Possible peanut ban on planes

[buddahj]

SAVANNAH, Ga. – Federal regulators are considering a snack attack on the nation's airlines that would restrict or even completely ban serving peanuts on commercial flights.

 

Advocates say the move would ease fears and potential harm to an estimated 1.8 million Americans who suffer from peanut allergies. Peanut farmers and food packagers, however, see it as overreaching and unfair to their legume.

 

"The peanut is such a great snack and such an American snack," says Martin Kanan, CEO of the King Nut Companies, an Ohio company that packages the peanuts served by most U.S. airlines. "What's next? Is it banning peanuts in ballparks?"

 

Twelve years after Congress ordered it to back off peanuts, the U.S. Transportation Department gave notice last week that it's gathering feedback from allergy sufferers, medical experts, the food industry and the public on whether to ban or restrict in-flight peanuts.

 

The peanut proposals were listed in an 84-page document including several other proposed consumer protections for air travelers. Three options were given: banning serving of peanuts on all planes; prohibiting peanuts only when an allergic passenger requests it in advance; or requiring an undefined "peanut-free zone" flight when a passenger asks for one.

 

While those options only pertain to peanuts served by flight crews, the document also states "we are particularly interested in hearing views on how peanuts and peanut products brought on board aircraft by passengers should be handled."

 

Spokesman Bill Mosely said the department is responding to concerns from travelers who either suffer from peanut allergies or have allergic children, "some of whom do not fly" because they're afraid of exposure.

 

"We're just asking for comment on whether we should do any of these three things," Mosely said. "We may not do any of them."

 

Peanut allergy can cause life-threatening reactions in people ingesting even trace amounts. Just breathing peanut dust in the air can cause problems — though usually minor ones — such as itching, sneezing and coughing.

 

A few limited studies on airline passengers with peanut allergies found a number of people reporting symptoms while flying, but few were severe or life-threatening, said Dr. Scott Sicherer, who studies food allergies at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York.

 

"But there's discomfort," Sicherer said. "It's sort of like if you were allergic to dogs and all of a sudden they brought 50 dogs onto the plane."

 

Why worry about peanuts on airplanes, as opposed to other public spaces?

 

Advocates with the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network say the answer's simple: planes are confined spaces where the air and dust particles get re-circulated. And there's no way to stop and get off during a severe reaction during flight.

 

"It's a different environment when you're basically 30,000 feet in the air," said Chris Weiss, the group's vice president of advocacy and government relations. "If you're sitting around a bunch of people and all of a sudden they're all handed packages of peanuts, that could release enough peanut dust into the air to trigger a reaction."

 

The Transportation Department previously weighed imposing peanut-free zones on airliners in 1998. The agency retreated after getting a hostile response from Congress, which threatened to cut its budget.

 

Several airlines such as Continental, United, US Airways and JetBlue have voluntarily stopped serving packaged peanuts as mile-high grub. Delta and Southwest still hand out goobers as in-flight snacks. American Airlines doesn't serve packaged peanuts, but it does offer trail mix and other snacks that can contain peanut ingredients.

 

Not surprisingly, government regulation of peanuts on planes is a woefully unpopular idea in Georgia — the nation's top peanut producing state and home to former President Jimmy Carter, who grew up on a peanut farm.

 

"The peanut industry feels like we're being picked on," said Armond Morris, who grows peanuts on about 270 acres in rural Irwinville and serves as chairman of the Georgia Peanut Commission. "If we're going to go targeting food products, maybe we just need to ban all food" on planes.

 

Arlene de Armas of Miami sees things differently as she makes plans for her family to fly to Pennsylvania for a summer vacation. Her 7-year-old son, Leandro, is allergic to peanuts.

 

She's already planning on what precautions to take — calling the airline ahead to request no peanuts are served on her son's row, bringing sanitary wipes to clean the folding table in front of his seat and packing epinephrine — or adrenaline — to administer if he suffers a severe reaction.

 

"It's the added stress of knowing, God forbid, you could have a situation where he has a reaction and you have no way of getting to a hospital," de Armas said. "Peanut allergies are severe enough and common enough. Why not serve fruit?"

