Peanuts in Halloween Goodie Bag - I'm very angry

[hellish]

This is a bit of a AIBU. We're in Canada where Halloween is a HUGE thing, but also anaphylaxis is much more common and more widely known about.

We went Trick or Treating, now I don't expect people to check labels the way I do. BUT someone had gone to the trouble of preparing lovely little goodie bags with several treat inside to hand out.

They contained 5/6 loose peanuts in their shells.

Even the traces of peanuts on the person's hands could have caused a reaction in my dd as they handed it over.

I know she's mine and I may be over reacting, but what would you think?

Unfortunately, as you have just discovered, there obviously is a lack of awareness and you will have to be just as vigilant as ever.

As Aitch says, it must be so hard living with this every day.

I think if it's traditional to include penauts then it isn't really syrprising if people do include them..if someone knocked on my door they wouldn't have got anything tho

When we lived in the US, my kids used to receive very ghastly peanut butter candies - Butterfinger? and Reece's peanut butter cups.

I think if your child has an allergy, you have to intercept everything. I think slightly older folks won't be fully up to speed on anaphylaxis

I think it's just a chance you have to take

So many people have allergies to so many things, it would be an empty goodie bag, put together by someone wearing latex free gloves in a sterile environment to make it 100% safe for everyone

You could have said the same for anything with dairy, eggs, gluten or any other known allergen

You can't go moaning just because your allergen was there, it's a risk you chose to take (by going and accepting food/sweets)

Yes, i know I have to intercept everything,
This has got me thinking, I know it will seen as radical by some but tell me what you think..

Can a comparison be drawn between cancer caused by passive smoking and anaphylaxis caused by someone contaminating another person by eating/ having peanuts in a public place?

Smoking is banned in public places as it may harm the health of others.

Should eating peanuts be banned in public places be banned because it can cause death in some? Eg. if someone eats peanuts in an enclosed space, plane, bus, meeting room just breathing the air can trigger a reaction.

hwat about eating dairy though? Makes me terribly ill- should I therefore want it banned in things that may come my way? Or indeed for those who have potential anaphalxsis caused by it (as mine may escalate to one day- these things ahve a tendency GP informs me)

The poeple who said it would be impossible to be inclusive over are right- there is so much that can cause allergies that its just nto workable, you couldn't even have school dinners!

Any form of allergy si scary to live with and I do know that, I have 2 ds's on restricted diets but you cant attempt to restrict others diets because of it- you use the smoking analogy, but smoking is never a good thing, its always ahrmful, whereas eating nuts can be a good ehalthy snack for those with no risk- eg, ds1 who is ASD and at one point limited his diet to 4 foodstuffs- cabbage, chicken skin, werthers sweets and peanut butter. I lived in dread of a nut allergic child joining their school as my only option would be tor emove him at lunchtime and I simply couldnt ahev guaranteed no risk of contamination by touching etc!

I struggle massively withs chools, aprties etc to keeps the boys diets dairy and gluten free and I wish it was easier, but have to accept they are in a minority where most kids benefit from the nutrition in milk, cheese, yoghurt, bread, pasta etc etc etc- its just bad luck for us

No a comparison cant be drawn

and no eating peanuts in public shouldnt be banned

Peanuts are a healthy snack for those without nut allergy as opposed to smoking which I think we can all agree doesnt have any health benefits to speak of

Peachy, I feel rather the same about cats and dogs. It would be a huge advantage to me if no-one kept them as pets, as the make ds have an asthma attack.

But I have to recognise that people do get benefits out of having pets.

How can it be banned? Why is peanut allergy any worse than a severe allergy to other things?

You'd have to ban eating everything in public and then ban all rubber, latex, animals, chemicals, bees and wasps too

You can't protect allergic people to ALL known (and some unknown) allergens

Peanut allergy isn' the only life threatening allergy out there

The onus is on you to watch what you hold and eat, not on everyone else. It's up to you to manage that risk and taking food from people you don't know at a time of year where peanuts are a common food seems like a very risky thing for you to do.

Passive smoking affects everyone. Passive peanut eating might affect one or two people nearby but probably not.

Message withdrawn

I understand your distress but I trained my child never to take food from strangers. She has never been trick or treating and we rarely go to other houses at Christmas. If you do those things then you accept the contamination risks. Even if you don't personally take the peanuts/ sweets your child needs gloves to keep possible contamination from others present off their hands.

Peanuts in public places are different. I feel they should be banned in certain places - aeroplanes and primary schools in particular and perhaps paediatric wards in hospital. I wouldn't ban them everywhere. Other people do enjoy them and if it's a place where we can easily move away then we should do so. I DON'T think that applies to schools since its unreasonable to expect a child to be educated in a special school.

It is totally unreasonable for someone to risk my child's life because they may be inconvenienced. It is equally unreasonable for me to expect my child's allergies to totally change how other people live.

It would be great if people handing out gifts to children asked if there were any allergies before they did so. If they are a commercial firm in a supermarket they should do so, if they are a private individual its too much to expect.