A Mix of Nuts
The food Nazis are at it again. First they banned most of the yummy food groups that make it worthwhile for kids to attend school in the first place. Now they’ve pounced on a North Carolina school district in order to crack down on a particularly dangerous food—peanuts and peanut butter.
Of course, peanuts should be avoided by those children who experience allergic reactions. That goes without saying. ,p>
But Investors Business Daily (IBD) recently reported that school officials notified parents to stop sending peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to school with their kids. Compliance would be rewarded with a certificate of appreciation displayed at school to acknowledge the family’s “voluntary commitment” to this project.
But that’s not all.
The “district is also shaming parents into washing their kids’ hands in the morning…before they go on the bus, lest they transfer the dangerous peanut molecule and endanger a seatmate.”
“Just a small amount of food on your hands can get on desks, books, playground equipment,” according to the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network.
And here’s the kicker. Despite the glut of information, warnings and sometimes an outright ban on peanuts in schools, the number of children with peanut allergies has doubled in the past ten years, says the CDC.
Could it be driven by “media hype” and “parental neurosis?” Some doctors think so.
After all, when concerned parents start getting “peanut-detector dogs for their kids,” there might be something else going on.
Deborah Lambert
