lives and whatever.
really. please don’t.
maybe i am cuckoo for cocoa puffs…
Feb 06, 2013 @ 17:24:34
I agree that the burden is on the sufferer. I think it’s ridiculous when I go to education conference workshops where people are so proud that they have a nut-free facility. They drive me crazy! Apparently, however, there are children with such a severe allergy they can’t risk being in the same building. And they have a right to go to school. So if that were to come up, I think the school should do something. But, really, how often is that going to happen?
Feb 06, 2013 @ 17:36:25
Lol, I for one am glad I finished school in 1998 and college is not a nut free zone type atmosphere….any education I pursue on my own is free from the total craptacular excuse for politically correct garbage they shove down parents throats for the “good of the children”. Nut free, sugar free, no sweets, etc. Because gettting a cupcake or cookie 30 days out of 180 (give or take based on state) is going to turn a kid into a raging diabetic apparently. So instead they get fruit or carrots, which wouldn’t make me feel very celebratory. Plus no yelling at the kids for being dumb, no touching or thinking about getting within touching distance, you just have to plaster a smile on your face and keep teaching while somebody’s prescious baby blatantly acts like an asshat in some districts.
I’m all for teaching our children about diets that are healthy, but every culture I’ve ever studied had sweets on special ocassions and very few of them were as obese as the US. In fact studies have shown that the kids who aren’t allowed to have sweets eat more when let loose to choose where kids who have them regularly are more apt to eat other things, since there is no hidden thrill of the forbidden.
I am glad I don’t have to warn people we are a non-smoking, liberally dog hairy, peanut and other tree nut eating household. Although I do ocassionally warn people at work when I bring in goodies, at least one dog hair always sneaks in no matter how I clean or change into fresh clothes to bake. Lol.
Feb 06, 2013 @ 17:54:07
Sometimes it is not even allergies. It is a weight or poor diet issue/both. That omentum can’t sustain all that pressure. I can’t imagine what is in 7-11 that is so urgent. I am sure that these are the same people that go to all those “dinners” and are fine afterwards. We go to one of the school fundraiser dinners with a kid with a real nut allergy but her mom goes and inspects the menu. Thank G-d we have not had an issue yet but I always have to carry around a bag of Benodryl and an epi-pen. If it is not allergies then people will complain about something else because frankly I don’t think people want to be happy in the Northwest. Welcome!
Feb 06, 2013 @ 18:16:18
What you describe is a microcosm of the political scene in America.
We are told we all have to give up our rights because in a Nation of 330 million people someone goes nuts once every week.
I have a suggestion about how to shove it in the face of the politically correct school. Instead of sending peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, start sending sausage sandwiches. Or Braunschweiger with cheese. No doubt the diet police will come down on you for violating the cholesterol laws. This would be the perfect opportunity to say you had been sending healthy peanut butter but they banned it.
Could be fun
Feb 06, 2013 @ 18:24:49
Hm. well, we can all agree to disagree. I for one think it would be worth it for the school to do a ‘test’ with parents and children with allergies sitting across the room from some with peanut butter sandwiches. Observe. take notes. will this work? There are a few things I really appreciate about handicapped access doors – if my hands are full, I can use my elbow to push the door button!
Feb 06, 2013 @ 18:55:44
Bravo. First, I want to say that I LOVE the part where you, “assume we are all adults and we can handle a little bit of discourse…” Yes. We. Can. However, I think you overestimate a great many people. Some people are way too sensitive for honest discourse. Maybe they are allergic?
I agree with the entire “nut free zone” thing, although I can see its usefulness in say, a preschool classroom where kids eat whatever falls on the floor weather that is glue or peanuts. That being said, I have mouthed these same words about packing lunches. I could type examples but I’d be preaching to the choir, which I do too much already.
However, we can engage in a mental imagery exercise where we imagine a Seattle that is nut free…could solve our traffic problem.
Feb 06, 2013 @ 19:07:04
I also find it annoying that I can’t give my daughter a PB sandwich or trail mix to take to school.
However, if I put the shoe on the other foot, we had an incident here where a child had a bad reaction to his nut allergy at pre-school and the teacher couldn’t use the EpiPen ( used it on herself by mistake) The child died. 4 years old.
