Is it Time for Schools to Change Peanut-Free Policies?

Peanuts have the dubious honour of sitting at or near the top of a list of eight high priority food allergens; the others are tree nuts, sesame seeds, milk, eggs, seafood, soy and wheat. Together they account for 90% of allergic reactions in American children. Policies restricting consumption of foods containing peanuts began to show up around the mid-1990s, due to concerns about severe reactions such as anaphylaxis. The focus has mainly been on peanuts and to some extent tree nuts, whether we are considering public health and school policies, media coverage, or changes in how products are marketed to the public.

Peanut free schools

School policies range in severity, from those that establish peanut-free or peanut-allowed zones to accommodate the greatest number of students, to those that prohibit all foods that may contain peanuts or tree nuts. These policies are based on the concern that an allergic student could accidentally be exposed to peanut protein (the component that triggers the allergic reaction) through touching a contaminated surface or by smelling a product made with peanut. Since avoidance is the main approach to dealing with food allergies at present, policies intended to protect children in schools, summer camps and other places kids congregate are based on helping affected kids to avoid peanuts.

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Photo: Zeeshan Qureshi (sxc.hu)