Peanut allergies

I was recently reading a book which sought to explain the growth in the numbers of people claiming to be allergic to peanuts (or, in the case of children, having this allergy claimed on their behalf) as a kind of mass hysteria. I don't wish to open up that debate. What I DO want to ask is ... where have all those peanut-allergic people gone? I can't remember the last time I spoke to someone who claimed to be, or to know someone who was, allergic to peanuts. It's as if the whole thing has disappeared as quickly as it came.

Wow, funny you write this . I have a nearly school age child and as you'd imagin been visiting a few schools checking them out, asking questions etc.

Anyway one thing I keep asking is about food restrictions eg what they can and more importantly what the cant take to school. One thing I've found strange is even when directly asked about nuts, peanut butter. None have restriction.

There was such a huge " thing" a few years back about it here I have been just finding it strange all hype has died down. There was a very public business mans child who died which I assume made everyone sit-up and take notice.

Anyway, I know of no one with this allergy thankfully. It I'd imagin could be a very horrible one to manage, wouldn't it be lovely if its on the decline but I have no facts for you. Thanks for posting

reply to post by lacrimoniousfinale


Perhaps all these people have stopped talking abut peanut allergies because they are no longer eating peanuts – therefore no allergic response?

Aspergillus is the mold/fungus that causes the peanut allergy. I wonder if the global producers of peanuts have changed how they process the nuts, leading to less growth of this fungus?

Sidebar: The other day I was researching to make kimchee (Korean fermented cabbage) and I read a snippet that suggested the increase in allergies these days, especially in children, is possibly due to the fact that our diets contain almost no fermented (lacto-fermented) foods. These foods supply the digestive system with friendly lactobacilli that help fortify the gut against pathogenic bacteria and fungi.

reply to post by lacrimoniousfinale


Well apparently it hasn't disappeared just yet. My youngest niece is in first grade. There is a child in her class with a peanut allergy. Because of this child's allergy if any of the students in the class wish to bring a peanut butter sandwich for lunch first the parent(s) have to notify the teacher 24 hours in advance, then the offending sandwich has to be kept in a locked cabinet in a completely different room, and finally the child bringing the offensive peanut butter has to go eat lunch at a table on the opposite side of the cafeteria from the rest of the class.

Maybe I'm not knowledgeable enough about peanut allergies, but it seems kind of overboard to me. When I was a kid if someone in your class had a peanut allergy- you just didn't give them a bite of your sandwich. That system seemed to work fine.

The schools have sent information to parents requesting they avoid sending their children to school with foods that contain peanut extracts. I believe this is a safe practice as you want to safe guard the other children who have this defficancy. Where does this defficancy come from is better left to the medical industry,. But I see no harm in complying with this request.

From what I remember from Botany, peanuts cause allergies in a few people because they have a naturally occurring neurotoxin called Aflatoxin. Most humans have one or more gene copies that contain a mutation giving us immunity to this toxin, and so it never bothers us. A few unlucky humans do not have that mutation, and so the neurotoxin can wreak havoc on their bodies.

A similar story can be seen in almost every plant we eat. Nearly all plants contain one or more naturally occurring toxins. For example, potatoes used to be eaten with clay in order to absorb the toxins. Over time, with selective breeding practices, these problem chemicals some in lower levels that generally don't bother us. Think of it as genetic modification over the scale of thousands of years.

Another similar thing is chocolate...humans are lucky enough to have a mutation that makes us immune to the toxic compounds in chocolate. But dogs do not have it, and so chocolate is very dangerous for them to eat.

My 5 year-old daughter is allergic to peanuts, treenuts and has other food allergies.

We know it's from the antibiotics she was given the first 48 hours of her life. It killed her gut flora and caused a massive candida overgrowth.

My daughter is only sensitive if she eats the food she's allergic too. She's not airborne or touch sensitive.

reply to post by Davo163


I loves me some Kimchee! That and Coleslaw is the only way I can eat cabbage.

Back on topic though, I recall a story not to long ago about a woman suing a airline because of peanuts. I missed peanuts while flying as I am not a huge preztel fan, but there are some airlines who have brought them back.

My little brother has recently been having issues with peanuts. He loves peanuts too, so it is a bit of a drag. I haven't heard a lot about peanut allergies since I worked at a daycare, but you hear about a lot of weird allergies there.

reply to post by lacrimoniousfinale


Thru family associations I do know of one little girl who's life becomes
immediately threaatend by peanuts/peanut butter. They can kill her.

What is the reason for the uptick in allergies? Is it we are just better at diagnosing it, where in the past someone might have died of an allergy? I don't remember peanut or other allergies in kids back when I was in school. Just seems odd to me.

I'm equally surprised that the drug companies haven't come up with a medicine you have to take every day combat said allergies, I'm sure there would be a profitable market for them.

It is sad that the peanut scare has take such a nutritional element to children diet, when I was a child in the 60s and in school age, we used to drink warm peanut butter with milk for lunch everyday in the lunch room I don't remember anybody dying front allergies at that time, I also remember that lunches provided by the school were nutritious freshly made from scratch everyday.

The school nutrition standards this days is nothing but crap.

Haha well funny this post should come up I am one of those people allergic to peanuts. Found out actually in pre-school when given a cracker with peanut butter on it; I licked it and my eyes grew watery before becoming swollen shut and my throat was next to go.

I can't really give a family history as I'm adopted so all we know and say is that I am allergic to peanuts ( as well as other sorts of nuts just to be safe ). Funny thing is I've had one snack that had peanut oil in it and I was fine; If I were to hazard a guess it would be that just peanuts themselves if ingested I'm allergic to. Since I touch several products that have all kinds of nuts in them on a daily basis.

A peanut may be a cross reactivity. In some people, the peanut and pollen from Timothy cross react. I am sure there are many things that react with it. I doubt if we would be told if it was Soy, Soy is in everything. The increase could be from changes that have been done to the proteins of other foods also, we are messing with them all the time. GMO is classified when we alter the DNA with DNA from bacteria or fungus or something that is not plant. Is The timothy genetics incorporated into anything, it wouldn't be classified as GMO because of the definition of genetic modification. There are no rules or laws that are there that address this, reporting does not even have to be done.

When an allergy occurs with cross reactivity, both conditions need to be met. Many people may have a peanut allergy if they consume something that cross reacts with it, but never know they have the allergy if the cross reactive partner was not around. Is this the fault of the peanut or the people who are messing with re-engeneering the food.. I personally cannot eat bananas within at least 8 hours of eating potatoes without getting a little cough and shortness of breath. I also have a problem if I eat two many tomatoes, it is an intollerence though. If I drink orange juice for breakfast, the tomatoes give me more problems....These two share a couple of similar chemistries. I do not have an allergy though. This is classified under metabolic issues.

I know at least four people who have peanut allergies, bad allergies. It's still there, it is just that the media is not pushing people's awareness and most people do not bring it up. People in the schools know well about the people with peanut allergies, they are not lowering in numbers, the numbers seem to be slowly rising at least around here