Now put yourself in the parents’ shoes. A totally preventable death. The pre-school was supposedly a nut-free zone. The PB sandwich was bought by a duty-mother for her lunch. Kids can’t help it if they have a severe nut allergy
Feb 06, 2013 @ 19:20:37
yes, that is a tragedy indeed, made all the more sad because it should have been able to be prevented. or should it? we assume that if we just wrap our kids in enough layers of bubble paper then they are safe from anything that can befall them, but it is SUCH a sad fact of life (and i swear for real here that i am not being at all snide or sarcastic) that accidents will happen no matter how hard we try to anticipate and plan for any eventuality. kids fall off of monkey bars and even though there is cushiony foam underneath they fall wrong and break their necks. look at that gymnast in the news recently who fell wrong and is now paralyzed. kids will choke just when a teacher steps out for one second or swallow that one poison chemical in the science lab that was inadvertently mislabeled or left out. the boy in front of me in shop class in middle school- and i still remember his name (antione fiore)- got his hand caught in the lathe and ripped to shreds- despite a gazillion safety warnings and repetitions of those warnings at the beginnings of each class and despite the fact that the teacher was about 12 feet away.
so, the kids can’t help if they have an allergy. the teacher can’t help if she choked under pressure and did something stupid. the school can’t help if their policy wasn’t followed. but society can’t be run with the idea that we can eliminate all bad things by just cracking down on everything. it doesn’t work and it just results in a totalitarian regime. it’s sad, but true…
Feb 06, 2013 @ 19:49:15
I know! Lets make a “peanut butter free table” and have all the kids with allergies sit in the safe zone where they can be protected from their airborne ailments. Wouldn’t that be great idea?!?!
You do not understand that some people are so allergic to peanuts that they cannot be in the same room with them, or else they would have a severe reaction. If you were the parent of a child with a severe allergy, then you would be singing a different tune and asking that the school have these types of rules in place.
I use to work at a summer camp, and when anyone had a peanut allergy, we had to have a ban on all peanut products. One child broke the rules and hid Reeses Peanut Butter Cups in the cabin. Unfortunately that kid was sharing a cabin with the one who was allergic. He went into shock and it became a bit of a mess. Your complaints are not well researched and inconsiderate.
Wow.
Feb 06, 2013 @ 21:05:23
I actually think Detroit was the odd-one-out here. Nut-free is pretty normal here if a whole school mixes for lunch. I know some where the classroom is only nut free because the kids eat lunch there and the allergic kid is only in that classroom with food. True nut allergies can be life-threatening so I gotta side with the nut-free-zoners on this one. I also know many (frum) women online from across the world and they all seem to be on board with the nut-free snacks and asking about allergies before hosting.
Re: lunches. They now make a product called Sun Butter which I believe is sunflower seed butter. It’s pretty yummy and is approved in places where nuts aren’t allowed.
Feb 06, 2013 @ 22:50:23
sorry, but if i was the parent of a kid who was so allergic that they couldn’t function in society, i would keep them apart from society- for EXACTLY the reason you pointed out! i wouldn’t be able to be certain that other people “followed the rules” and to protect my kid- which would be MY JOB and MY CONCERN, i would have to opt out on their behalf. that’s about as well researched as my opinion can be.
Feb 07, 2013 @ 03:04:39
As a former restaurant owner and chef we operated in Brighton UK which is very veggie and fancy themselves as very Eco friendly etc. we had an ethical business so attracted certain types of customers. The allergy thing is real because of the consumption of factory food. However having an allergy seemed trendy which I find weird. I have a survey that concluded that only about 40% of people who claimed to have one actually did. A lot of people made them up .if they didn’t like garlic they said they were allergic. We also stressed that if you have an allergy it was your responsibility to have a proper knowledge of it ,not to lay the responsibility on the restaurant. We were able to handle these issues because we knew exactly where our produce came from ie very traceable . One thing we noticed nobody was ever allergic to tobacco or booze. Funny that??? Having said that the general population is in such a bad rut of not knowing what they eat and that so much of what they consume is what my wife and I call “conveyor belt ” food, mostly packaging. The likes of Monsanto & all corporate involvement are poisoning the population. Get back to basics learn how to cook teach the kids and adults, get growing every where. The British have picked up on it but are still a long way off. Good luck USA you have a struggle ahead of you dealing with a fascist system.
Feb 07, 2013 @ 04:08:47
You know if someone was so allergic to a FOOD PRODUCT that breathing the same air that the substance is sitting in I think there is a bigger problem at hand. I do not recall ever seeing someone so allergic to a food item before. Is this a new thing, it must be as this is the first time I have ever heard of someone able to be allergic to an item they didn’t touch or eat. (when it comes to a food allergy). Maybe these people need to be in a bubble so no microbes can get to them too?
