Private MD News

Groups push for ban of peanuts in air travel

Category: Allergy Testing

As the number of individuals who have received positive food allergy testscontinues to grow, groups are now pushing for the condition to be recognized as a disability and for more businesses to accommodate allergy sufferers.

For example, Elizabeth Goldenberg, a Canadian lawyer and mother of a child who suffers from food allergies, recently started a petition to have peanuts and products made from their derivatives banned from flights.

She has launched an all-out media campaign - including taking to Facebook and Twitter - seeking to get 10,000 people to sign the petition.

"It's hard to comprehend that a completely healthy person can be dead within minutes from a severe allergic reaction," she wrote on a site hosting the petition. "Food allergens have a high rate of symptoms from minimal contact, such as traces of peanut on flight attendants' hands or on other surfaces."

The U.S. Department of Transportation has stated that it is considering banning nut products from domestic flights, but the group needs congressional action before it can institute the new rules.