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Warning! There are nuts in peanuts
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mscriv
macrumors 601
This is quite the funny thread with the occasional humorous post and the ridiculous arguing over what allergies are most dangerous/critical. Obviously the only solution is to begin segregating airline passengers into certain sections.
"Yes, I have you booked for a 1st Class ticket now would you like to sit in the peanuts allowed or peanut free section?" 😀
"Yes, I have you booked for a 1st Class ticket now would you like to sit in the peanuts allowed or peanut free section?" 😀
Plutonius
macrumors G4
Wow, you would be the last person (professional therapist) I would have thought to be insensitive to a medical issue but, then again, most people without allergies (or just minor allergies) have no idea.
As a kid (I'm in my 50's now), I had bad allergies to most things and they didn't have allergy medication at that time. I often had really bad asthma attacks where all my concentration was only focused on getting my next breath. It's one of the worst feelings you can have not being able to breath with nothing you can do about it (I have heard it equated to water boarding).
Things are better now with the medication that's available but I still can't go in people's homes that have pets, ride in cars that have had pets in them, or even sit next to friends that have been handling a pet. My other allergies have improved though so I'm now able to enjoy the outdoors except during the height of pollen season 😀. Note: I had many many years of allergy shots. Some worked a little, others not at all.
mobilehaathi
macrumors G3
I suspect that mscriv's post was meant to be a jocular one rather than a serious attempt at insensitivity.
mscriv
macrumors 601
C'mon now Pluto, you know I'm a sensitive guy. 😛
I was actually pointing out how silly it is that we can take such an issue and turn it into a debate about who has it worse, people with food (nut) allergies vs. people with environmental or animal allergies. The truth is, both can range from mild to severe and both can be fatal. However, like Tomorrow mentioned those who suffer with allergies of any kind have a personal responsibility to manage their own health. My satire was an attempt to point out that it is unreasonable to expect an airline or any other kind of service to account for every possible situation that could cause harm to an allergy sufferer. We can't segregate or isolate for every possible allergic reaction.
Now, in the food industry they are required, as they should be, to clearly list all ingredients contained in the product. It's the consumer's responsibility to read the ingredient list. For the service industry, they should make every reasonable attempt to accommodate a consumer once they are aware of the potential allergy concern. For example, the story you shared about the airline not being willing to move the passenger who was seated next to a feline. That's poor customer service, irresponsible, and in my opinion, completely ridiculous.
And, I can speak as an authority on the subject because I am an allergy sufferer. Severe allergies and asthma run in my family and unfortunately I have passed the condition on to my own children. I had my first attack when I was five years old and after testing the immunologist told my mom that "God must not have wanted me here because I was allergic to everything else He made...." I take daily medication, have taken allergy injections for most of my life, and am even a part of a new drug study. I've literally taken just about every kind of antihistamine, decongestant, inhaler, and even a good bit of the cortical steroids that are on the market. For those who don't know, it's now standard procedure when a patient gets an allergy injection that they must wait 30 minutes to ensure that they don't have an anaphylactic reaction that could close their airway and result in death.
So, from my perspective this whole debate is pretty humorous. The bottom line is that all allergies stink. Some are generally an annoyance with symptoms like runny nose or coughing while others are more severe with wheezing or shock, but they all have the potential to be deadly given the right circumstances. Despite the danger the responsibility of managing someone's health condition falls solely on the individual themselves. It's my responsibility to always have a rescue inhaler available and to be conscious about what I expose myself to. It's no different for those with food allergies or any other kind of allergy. We can't "safety proof" the entire world for those who choose to be irresponsible. Accidents are always going to happen and thus the individual should take precautions.
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Plutonius
macrumors G4
I'll be the first to state publicly that Mscriv is one of the nicest people in these forums even though he's my nemesis in the MacRumors WW games 😀.
Speaking of games, we need a few more people to signup here before we start (paying special attention to Mscriv). Don't worry if you haven't played before. You will have a good time.
I'm almost sorry I brought it up.