I’m sorry if it’s insensitive, but I would almost bet that those children have some other allergy that they precive to be the food one. Most people who have one allergy tend to have them in groups. I have a medication allergy. I also have a dietary one. However my reaction to the allergen is so mild that I can eat the item, if I don’t mind spending the next day with a horrid stomach issue. Again though I ask… -if- there are people so allergic to items that they can’t be in the same room with the product, is this a new type of allergy that has just shown up in the world?
As I have never heard of someone being that allergic to a food source. I have heard of someone being that allergic to a pollen source. Growing up I always heard, “They can’t eat that they have an allergy.” Not… “they are allergic to that food get it out of the room/house/building” I say again if people are -that- allergic to a food source then maybe they need to find out why they are.
As for making a school an “allergy free zone”,, I’m sorry but if a child is that allergic to something the child should be in a repeater room from the rest. Also kids will find something to pick on the ones they don’t like… I have seen it myself in my kids and my own childhood.
Feb 07, 2013 @ 04:33:30
I think some of this might have to do with the fear of getting sued as opposed to political correctness or actual caring about the children. If establishments bend over backwards to accommodate those who have allergies, they are more likely to avoid emergencies and their consequential lawsuits.
Feb 07, 2013 @ 10:12:44
As an adult with food allergies, including an extremely serious nut allergy (I ended up in the hospital after being casually exposed to almonds – not ingesting them), I am very grateful for nut free zones.
I spend every moment of every day avoiding my allergens. I honestly don’t think it is too much to ask for people without allergens to spend a portion of a portion of their days, not engaging in an activity that is life threatening to and many others.
I don’t go out to eat very often or at very many places. I don’t allow others to cook for me (my husband of 6 months is just starting to be allowed to cook for me). I’d much rather entertain at home where I have control over the food and issues of cross contamination. I’ve said “no” to a multitude of social gatherings in order to keep myself gatherings. I’ve spent anniversaries and birthdays in the hospital being treated for life threatening allergies.
Do I take a large degree of responsibility for keeping myself safe? Yes I do. I carry my epi-pens all the time and don’t eat if I can’t be sure the food is safe and distance myself from nut products (yes, even if it means not going in particular grocery stores that are known for having a lot of nuts). Am I grateful when people make accommodations and help keep me safe? Very much so. Do I expect everyone to do so? No. Because I know there are people who never will.
Until you’ve lived with life threatening food allergies, please don’t say you understand what it’s like or tell people with life threatening food allergies how they should live their lives.
Feb 07, 2013 @ 12:05:57
ok- just to be clear: i have not said that i know what it’s like. i have no idea what it’s like. and if i have a friend with a food allergy, i am happy to accomodate them- in my home and on my terms because i am a good person and that is my choice. if my kids have play dates with children with real allergies, i will also go to great lengths to keep them safe. my problem is with people who don’t take responsibility for their own health and assume that the onus is on everyone else to be vigilant on their behalf. IF i had severe food allergies i wouldn’t trust a “nut-free” building to keep me safe from nuts anyway, so i’m not even sure what good that does. because you’re always going to have some bozo who thinks the rules don’t apply to him and he loves his mars bar more than he loves your health. so to create layers upon layers of rules for those people who DO try to do the right thing just to help someone with allergies who really should be helping herself, is to my mind, an exercise in frustration and futility. i’m sorry you suffer- truly i am- but i don’t think “nut free zones” are the answer…
Feb 07, 2013 @ 12:06:54
yes indeedy! C.Y.A. at its best/worst!
Feb 07, 2013 @ 12:09:48
yeah- i was also wondering about this last night as i was falling asleep. and additionally, why nuts seem to be the “inhale” trigger, whereas not other allergenic foods. people can breathe in milk and soy and strawberries, right? maybe someone on here can explain…
Feb 07, 2013 @ 12:13:52
so many true and good points! and you are so right- not too many people claim to be allergic to sin foods! (although lots of folks will cough pointedly at cigarette or cigar smoke now that it is tres chicque to vilify smokers…) ho hum- i think a lot more people need to take up hobbies, don’t you? maybe that’s why so many more people get designer dogs- too much time on their hands???????
Feb 07, 2013 @ 12:32:39
Wow a new height of craziness from you. I have been watching your arc for awhile on this blog as I supported your original battle with Oakpark. Now I am waiting to hear about you holed up Waco style in a compound in the backwoods od Washington.
