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we have a triple a team here with a small stadium, they have a reserved section for anyone with nut allergies. I'm kinda surprised more teams dont have that option available.

Hi. I made the original comment you're referring to. Luckily I'm not a baseball fan. When I'm in a similar situation, I usually move. If moving is not possible for whatever reason (too crowded, assigned seating), I will politely explain my allergy and ask the person to refrain eating peanuts around me. I've never had anyone refuse, or even get angry with me. The worst is in places like trains, planes, and buses where you're basically stuck until you reach the next stop or your destination.

@dbcurrie I had kids throw nuts at me when I was little. It was cruel and very scary.

I wish that more places would have nut-free sections. I think life-threatening allergies should be treated as a disability and accomodated.

If I were eating peanuts and told that my snack could put someone's life at risk, I would stop. I love peanut butter, but not enough that I can't wait until I am in a situation where I won't kill someone with my food.

I know there was an article recently about how stadiums are having dedicated Peanut-Free games, where the entire stadium is cleared and no peanuts or peanut products are sold at that particular game. Stadiums are now becoming a lot more accommodating.

Thanks guys, these are all really interesting comments. I have to say, I've never heard of peanut-free zones (I'm a Mets fan... Shea Stadium... maybe Citi Field will have one?) but it sounds like an interesting idea.

Also, regarding why it seems like more people have peanut allergies now - I think it's a matter of awareness. I grew up in the 80s and I heard about the kid who died from eating peanut butter or something, but it was urban legend-ish, and I didn't actually know anyone with that severe of an allergy (I actually have a light allergy to peanuts, but it just makes me a little itchy, and it's completely bearable). I think maybe people with super severe peanut allergies may have gotten sick and/or died back then, but no one thought to look at the scene where they got sick and say "Oh my god, the peanut did it!" or whatever, whereas now, it's probably fairly common for people to go to their doctor to request an allergy test and find out the thing they are allergic to.

I can't believe people would throw peanuts at someone with a severe allergy. If someone did that to my child, I would flip out on the other children and possibly their parents. Ugh.
Although at a Yankees/Red Sox game, I can imagine people throwing anything at fans of the other team...

PS vegetarianka - not sure why the link doesn't appear, I totally linked to the original thread but grrr it's not showing up :(

@saywhat:

My nephews are both deathly allergic to wheat and dairy to the point where they can go into a coma if you touch them after you eat a grilled cheese sandwich. Their allergist believes that some of the extreme food allergies now might be the result of chemical fertilizers, pollution and overall degradation of the environment, as well as several generations of excessive antibiotic use in the United States, both of which have possibly caused people's immune systems to function less efficiently.

I think we're hearing more about allergies for several reasons. For one, our world is smaller. We move around more, and we've got the internet. I don't personally know anyone who has a deadly allergy, but I've heard about such things from other people.

And I know some people who claim to have allergies to things that they aren't allergic to -- so some of what we hear about may be exaggeration. I'm not saying that these allergies don't exist, but when you're hearing about a friend of a friend whose kid goes to school with another kid who is allergic to something odd, there's plenty of room for misinformation to grow.

Another thing is that our medical care is better. Not so many generations ago, someone with an allergy to a common product would probably die at an early age, or would live an isolated life. If they died, it would probably not be properly diagnosed, either -- they'd just die. So no one would know it was the peanuts that killed them, you'd just hear about the boy down the road who went out to play and they found him dead.

Now, doctors can diagnose allergies a whole lot better, so they can tell exactly what someone is allergic to. And with the diagnosis and with better medical treatments, these people can go out in the world and live to a ripe old age because of things like epi-pens emergencies. Before that, what could they do -- wait for an ambulance? Probably not a high rate of survival.

And these people are living longer and getting married and having children and passing along these traits, so they become more common overall. Let's face it, years ago, it was more important to seek a spouse who was medically sound because he/she was probably doing more manual labor, and a farmer who wheezed from hayfever probably wasn't considered a good catch. Now, allergies are treatable, and most people are working in less strenuous jobs, so hayfever or a creaky back may not be such a big deal when choosing a mate.

Increasingly in Canada, our elementary schools are peanut/nut free - children are required to bring lunches that do not contain either. Thankfully Quaker in Canada has brought out peanut free granola bars - they built a brand new plant and make nothing but them in it. It makes lunches a bit of a pain (my daughter would LOVE to have crackers and peanut butter for lunch sometimes) but hey, no big deal. I have a friend whose daughter is very allergic to both shellfish and peanuts and pretty intolerant of dairy (but she can at least eat this when cooked into things). These issues have restricted not only her (she is six) but also her older siblings, parents, and extended family.

I think wrt children, we do need to accomodate allergies - as another poster noted, there are those brats who chase a child around the play yard with a peanut butter sandwich in their hands. As adults, I think the onus shifts to the allergic person to ask questions, have backup plans and the like. That being said, if someone informed me at a game that my snack could kill them, I'd be ordering up something else pronto!

@souldawg...

you were a professional mascot???

details, please.

I work at a sorority as the Exec. chef (yes they have Exec. chefs), after barley surviving rush week I now have almost 100 girls that I have to cook for. Mind you budget does not allow a restaurant style menu, I have to come up with a daily lunch and dinner menu that caters to 100 girls plus the other staff which can be a bit of a challenge (3 meals a day plus snack food is included in the cost to live in a sorority). I make a hell of a lot of chicken because they love chicken, but whatever I prepare is separate and whatever sauce I make is on the side. Ffor example when I have a pasta bar for dinner I make 2 different kinds of pasta's w/ 3 different kinds of sauces they can choose from. They have 2 types of protein to choose from (fish, poultry or meat), steamed veggies clean, (they have the option to add their own crap on it), soup, a salad with dressings and garnishments on the side and rolls. So they have the choice to what they want. Every year there is more and more girls coming to me with nut allergy issues and I assure them that anything I prepare w/nuts will have a sign indicating so (like peanut butter cookies). There is one girl who is not only allergic to nuts, seafood, fish but poultry, I didn't even know of such an allergy existed. So I have to consider allergies, lactose intolerant, vegetarians, vegans, fresh and healthy foods, budget and just plain tastes. But I love my girls, I would never consider working anywhere else.

Heart of Glass - that's really interesting stuff. I was a C-section baby, have a few minor allergies (nothing life threatening, but mostly annoying), was born to Asian parents. Wonder where I fall in that spectrum. I have to say though, my parents took us to Chinatown from a young age and I ate tons of not-your-average-American-kid-foodstuff in less than clean restaurants, so that might've helped combat any of that "no birth canal bacteria" weakness. Hmm.