When I saw the page on the BBC I really found the whole thing unbelievably ridiculous, peanuts still in their shell are known as "Monkey Nuts" in the UK and appear in supermarkets mostly at Halloween and Christmas, I haven't noticed before if they have been labeled as containing peanuts.
I completely accept that food allergies are serious and that laws are required to properly lable foods, but if I, or someone that I was responsible for, had a peanut allergy I would make sure I found out all I could about what foods were likely to contain peanuts, what they looked like and different names for them. I'd be unlikely to buy anything that had nuts in the name.
I think that the peanut/nut/legume thing a bit pedantic. It is obviously important to anyone with a specific allergy but to everyone else peanuts are nuts. Which might be wrong but is it not one of those wrong things that has been used so often that the right use is now wrong, like AA battery or decimate, when you really mean wipe out? I don't know about about other countries but food labelling seems to say "may contain nuts" not peanuts or legumes, I thought that it might be obvious that Monkey Nuts may contain nuts too.
When I saw the page on the BBC I really found the whole thing unbelievably ridiculous, peanuts still in their shell are known as "Monkey Nuts" in the UK and appear in supermarkets mostly at Halloween and Christmas, I haven't noticed before if they have been labeled as containing peanuts.
I completely accept that food allergies are serious and that laws are required to properly lable foods, but if I, or someone that I was responsible for, had a peanut allergy I would make sure I found out all I could about what foods were likely to contain peanuts, what they looked like and different names for them. I'd be unlikely to buy anything that had nuts in the name.
I think that the peanut/nut/legume thing a bit pedantic. It is obviously important to anyone with a specific allergy but to everyone else peanuts are nuts. Which might be wrong but is it not one of those wrong things that has been used so often that the right use is now wrong, like AA battery or decimate, when you really mean wipe out? I don't know about about other countries but food labelling seems to say "may contain nuts" not peanuts or legumes, I thought that it might be obvious that Monkey Nuts may contain nuts too.
Shrink
macrumors G3
OK, I hate to break up this love fest...but the truth is now out. We all know that those in the shrink biz in one form or another are really mean, vicious, insensitive rats who just know how to cover it up! All this nicey-nicey stuff,,,just a front.
Except me, of course...I'm just a sweetheart. But the rest of those mental health types...well 🙄
😛 😉
Toltepeceno
Suspended
Are you serious? You are unaware that people die from asthma???
http://www.aafa.org/display.cfm?id=9&sub=42
Compare that with food alergies in general:
http://health.howstuffworks.com/dis...eople-die-each-year-from-peanut-allergies.htm
The maximum death per year from peanut alergies is 122, more than 3,300 due to asthma. A cat induced asthma attack could very well be fatal.
I'd say your argument is clearly baseless.
----------
I am retired and have personally known many people alergic to pets. I know several in my own family. I have never known personally anyone alergic to peanuts, I did know a guy alergic to strawberries.
Some people have serious asthma attacks over pets, especially cats.
phrehdd
Contributor
There should be rules for animals as well but by your argument, perfumes, colognes, various types of clothing should all be banned as they can cause reactions with some people. Lets not forget various hair products.
Then again, I usually get feeling bad when I sit next to someone who sweats a lot or talks too much. Might have to ban them too.
Plutonius
macrumors G4
The cargo bay worked well for pets for a half century or more. I agree with what you are saying but why create a problem where none existed before.
phrehdd
Contributor
Many small animals don't do well in "cargo." However, I wouldn't mind if some rude passengers I have been sat near were put in cargo (grin).
Keukasmallie
macrumors 6502
No pets in the passenger cabin, PLEASE
If you want your pets to fly on the same plane, wrap them in a burlap sack and check them at the door to the plane.
If you want your pets to fly on the same plane, wrap them in a burlap sack and check them at the door to the plane.
skottichan
macrumors 65816
I actually got a bag of peanuts recently, and on the bag, it read; "This product may contain peanuts". All I could think was, if it doesn't, I want my $2 back.