Feb 07, 2013 @ 13:10:23
i’m not sure why me being irked by hypochondria is equated in your mind to being in a waco-style compound, so perhaps you would like to clarify???
Feb 07, 2013 @ 13:21:23
@Lynne
You know I don’t think renegade’s opinion in this is “crazy”, I don’t see how having a few nuts out is an allergen if it’s a food allergy.. if you are allergic to pollen… or even bacteria carried on the item I could see the nuts needing to not be near someone. My issue really is Nuts are a healthy food, so because some people have an allergy to them we must not permit kids to eat nuts?
Lets get a Doctor on here to explain how someone can have an inhaled allergy to nuts as I’ve never heard of it before.
Feb 07, 2013 @ 19:49:57
i have some food allergies – i know what i can/cannot eat and i avoid those items like the plague ………….. LITERALLY. that said, however, i do NOT believe that it is anyone else’s responsibility to kowtow to my particular needs. it seems the “politically correct thing” to create the ‘nut-free zones’ among other things …. which in essence takes the responsibility OFF the individual and places it ON SOCIETY. aha. personal responsibility!!!! that is POLITICALLY INCORRECT nowadays. and thus, entitlement has not merely crept in, it has stalked in, roared in, taken over. sorry if i’m stepping on toes here, but although there have been medical records of some of these allergies and severe reactions …. it has gone way out-of-bounds recently …. exponentially exploded into this massive societal dilemma. sheeeeeeeesh. let’s get back to good, basic, healthy eating overall – less processed food – more good, solid home-cooked meals {from scratch} … and see obesity, allergies and a myriad of other ills subside.
makes me think of another thought here. i’ve raised 4 children – my youngest is now 29 ……… he was born on a friday, we came home from the hospital on saturday, went to church on sunday, and i went back to driving carpool on monday. my 5 yr old son was so excited about his baby brother, that i stopped by his class and his teacher and classmates ooooh-ed and ahhhh-ed. {no, no one ‘touched the baby’ but they saw how teeny-tiny he was}. my kids didn’t catch every cold that came down the pike …. basically were pretty healthy …. {oh, yes, my eldest daughter DID have a milk intolerance that WE dealt with and provided what she could have at school/friend’s homes ourselves} – point here is that NOWADAYS i’ve noticed that all of the young moms seclude themselves at home with the baby until the baby is 3-4 months old, THEN take them out sporadically – but anyone who wants to hold the child must FIRST wash their hands with anti-bacterial soap, etc!} ……. and ya know? those families are the families with kids who catch every single bug that exists and then some!
our kids are so super-protected in their bubble-wrap that they are unable to build up any adequate immunity system to the mean, ugly bugs out there! and are the kids who are always sick, always spreading and re-spreading bugs, ad infinitum.
julie, gotta say, i’m leaning toward your side of the fence. this country has forgotten about personal responsibility and sold out for entitlement/society bending over backwards to provide/meet their needs.
Feb 07, 2013 @ 22:15:14
Here’s a thought – how about we find out if there are any really dangerously allergic people who need to use a space before we make it allergen free.
Or would that be too sensible.
viv in nz
ps I do tell people what I am allergic to after a very unfortunate dinner where my poor hostess served up everything I couldn’t have. There are only a couple of things but she had used them extensively. She was most upset and so was I. Never again!
Feb 08, 2013 @ 09:30:31
that IS sensible!
and your story reminds me of one i read once in a book about a recovering alcoholic who went to a dinner party where every single dish had some type of alcohol in it and the hostess was like, “what, you can’t even have cooked alcohol???” oh dear… and, for the record, i do ask potential guests if they have any food issues, since i want people to be able to eat and enjoy the food when they come to my house
Feb 08, 2013 @ 09:32:25
love your great points!
Feb 08, 2013 @ 10:07:04
Finally someone prepared to take on the ridiculous abuse of PC…
Taking care of a child’s allergies IS the Responsibility of the Parents (and GOD, if you believe in him/her/it). Obviously society should do it’s best to facilitate all individuals access to a decent life, but not to the point where a small minority’s needs (<2%) completely dominate the social-political interest of the population. That's absurd!!
If the person can’t be in the same air space as nuts*, then they should not go where nuts exist. You can’t ban nuts in schools because maybe 10-15 people a year will die from nut allergies in the entire US, what about the rights of the (VAST) majority?
[*BTW, it’s established scientific fact that nut scent does not contain the protein that causes anaphylaxis;]
Like Anon, I also suspect this has much more to do with the overzealous practice of civil suits than children’s well-being.