They have pretty much removed them from schools...so I'm not surprised that planes would be next.

[JoJoTheWebToedBoy]

And you can also put an eye out with one of those damm things.....

[Footballjoe]

Peanuts seems to be one of the most common allergies and to those affected it can be a big concern. My wife cannot have peanuts but we do have peanut butter in the house. If I use it I make sure I wash the knife right away and wipe the counter down. With other food items I am a pig.

[Zooty]

Charles Darwin would be pi$$ed

[montster]

Peanuts seems to be one of the most common allergies and to those affected it can be a big concern. My wife cannot have peanuts but we do have peanut butter in the house. If I use it I make sure I wash the knife right away and wipe the counter down. With other food items I am a pig.

 

my 5-year-old daughter is severely allergic to nuts. while i would welcome a ban of peanuts on planes, i think the policy should be left up to airlines themselves to put in place. when we fly southwest, we let them know before the flight that our daughter has a nut allergy, and they won't serve peanuts on that flight (but there could be nuts left over from previous flights). we travel with epi-pens, but, like the story said, it's unsettling to know that if my daughter were to go into anaphylaxis, we're 30,000 feet in the air. so if you ever see the freaky parent wiping down the seats and trays before his daughter sits down, come by and say hi.

[darin3]

Now that's just nuts.

[bushwacked]

ZMOGZ! Peanut Ban on planes!

[rocknrobn26]

And you can also put an eye out with one of those damm things.....

 

Or cause a nose clog!

 

 

Charles Darwin would be pi$$ed

 

Not to mention Jimmy Carter.

 

 

my 5-year-old daughter is severely allergic to nuts. while i would welcome a ban of peanuts on planes, i think the policy should be left up to airlines themselves to put in place. when we fly southwest, we let them know before the flight that our daughter has a nut allergy, and they won't serve peanuts on that flight (but there could be nuts left over from previous flights). we travel with epi-pens, but, like the story said, it's unsettling to know that if my daughter were to go into anaphylaxis, we're 30,000 feet in the air. so if you ever see the freaky parent wiping down the seats and trays before his daughter sits down, come by and say hi.

 

In all seriousness, this I understand.

God Bless you and your daughter. An allergy that severe needs your perseverance.

[Kid Cid]

Out. Of. Control.

[BeeR]

?? The bags are clearly marked and it's not like you're forced to eat them.

[Zooty]

?? The bags are clearly marked and it's not like you're forced to eat them.

 

 

some people are so sensitive that the smell of peanuts will cause a reaction

[tazinib1]

some people are so sensitive that the smell of peanuts will cause a reaction

While this may be true, has anyone ever died from a peanut allergy reaction other than ingesting them? When you have allergies, you learn to live around them. I think there is more pressing concerns the U.S Department of Transportation needs to address. If you are allergic to cats/dogs, you don't go to a kennel. Jeesuz.

[Bier Meister]

While this may be true, has anyone ever died from a peanut allergy reaction other than ingesting them? When you have allergies, you learn to live around them. I think there is more pressing concerns the U.S Department of Transportation needs to address. If you are allergic to cats/dogs, you don't go to a kennel. Jeesuz.

 

 

it's not as if a plane is a peanut factory. the oils can cause severe reactions...sometimes lethal. as someone mentioned, i think the airlines should set their own policies, but i can see why this occurred. i also see no harm in changing the little snack handed out.

[Footballjoe]

I mentioned this before but my wife cannot even eat pork because they were feed peanuts.

[HowboutthemCowboys]

Not to mention Jimmy Carter.

[BeeR]

some people are so sensitive that the smell of peanuts will cause a reaction

Really, wow......

[CaP'N GRuNGe]

Now what are we supposed to feed the snakes?

[montster]

While this may be true, has anyone ever died from a peanut allergy reaction other than ingesting them? When you have allergies, you learn to live around them. I think there is more pressing concerns the U.S Department of Transportation needs to address. If you are allergic to cats/dogs, you don't go to a kennel. Jeesuz.