Someone earlier posted the statistics of food allergy deaths v asthma deaths, I wish more people would educate themselves like that. I have a friend, her son has a mild peanut allergy (he has to eat about a bag of peanuts to develop a hives-like rash). She will come to my house and make sure I have no peanut products in my house before she will bring him over.
The level of paranoid persecution-complex that peanut allergy people explode with, blows my mind. I love my friend to death, but she needs to take it down a couple dozen notches. And, I'm not saying food allergies can't be dangerous, believe it or not, there are people who die every year due to dehydration or dysentery cause by lactose intolerance. It just seems like the peanut people are the most vicious and vocal.
Someone earlier posted the statistics of food allergy deaths v asthma deaths, I wish more people would educate themselves like that. I have a friend, her son has a mild peanut allergy (he has to eat about a bag of peanuts to develop a hives-like rash). She will come to my house and make sure I have no peanut products in my house before she will bring him over.
The level of paranoid persecution-complex that peanut allergy people explode with, blows my mind. I love my friend to death, but she needs to take it down a couple dozen notches. And, I'm not saying food allergies can't be dangerous, believe it or not, there are people who die every year due to dehydration or dysentery cause by lactose intolerance. It just seems like the peanut people are the most vicious and vocal.
rdowns
macrumors Penryn
skottichan
macrumors 65816
Erendiox
macrumors 6502a
LizKat
macrumors 604
In the US some labels will say "may contain tree nuts" or "may contain peanuts" or both, depending on what the product is - like maybe a packet of sunflower seeds. That may make a little more sense than finding a package of peanuts that just says "may contain nuts."
As far as paranoia over the potential for an allergic reaction goes, I'd say walk in someone's shoes before caling it that. A mild reaction one time can set you up for severe anapylaxis the next time. Hence that other poster's remark about how they make you wait for half an hour after you get an allergy shot to make sure that just your treatment itself won't kill you! My own experience when I developed a reaction to amoxycillin was a gradual thing, a few times of wondering what was going on, followed by a severe reaction. . It's pretty common to have that happen with wasp or bee sting allergies as well. One or two, no big deal, next time better be near an ambulance Same thing when I reacted to one particcular brand of laundry detergent. That time I ended up having to take steroids for a couple days to chill it out.
So, "vicious and vocal" might be your perception of someone else's determination to protect her peanut-allergic kid from an escalating allergic experience that could kill him. I guess I wouldn't mind being called vicious or vocal if the alternative was a chance my kid's hosts were otherwise going to take the kid's allergy with a grain of salt.
Bottom line on allergies: statistics REALLY don't matter when it's your own body vetting how much exposure you personally can take before your cat dander allergy or your ingestion of beans or chicken closes up your throat. The same holds true for a parent's concerns over a child's allergies. And why not. All it takes is one overexposure and a failure to get the kid treatment in time and you're burying your child.
If you are not a parent then maybe you cannot empathize with the anxiety over peanuts and a peanut-allergic kid. Kids' friends don't always get the potential for a life-threatening experience, so best practice is to try to make your child's hosts aware, make sure the allergic kid is aware, have the epipen available to the school or a chaperoning parent at a sleepover, etc. So many chances for one of those safeguards not to kick in. Parenthood is pretty nerve-wracking anyway sometimes but allergic reaction possibilities certainly up the ante.
One peanut-allergic and poultry-allergic friend of mine no longer eats at restaurants, because an inquiry about what may or may not be in particular dishes has so often just fetched a guess (while that guess was being sworn to) by the waiter. Of course he carries an epipen but he just got tired of having to use it whie proving the answer to his question had been BS. So he joins us for dinners or lunches but drinks water w/ lemon and sometimes brings an apple or orange. I said once I felt bad for him. He said not to feel bad, that he was happy just still being able to join us. When I think about the dismissive attitude a lot of non-allergic people have towards allergies, I figure I'm damn lucky he's still with us at all.
PracticalMac
macrumors 68030
Incorrect.
The entire volume of air inside is completely purged in about 2 minuets, but naturally it does not dump the old air and fill new, just dilutes is continuously.
The air does flow from the main cabin down into baggage compartment then out.