Feb 08, 2013 @ 14:08:32
ah, phil- so many things i like about you…
Feb 08, 2013 @ 16:06:52
Sigh, I wish that food allergy issues were better publicized so that everyone was more aware of the seriousness of them and of the rapidly increasing number of people who have allergies. The numbers are increasing at an alarming rate. Many schools have multiple children who are truly allergic to nuts and peanuts. We know several kids will have an immediate, severe reaction if they touch a single crumb of their allergens. Nuts and peanuts truly are that dangerous for an increasing number of people. It is not just being PC. Public schools have an obligation to provide a safe environment for all children. I’m thrilled to be able to homeschool my food allergic child. But it’s not realistic to expect all allergic children to be homeschooled so the only other alternative is to make the schools safe.
That being said I really get angry with people who avoid foods because it’s trendy. They make it much harder for those of us with serious allergies to be taken seriously.
Also, I never expect anyone else to try to safely feed my child. We take our own food wherever we go. That’s the only way to keep him safe.
Feb 08, 2013 @ 16:58:06
could you help explain about how inhaling or touching the nuts makes them react? several people on here (including me) were confused about how that works with a food allergy (as opposed to environmental ones, i guess…)- and one or two actually thought it didn’t work that way at all. so maybe you could help us understand it? thanks!! and kudos to you for keeping your son safe!
Feb 09, 2013 @ 13:31:06
As far as touching, it has to do with proteins being absorbed through the skin. In nuts (I’ll just speak to those right now since they are one of the most common ones), many of the allergenic proteins are present in the peanut oils. Those oils are extremely persistent and can be transferred directly to skin or from surfaces to skin, causing an allergic reaction in a very allergic person. Likewise, the pheromones (the part you smell) can also carry the proteins and trigger a reaction.
The same science is behind this as is behind the guidelines that people with shellfish allergies to not eat anything at a restaurant that serves shellfish because the steam of cooking the shellfish contains the proteins that makes people sick.
Feb 09, 2013 @ 18:28:53
thanks for the info- that helps to clear things up a bit!
Feb 13, 2013 @ 16:26:36
Basically, if you can smell something that means that molecules of it are coming through the air and into your nose (and on your skin and in your mouth.) Yes, a molecule is tiny but when you’re smelling something you are probably breathing in a whole bunch of them. That is enough to cause a reaction for some people. And realistically there are probably some bigger particles as well, like if some one coughs while they are eating a peanut butter sandwich there are now probably some much larger crumbs in the air. Then there are the crumbs on a person’s hands after they are done eating their peanut butter sandwich. Those crumbs could end up anywhere, including on the skin of an allergic child or even on their food. And again, that’s enough to cause a reaction to some people.
Most people accept that pollen can make a person react if they are allergic to it. But pollen is pretty darn tiny as well. (I have no idea of the actual size comparison of pollen with peanut dust.) Lots of people are extremely allergic to cats and will have a reaction just walking into a house where there are cats, without even touching the cats or sitting on furniture covered in cat hair. A reaction to airborne food is similar.
Frankly I agree that it sounds utterly ridiculous that people could react to molecules of food that some one is eating across the room. Our bodies shouldn’t work that way! How absurd. But unfortunately it is a reality for lots of people.
Thanks for being willing to ask for more information. I appreciate your remaining opening to learning more even though the whole thing does seem impossible. There are all sorts of theories about why these allergies have been skyrocketing in recent years. GMOs is one possible culprit. Here’s an article that reports a link between GMO soy being introduced in the UK and a dramatic increase in soy allergies there.
http://www.responsibletechnology.org/gmo-dangers/health-risks/articles-about-risks-by-jeffrey-smith/Genetically-Engineered-Foods-May-Cause-Rising-Food-Allergies-Genetically-Engineered-Soybeans-May-2007
I have a feeling you would really like Robyn O’Brien, who crusades for GMO free, healthier food because of her own children’s food allergies. Here’s a TED talk by her. She also has an excellent book called The Unhealthy Truth.
I’m sorry I went on so long.
Feb 13, 2013 @ 16:27:53
Yikes, I was trying to just post a link to the TED talk, I didn’t mean to embed the actual video. Sorry about that.
Feb 13, 2013 @ 18:42:09
AGinPA, that was really well explained, and rational, and balanced. Thank you!
Feb 14, 2013 @ 11:29:37
no, that’s awesome! thanks for the video, and thanks for taking the time to post all of that information in such a clear way!!!!