Peanuts Still Fly in the Face of Airplane Snack Wars

March 4, 2009 — -- Wow! I'm still reeling. But that's what happens when you get caught in the crossfire.

You see, a couple of weeks ago, I wrote what I thought was an innocuous post on my blog about Northwest Airlines' switching its free snacks – from pretzels to peanuts. I also pointed out that some people weren't real happy about that.

And the war was on!

I expected a few snide remarks about airlines possibly charging for snacks soon (even though US Airways recently backtracked on charging for water and sodas). Instead, the war of comments was related to the passengers and airlines responsibility for allergy sufferers.

On one side were those who were extremely concerned about children's peanut allergies, and those who, uh, weren't so concerned (sample comment: "Get your peanut-hating a**es out of the airport").

For more air travel news and insights visit Rick's blog at farecompare.com

We'll get to that, but first, let me just say that I know peanut allergies are no joke -- they can be life-threatening for some kids (and you can read all about it on established medical Web sites, like the Mayo Clinic's).

This really hit home with me when I visited my daughter's school at lunchtime and was amazed to see a "peanut table," a special place set aside just for kids with nut allergies.

Now, just so you don't think all the comments on my peanut blog post were angry ones, there were thoughtful questions like this one: "Why all of a sudden are peanuts the 'death snack'?" Well, it's not all of a sudden. A reporter I know was investigating peanut allergies -- and children who died of such allergies -- a decade ago.

And the numbers of those affected have been steadily increasing. No one's sure why, but suggestions include better allergy reporting, changes in peanut processing methods or the fact that some children aren't exposed to as many allergy-producing substances as they used to be, and therefore don't develop certain immunities.

Frightening? Sure, severe food allergies can be very scary, especially if it's your child with the problem. But some perspective: According to a recent Time magazine article, 15 to 20 people die each year from a variety of food allergies, but more people die from beestings.