http://foodallergyassistant.blogspot.com/2010/11/food-allergy-news-from-annual.htmlOh, Dr. Bahna, president of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI), has sure stirred up a pot of trouble. As mentioned in a previous post, the ACAAI has been conducting their annual meeting over the past few days. Perhaps the most publicized information coming out of the meeting, has been comments about peanut bans made by Dr. Bahna. Check out this report from NPR's Health Blog. Of particular interest to me are the dozens of comments which rest on both sides of the issue.
I don't know if it's because we were originally dealing with nearly ten different food allergens, but I've never been an advocate of food bans. However, I am an advocate of making reasonable accommodations for medical needs. Therefore, when I contact an airline and request that peanuts not be served on our flight due to a peanut allergy, I expect that reasonable request to be honored. If suddenly those orange cheese curls became the popular in-air snack, I'd be just as adamant that those snacks not be served on our flight either. Imagine a huge cloud of cheese dust circling over my milk allergic's child head- a nightmare!
I am in favor of school cafeterias providing safe places for all children to eat lunch. If that means a separate safe table for my child, I want to be able to make that reasonable request.
Yes, the topic of food allergies can cause great debate, but for those of us who live with a food allergy, there is no debate. Anaphylaxis can be fatal and we should expect reasonable accommodations to be made to prevent a reaction.
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