Is it true that toddlers didn't choke on peanuts and it was allergic reactions all along?

[BoudiccaRuled]

In the 80s we were told peanuts shouldn't be given to toddlers as they were the exact size for getting easily lodged in their throats. The other day, can't remember where, may have even been MN, I saw mention that it was allergies killing toddlers all along, not choking on the peanut itself. Is this true? Is it common knowledge to everyone except me?

What?? That literally makes no sense

I think it's grapes and cherry tomatoes (and hotdogs and chupachupa style lollies) that are the exact size of throats in children - peanuts are much smaller - but id also think it wouldn't be possible for adults to confuse choking deaths with anaphylaxis which is very visibly obvious.

Anaphylaxis looks nothing like choking. Unfortunately I have experience of both.

The danger of nuts to young children is not that they may literally choke on them (as in blocking the airway), but that if they inhale a nut, or part of one, into their lungs, there is a risk of aspiration in children of a certain age (lungs too immature to deal with the issue). Aspiration can cause illnesses like pneumonia, and generally affect oxygen levels. It can be very dangerous.

It’s the fact that they are small hard objects that can lodge in the bronchial airway - causes a chemical reaction that leads to things like pneumonia. Then they are hard to get out as they breakdown in to small pieces and the mucosal reaction continues. Lungs don’t like foreign objects but they particularly dislike peanuts.
The protein has something in it, I can’t remember the details now as it’s years since I needed to know.
Peanut allergy is a separate thing and causes different symptoms - anaphylaxis, which is generally the throat swelling up, oedema and so on.

In my experience of anaphylaxis in my own child it tends to be more systemic and less immediately obvious than aspiration/choking.

Usually the key initial signs were glassy eyes and a kind of sweaty paleness- often the throat swelling wasn’t immediately apparent - frankly it’s terrifying to witness and never got easier. It’s still the the thing I worry about
most now my child is an adult.

Best advice I can give is that if you child reacts to something with an itchy throat or a skin rash, avoid the food (if you can isolate it) and ask for a referral to an allergy clinic for bloods and skin prick testing (they might be able to do the bloods with GP now?)

No, your hypothesis is false. It's not just allergic reactions, choking is also a risk.

Allergic reactions occur in those sensitive to peanuts and anaphylaxis can be life threatening.

Peanuts are additionally, like most other nuts the sort of size shape and hardness to be imperfectly chewed by a toddler and become a choking risk.
If choked on and breathed down into the bronchi and smaller air passages they can act as a foreign body causing lung collapse, air trapping, eventual pneumonia and so on, the same way as any other inhaled foreign body (eg beads, small toys)

However peanuts have an extra risk that the peanut oils can provoke local inflammation and reaction, they aren't inert like a bit of plastic and can swell and interact with the mucosa of the bronchi where they lodge, becoming embedded and can be an absolute bugger to remove

whole nuts are a massive choking hazard!