Why are penuts banned from school?

[Hyro-Sama]

This thread should just be locked. Can't you all see Shadow just can't live without his nuts?

Spoiler

 

[mthrnite]

Unless you smear that sandwich againts an allergic child's face and shove some down its gullet, you can be pretty sure that the sandwich will have no effect whatsoever on the allergic child.

Let me quote some *science* on this one:

I would respectfully suggest that you not mix hyperbole and science claims, they have a tendency to cancel each other out.

I think this discussion has run it's course, because both sides (and the middle for that matter) have pretty much made and ignored all the claims out there. The science involved is not conclusive and people are treating it like it is, the politics involved (lawsuits etc..) are only part of the story. At this point it's totally understandable why schools are enacting bans on peanuts, as it's the most common serious food allergy out there. The people that are most put out by this whole deal and deserve the most understanding are those kids that can't eat peanut butter, because peanut butter is delicious.

At the end of the day, if you're going to feel sorry for someone, make it them, as you can always go home, grab a spoon, ram it into a jar of creamy peanut butter, and withdraw a tan glob of pure manna from heaven, and eat that mess till there ain't none left.

 

[Densetsu]

What schools even have food fights these days?

I always saw food fights as an urban myth. I sure as hell never had one in my entire schooling.

Yeah, same here. The worst I ever saw was three kids throwing their moldy bread at each other, which lasted for about 10 seconds.

I've been in a big food fight before. It was during a picnic and involved mayonnaise, mustard, watermelon and 2-liter cola bottles shaken up and used as cola cannons.

And I've seen plenty of examples where when I was going to school, a kid would be allergic to something say a dog or something like that, but yet on Show and Tell days, kids would bring in dogs. Now how is that allowed, to have a dog wander through the school and shit, but a kid can't have penuts in his own lunch?

Because you can't go into anaphylaxis from dog hair. An allergy is basically an immune response gone out of control. Different allergens have different methods for stimulating the immune system. Things like dog hair, dust and pollen overstimulate immunoglobulin A (IgA). Things like venom and peanuts stimulate a different immunoglobulin in our bodies called IgE. When IgE is overstimulated, it causes plasma to leak out of your blood vessels into the surrounding tissue, which is what causes the redness and swelling. That comes with a dangerous side effect--the volume of blood in your vessels is lowered, and so your blood pressure lowers to a dangerous level (this is called systemic shock). So the reason why peanuts are banned from some schools is threefold:

1. As others have already pointed out, systemic shock can be fatal.
2. As others have also pointed out, peanut allergy is the most common food allergy with the potential to cause death.
3. I can't speak for other countries, but the US is extremely sue-happy. All it takes is one lawsuit to set a precedent for a peanut ban to be put into effect. While I agree that banning peanuts is a little much, it's probably this final point that prompted the ban.

I have a couple of friends who are allergic to peanuts (one of them can bench press 230kg; I call him Superman, and peanuts are his kryptonite). They carry an Epi-pen on them at all times because it's so difficult to avoid peanut dust. Just one whiff of it and they can't breathe. I was at a party back in high school and my friend (Superman) ate a chocolate-flavored protein bar. Within minutes he was clutching at his throat and wheezing. Luckily he had his Epi-pen nearby, so he injected himself and we had to drive him to the ER to make sure he was alright. Even though the protein bar wasn't peanut-flavored, it contained trace amounts because it was manufactured in a place that makes peanut butter-flavored protein bars as well. The doctor told him that if he didn't have his Epi-pen, he could've died. Anaphylaxis is no joke.

It's stupidity. A lot of kids are also lactose intolerant, or even allergic. I don't see milk being banned.

Because lactose intolerance isn't an allergy. It's an intolerance. The way it normally works is, you ingest lactose (any product containing milk), and the enzymes in your body break down the lactose. Some people don't have the enzyme to break down lactose in their bodies, so the lactose gets metabolized by bacteria in the gut instead. It's the bacterial metabolism of the lactose that leads to diarrhea. Again, this isn't an allergy. It doesn't involve antibodies like IgE. And diarrhea doesn't cause lawsuits the same way that, you know, death would.