AIBU to think peanuts should not be eaten on the Tube?

[SuperGinger]

I was on the Tube yesterday and the man next to me had an open packet of peanuts which he was eating. It's such a common allergy and I know quite a few people, including my own brother, who would have had a serious reaction if they had been on that Tube.

Should I have said to him he shouldn't eat peanuts on thevTube even though I would not be impacted because I was worried about other potential sufferers in the carriage, as it's a very confined space and it was rush hour.

AIBU - It's a free world
YANBU - peanuts are a very common allergen and people should not eat them in confined public spaces.

On the tube? Good idea!

Why would you think that? Of course you can eat on the tube! Even hot smelly food is allowed.

Tbh it’s not something that’s occurred to me.

I went on Scout camp recently and we were asked to bring no nuts, sesame seeds or raspberries. I am not sure if this was just for our sub camp but the whole camp was huge and of course outdoors, and unless a child eating raspberries touching another child in our group would set off anaphylaxis it seemed like we could just avoid them eating these things?
I also eat a lot of protein bars with nuts in, though I ate cake instead on camp.

I have severe peanut allergy in my family and I don't think peanuts should be banned anywhere.

We know the protein from peanuts doesn't travel far so airborne anaphylaxis isn't a thing. There's much more risk from someone eating peanuts and then touching things which are then touched by the person with the allergy. But they might have eaten the nuts at home or on the way to the tube.

It's very, very unusual for airborne particles to cause anaphylaxis in any allergy, it might cause a reaction ie hayfever from pollen but it doesn't cause life threatening reactions. Cooking seafood can be a bit more intense if you have that allergy.

YABU.

Lol.

I used to work in central London and some colleagues came in an hour or more on the Metropolitan line in particular. Central line also has some very long commutes, and let's not forget commuter trains which can be very long and jam packed.

I took the line on the packet "Remember Small Children Can Choke On Peanuts" as advice rather than a warning so I always keep a packet on me...

I wish this was true but it isn't!

I've seen them. In cat boxes and on leads!

My brother is allergic to dogs, being in a confined space with them can leave him finding it more difficult to breathe. Should we ban dogs from public transport too? I work in a shared work space and they had a ‘bring your dog to work’ day recently. Should that be banned too?

He is also allergic to nuts, but there are so many allergies that I don’t think we can start banning every thing.

Exactly this. Unfortunate though extreme allergies are, they are the responsibility of the sufferer or their parents in the case of a child, not the rest of the population. If it is a genuine risk to life then the sufferer may choose not to use public transport where it's impossible to get off/move carriage. You cannot police the behaviour of the whole world and putting in place rules with no way of enforcing them just causes possible complacency.

I was on a plane recently and a girl in front of me identified herself to cabin crew as having anaphylactic peanut allergy. They made a single announcement requesting nobody eat anything containing nuts. But it made me very nervous as loads of people weren't listening as sorting bags/talking/wearing headphones. Also I had an open packet of biscuits in my bag which I had no idea if it contained nuts or not. I decided taking it out of my bag to check was worse than leaving it in there.

She seemed relaxed but I was slightly on edge for the whole flight!

Also, how could you ever realistically police this?

Are transport police going to be arresting people with protein bars? they cant even prevent women being sexually assaulted on the Tube, let alone police what people are eating or have in their bags 🙄

YANBU, OP. I eat a LOT of nuts but I never eat them on a bus, train, airplane or on the tube. Or in a confined public space. If you have to eat on the tube, there's plenty else you can choose.

And yes, I get the whataboutery - what about milk, what about hummus, seafood, I can't eat tomatoes, what about dogs - but I worked with someone with a nut allergy and he explained that, for people like him with a very severe allergy, that an epipen only buys you time to get to a hospital. It doesn't stop the reaction, and sometimes 1, 2, 3 epipens isn't enough.

I had no idea until then - genuinely thought you'd stab yourself with an epipen and you'd be OK. Imagine being stuck on a tube with someone in anaphylaxis, you're out of epipens, and they can't get to medical help. Horrific.

Knowing that made me stop in my tracks a bit.

I am coeliac btw, and I don't expect people to not eat gluten in public (even though them leaving all their sodding crumbs everywhere can trigger a reaction) - because a reaction won't kill me.

And yes, I get the whataboutery - what about milk, what about hummus, seafood, I can't eat tomatoes, what about dogs - but I worked with someone with a nut allergy and he explained that, for people like him with a very severe allergy, that an epipen only buys you time to get to a hospital. It doesn't stop the reaction, and sometimes 1, 2, 3 epipens isn't enough.

My friend has this with their caffeine allergy - why is his life less important than someone with a nut allergy?

Will it kill them? I guess nut allergies, for me, seem much more likely to be life-threatening, and can be both airborne and caused by touch (eg both me opening a packet AND putting my greasy fingers on the seat or rail or handle could trigger a reaction). The guy I worked with couldn't be in the same room and he led a restricted life. There were loads of kids at my DD's primary who were similar, and it was always nuts. But seriously, if a tonne of people had caffeine allergies so severe they carried epipens and could die due to airborne and touch then yes, it'd be an idea to ban it in confined public spaces.

I don't get why people get so angry about these things: it doesn't cost me anything to not do something for a short period of time. So why wouldn't I?

I'm off to Google how common caffeine allergies are now, and how severe... :)

You're still being unreasonable. It's not up to everyone else to ensure your allergic reactions aren't triggered.

This made me laugh out loud.

Yes- he was in a coma for weeks as a child and almost died. It could kill him.
He has to be really careful handling cups even if they have been washed

It's not about anger, it's about practicality. If you cater to one allergy it isnt fair not to cater to others that are life threatening. How do you police people eating protein bars on the tube?

I'm not saying it is everyone else's responsibility. It's a small thing I can do, that I'm happy to, that I don't want thanks for, and which doesn't impact my life (beyond not being able to immediately sate my desire for nuts!).

I'm not being unreasonable in that, no. But also: I'm not telling you what to do. I'm just saying what I do. You do you and I'll do me :)

Wow, I had no idea - thanks for bringing it to my attention. Poor guy, it must be so hard :(

That is brilliant! Would love to have seen it.

I think most people who don’t have the allergy in their life just don’t think about it, particularly as peanuts are such an ordinary and ‘healthy’ snack food.

I have a type 1 toddler and the amount of people offering food, snacks and sweets everywhere we go is crazy. People giving a toddler anything without subtly asking parents first drives me mad! You never know whether a child can have it or not and to offer directly to the child first is mad imo.

Wow, to call people selfish or arseholes for not thinking about how nuts could affect others is a bit much. I don’t have anyone in my social circle who has a serious allergy, so the first thing when I am hungry and need a snack is not how the snack would affect others, but more likely how much it costs, is it a healthy snack, can I wait until the next meal time, etc. I don’t eat on public transport but I can understand why someone would. For example a tradesman who works with their hands would not be able to snack during work like many office workers do. On the way home, they may not be able to eat while walking to the station as they’d be carrying tools etc (not every tradesman uses a car, esp in london).. So on a long train journey home they might get super hungry and need a snack to tide them over.

perhaps the person with a serious nuts allergy could carry an EpiPen or move to a a different carriage if they spot nuts being eaten

The confined public transport I go to work on SELLS peanuts