<p>Dropped my son off at college today. He tells me that they are apparently going to offer WOW butter. He was reading about it and commenting on how it purports to taste like “real” peanut butter. He may try it later this week and I will report back. :)</p>
<p>Peanuts pose a life threatening risk to those who are allergic. The number one cause of death for these individuals are always accidental ingestion due to an oversight by the patient or the food handlers. I would bet that most incidences occur not because of the carelessness of the afflicted individual but those handling peanut products. This is really what people have a hard time understanding. The allergic individual does everything in his or her power to avoid the peanuts, but someone else is either unaware or careless. It can lead to an anaphylaxis reaction that all of the available medical therapies can not rescue even if they are immediately available. </p>
<p>I speak as a physician who is often called to rescue patients from these reactions and I am a parent of 2 kids with severe peanut allergies. They have experienced countless anaphylaxis reactions. Each time they occurred due to cross contamination by food handlers, disbelievers, and plain ignorance. Even after thoroughly checking with the waiters, chefs, etc. we’ve had anaphylactic reactions because of an oversight by the restaurant. We had issues with people having contaminated hands (outside of restaurants). Schools didn’t take our request seriously until 2 kids (who had no prior allergy diagnosis) almost died on school grounds from peanut exposure. Since the ban, the school experienced 8 years without a single incident.</p>
<p>Listen folks, peanuts are like leaving loaded handguns in a classroom or campus and telling your kid to avoid the handguns.</p>
<p>I think the real distinction between posters’ attitudes in this thread is between those who think four years of college are a safe cocoon from the real world and those who think they are one’s initial foray into that world. A person with a severe peanut allergy is going to have to take sole responsibility for avoiding the allergen at some point and at the same time accept that there will be epipen uses and ER visits in his life. The question is just at what point we think that responsibility and acceptance should kick in.</p>
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<p>But you can’t go around educating everybody your kids come into contact with, can you? The California girl who died was with her parents at a camp. Everyone in the family was educated about the risks, the girl was old enough to know what to look for, and still she grabbed a treat that she didn’t inspect carefully. If the person with the allergy can make such a tragic mistake, how can you expect the rest of the world to not occasionally be careless or ignorant?</p>
<p>frugaldoctor, I’m driven crazy by the frequent refrain that people ought to “train” their children not to eat peanut butter. They have no idea at all what precautions those parents take and what they go through. As you say, the danger to their children comes from other people who simply refuse to take the need for avoiding contamination seriously.</p>
<p>MommaJ, I think that college is most kids first foray into the world on their own. It is still a semi-protected environment. They are on the way to adulthood and independence, but they aren’t there yet. I cannot fathom why it would seem like coddling to simply not use peanut products in generally served foods, and have peanut butter available in a separate place–so that the knives don’t get switched–for those who evidently can’t live without it.</p>
<p>Sally, who knows what happened in that sad case. It is quite possible that the girl asked if the item had peanuts and was told it didn’t. It happens.</p>
<p>I don’t like to post in the Parent Cafe all that much seeing as that I’m a student, but I can relate because my 10 year old little brother is allergic to peanuts and most tree nuts (and I love peanuts, ironically enough). </p>
<p>Now that he’s 10, he’s able to read labels for himself, like when he goes to the grocery store with one of my parents, and knows which foods/brands he can/cannot have. But at the same time, now that he’s older, he’s become way more aware about his allergy, and it makes him uncomfortable (e.g., when the students in his class are given a snack at school and he has to have a different one). As he gets older I suspect he’ll become more “comfortable” with his allergy, but it is a bit of a scary thought to know that he could possibly die from his allergy, and that there are kids out there who have allergies worse than him. I’ve read stories about students of all ages who died after being accidentally fed something with peanuts, something manufactured in a factory that uses nuts, peanut oil, etc. or even just from touching it. </p>
<p>Thank goodness he doesn’t get a reaction from airborne exposure, and that he only gets hives that Benadryl easily fixes from contact. </p>
<p>So it makes sense to me that they’d ban the use of peanut products in dining halls. And yes, while college dining halls are way different than elementary school cafeterias, and that students in college are older and can take care of themselves so to speak, it might not really be their fault if they were to die from their allergy…what if a cook in the dining hall accidentally used peanut oil, used the same utensil as something that had touched peanuts or accidentally put nuts in a desert that wasn’t supposed to have them in it? This is unlikely, but it’s still possible because everyone, of course, makes mistakes and it could happen if someone was just a little too uncareful.</p>
