Too many children apparently have peanut allergies. I wonder why that is.
Real Peanut Allergies are extremely rare. Most children do not have peanut allergies, their stupid parents just think they do.
1)
Fewer people have real peanut allergy than previously thought
Scientists have developed a new more accurate test for peanut allergy after finding that eight out of ten children who previously tested positive were not in fact allergic to the nut.
In controlled conditions scientists at University Hospital South Manchester the University of Manchester gave 1,000 children cookies with or without peanuts.
It was found that 80 per cent of the children who were previously thought to have an allergy test did not suffer a reaction to the peanuts. Most of them had hay fever and were in fact allergic to grass or tree pollen.
2) The study Dr. Young referenced was conducted by researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. They took thirty young children with documented severe peanut-specific allergies (using IgE antibody testing and clinical anaphylaxis, contact reactions or positive reactions on double-blind, placebo-controlled oral challenges). These children underwent double-blind, placebo-controlled randomized exposures to peanut butter through skin contact and inhalation. Neither the children or researchers knew which exposure contained the peanuts or placebo (scent was masked with soy butter, tuna and mint) and contact exposure used soy butter with histamine. There were no serious reactions. They concluded that “casual exposure to peanut butter is unlikely to elicit significant allergic reactions,” even in at least 90% of highly sensitive children with peanut allergy.