 

the way we discovered that my daughter was allergic to nuts was that we were at home making a bird feeder -- we put peanut butter around a toilet paper tube and covered it with sunflower seeds. she got some peanut butter on her skin, and, about 15 minutes later, her skin was blotchy and she complained about a hair on her tongue (a swollen tongue can be a symptom of an allergic reaction). she didn't ingest any, and she was fine a short time later. however, my niece, who also has a nut allergy, was eating a chocolate chip cookie from mrs fields when her breathing became labored. (this was how they discovered her allergy.) my sister-in-law drove her to the emergency room. turned out, the cookie was probably touching a peanut butter cookie, and that caused the reaction.

 

believe me, before we discovered my daughter's allergies (she also can't eat eggs, which make her vomit), i would've read this story and said this is insane, people really need to get a grip. but i know where they're coming from. it sucks having to read the labels on everything to see if it was made on equipment that was shared with nuts, and i think about her going to kindergarten next year and being around kids eating PB&J. we've taught her to have adults read labels and that she's only allowed to eat what we give her for lunch, and she's good about that. but sometimes air travel is a necessity, and while you do what you can to avoid nuts, you can't control everything, so i sympathize with those folks who, if something were to happen, want to reduce the possibility of being stuck at 30,000 feet with a couple of epi-pens and a prayer.

[rhippens]

considering the last 2 flights i was on, i would've had to order the snack box to even get a pack of peanuts, maybe this will take care of itself. if the airlines are going to give out no food or a minuscule amount, then maybe it can be a cheezit or two rather than a pack of 8 peanuts to hold us over.

 

i would say the bigger problem is how to enforce the food people bring onto a plane. we generally travel with clif bars or something like that along with fruit. i've never thought about my energy bar causing health problems for someone but that would be terrible. is it something they will start screening for?

[montster]

i would say the bigger problem is how to enforce the food people bring onto a plane. we generally travel with clif bars or something like that along with fruit. i've never thought about my energy bar causing health problems for someone but that would be terrible. is it something they will start screening for?

 

with our daughter, our philosophy is that we would go crazy if we worried about what everyone else was doing/eating, so we've taught her to just worry about herself. if someone wants to bring peanuts on the plane, the only way it would be a real problem to me is if the person ended up sitting next to us -- and then, i would ask the person not to eat the nuts or i'd ask to move our seats. i already get pissed that we have to throw nearly full bottles of water away before we go through security. i can't imagine how pissed i'd be if i was told i had to throw certain snacks away, too.

[bushwacked]

considering the last 2 flights i was on, i would've had to order the snack box to even get a pack of peanuts, maybe this will take care of itself.

 

Yea, unless you're in first class you really don't get much more than a drink with one chance of a re-fill. Not to mention I think most of the airlines already got rid of peanut snacks themselves anyways.

 

I fly all the time; and I while I love peanuts; I think I'll be able to survive this possible legislation and couldn't really give a "flying" F.

[Ursa Majoris]

considering the last 2 flights i was on, i would've had to order the snack box to even get a pack of peanuts, maybe this will take care of itself. if the airlines are going to give out no food or a minuscule amount, then maybe it can be a cheezit or two rather than a pack of 8 peanuts to hold us over.

 

i would say the bigger problem is how to enforce the food people bring onto a plane. we generally travel with clif bars or something like that along with fruit. i've never thought about my energy bar causing health problems for someone but that would be terrible. is it something they will start screening for?

I was wondering the same thing about food coming on board with passengers. I can't see them screening.

 

The bigger question might be why do they bother with the silly little pack of nuts or pretzels anyway? It's got to be way more cost and effort than it's worth.

[Big John]

i would say the bigger problem is how to enforce the food people bring onto a plane. we generally travel with clif bars or something like that along with fruit. i've never thought about my energy bar causing health problems for someone but that would be terrible. is it something they will start screening for?

Or like Spirit Airlines forbidding all food/drink carry-ons in hope they sell more onboard (no freebies there).