<p>I love all kinds of nuts so I sympathize with the peanut butter lovers, but I think it’s better to be safe than sorry when there are lives at stake. True, in college, students with allergies know to read labels/be sure not to get something with nuts, but there’s always the chance, and sometimes even epipens and hospitals can’t save people. People aren’t going to die from not being able to have peanuts at school, whatever school that may be, but people can die from having them.</p>
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<p>[Years</a> of caution about peanut allergy fails to save teen who died at Camp Sacramento - Health and Medicine - The Sacramento Bee](<a href=“http://www.sacbee.com/2013/07/30/5607195/years-of-caution-about-peanut.html#storylink=cpy]Years”>http://www.sacbee.com/2013/07/30/5607195/years-of-caution-about-peanut.html#storylink=cpy)</p>
<p>So, so tragic.</p>
<p>We are in an area where the schools are not peanut free. My nephew has a peanut allergy and sits in a peanut free area of the cafeteria. </p>
<p>My kids have brought peanut butter sandwiches to school on an almost daily basis. </p>
<p>I so agree with MommaJ that the difference of opinions is probably based on expectations from college. </p>
<p>I do think it makes sense to have one cafe that handles the allergies and dietary considerations. A school with one cafe is something my kids wouldn’t consider. I wonder if that is another reason for such divergent opinions.</p>
<p>I think you have to consider what dining options the college offers, and whether a meal plan is mandatory. Some college dorms have cooking facilities – for example, my son lived in a 5-person suite with a full kitchen his first year of college. My daughter had a regular dorm room her first year, but was in a similar sized suite as a sophomore. </p>
<p>I think that as frustrating as it may be, a young adult with a peanut allergy can be reasonably expected to learn to cook and prepare meals on their own. That really is the only way they can ever be 100% sure. A peanut-free dining hall substantially reduces the likelihood of accidental exposure, but doesn’t totally eliminate it – because the people running the dining hall are not infallible, and students coming in and out could still be carrying items that would “contaminate” the food. </p>
<p>But if the school mandates that the student live in dorms & eat in the dining halls, then the school also does need to provide for students with particular allergies or dietary limitations. (Of course even without such a requirement, it’s a nice service when a school opts to provide appropriate dining alternatives – but that choice may depend on the size and resources of the school).</p>
<p>Mommaj, college is a cocoon. I can go on and list a lot of aspects specific to colleges not found in society. Can’t bring a legally owned gun on most college campuses. Most college campuses are closed to un-invited visitors after hours. Colleges have RAs, other support and security personnel not found in the “real” world. And seriously, are people stating that the college experience will be ruined if you can’t have your peanut products on campus? As parents, we prep our kids constantly about the risks, what to look for and what to examine. Other than the first PB&J we gave our oldest child, all other accidental exposures have been caused by other individuals despite our precautions. Lastly, I feel the real reason schools are adopting peanut free environments is to reduce liability.</p>
<p>Btw, my daughter spent a week at Stanford and was very impressed with the dining halls. Foods listed common allergens and it was very easy for her to avoid peanuts and nuts (of course, assuming no contamination).</p>
<p>A couple of posts have mentioned reactions from contaminated hands. If peanuts and PB are banned from dining halls, but allowed in dorm rooms, it sounds like a student could still have a PB sandwich in his/her room and go out and cause someone to have a reaction or even die. I know my kid has a jar of PB in her room for days when she makes her own lunch.</p>
<p>Yes, mamabear, perhaps what is really needed is for the rest of us to learn to wash our hands. :)</p>
<p>Seriously, I do not think it would be untoward to announce to everyone who lived in a dorm with a person who had a severe peanut allergy that they should wash their hands after consuming PB.</p>
<p>^it may or may not be untoward, but to count on it as a life-saving necessity seems risky, at best. I just don’t think you can legislate other people’s private choices at the level suggested here, successfully. Nor should you, frankly. If the level of risk is that severe, it really is incumbent, I think, on the one at risk to assume danger and act accordingly at all times.</p>
<p>Sure, garland, but we are not talking about “legislating” behavior, just letting people know of a situation and asking them to be thoughtful. Clearly, the allergic individual is going to be very, very careful.</p>
