Parents at an elementary school in Florida have had enough.
They’re protesting school rules implemented to protect a peanut-
allergic first-grader from an accidental exposure. Students in
his class are not only banned from bringing peanut products as
part of their meals, but must also wash their hands twice each
day and rinse out their mouths before entering the classroom
(the school may be reconsidering the mouth-rinsing policy). One
parent claimed that these procedures are using up half an hour
of classroom time a day. Parents (and commenters on the news
stories) claim that just a touch or smell of peanut could kill
this child. Is all of this really necessary? Peanut allergies
probably occur in about 1% of children, and are the most common
cause of life-threatening food reactions. Reactions to eating
peanut in allergic individuals can range from hives and itchy
skin to breathing problems, loss of consciousness, and death.
However, deaths from an allergic reaction to food ingestion are
rare, accounting for ab