<p>People allergic to peanuts, tree nuts and shellfish often are vulnerable to a life threatening reaction. While someone with allergies could cook for themselves in a dorm kitchen if available, the process would be cumbersome, with some variables hard to control. All surfaces would have to be sanitized before prep could be started (and by whom as allergic person could be at risk), and utensils, pans, food and dishes kept “secure” between meals. Dorm location relative to classrooms, combined with class schedules and social variables create problems. Labeling a dorm kitchen nut free, etc. would give me zero peace of mind with the risk of death, necessitating many pre-cautions. Of course, adults manage their allergies, but they face a much greater problem keeping themselves safe in a college environment rather than a private home. Sometimes, it is easiest to have a definite safe zone and many small colleges have only one dining hall. No one wants to have their allergy impact others or limit choices, but the cost benefit analysis is important to consider.</p>
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My university needs to learn from Stanford. The servers don’t even know what they’re serving. Ask them what’s in the burrito and they just mumble, “Uh…meat…beans…eh, it’s good!”</p>
<p>So if you were the parent of someone with life-threatening nut allergies, what level of risk would you be comfortable with? My answer would be close to zero. Which means I would have a hard time letting my child go out into the world. EVEN at a college where there were nut-free dining halls and sympathetic roommates, I would worry. Among other things, I would worry that I wouldn’t be there with the epi pen at the first sign of my child’s distress if he or she were exposed. I just don’t know how I could do it.</p>
<p>I also don’t know how I as a fellow college student could bear the burden of making sure I didn’t do anything that inadvertently exposed my classmate to something that could kill him/her. That is a ton of pressure on a young adult. What if I went out for Thai food, and had spring rolls with that clear sauce with chopped peanuts, and there was a trace of the peanuts on my lips or hands? What if I inadvertently caused someone’s reaction because I didn’t follow “best practices” WITHOUT FAIL, and my roommate or friend got ill or died as a result? I just think the burden is too great for college kids who didn’t sign up for this responsibility when they chose their school. I am not trying to sound selfish–I just don’t think it is realistic for parents of these fragile kids to trust minimum-wage cafeteria workers and busy, distracted students to care as much as they do about their kids.</p>
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<p>While a peanut allergy adds an additional way one can die, can it be put into perspective?</p>
<p>Supposedly, 0.5% of the US population has a peanut allergy, or about 1.5 million people. Supposedly, about 150 to 200 people die of food allergy reactions each year, supposedly 50% to 62% peanuts (so 75 to 125 people). This means that, for peanut-allergic people, there is a 1 in 12,000 (0.00833%) chance of dying each year due to a peanut allergy. This means an 11,999 out of 12,000 (99.99167%) chance of not dying each year due to a peanut allergy. Over an 80 year lifetime if one does not die of something else, there is still a 99.33552% (149 in 150) chance of not dying of a peanut allergy, meaning a 0.66448% chance (1 in 150) chance of dying of a peanut allergy.</p>
<p>Compared to other lifetime risks listed here [The</a> Odds of Dying | LiveScience](<a href=“http://www.livescience.com/3780-odds-dying.html]The”>The Odds of Dying | Live Science) , the peanut-allergic person has a higher lifetime risk of dying from such common causes as accidental injury (1 in 36), motor vehicle crash (1 in 100), and suicide (1 in 121). There are some more common ones, but these are mostly a risk as one gets older, such as heart disease (1 in 5), cancer (1 in 7), stroke (1 in 23).</p>
<p>Risk is inherent in life. You take your chances, go out into the world, and trust that objects, people and situations are not out to get you, despite experience to the contrary at times. Driving is one of the more dangerous things we do. Yet I do it every day, and what is worse, have trusted a 16 year old to get behind the wheel of a car, with me in the passenger seat. I survived when he crashed, yet I still count that as one of the more hazardous things we take on, and would again, as that is what we do in this culture. </p>
<p>Any kid over the age of 15 needs to assume responsibility for their own health to an extent, not drink, have unprotected sex, and for the peanut allergic, carry their epi pen and know how to use it. My D carried one and knew how to use it from her early teens on. Young diabetics have it especially rough. Yet no one suggests they avoid college, with the many risks involving alcohol and wild carbohydrate ingestion. Some of them end up in ERs as well. </p>
<p>It is an interesting discussion, as we are are a rather risk adverse culture, and have done amazing things in terms of making our surroundings less risky. That life threatening allergies are on the ascent, makes another safety concern a point of decision making. Yet all safety precautions do is improve chances. No guarantees, whether following that low cholesterol diet, wearing seatbelts or avoiding obvious sources of peanuts.</p>