Peanuts are Back!

I've got peanuts on the brain these days as I read over some papers on allergies I'd written in the past, so I honestly thought I was seeing things when I read "Peanuts are Back!" on a local restaurant.

I can only assume it is not a joke.

This restaurant that had removed all shelled peanuts from their tables years ago, has now reintroduced them.  It was an odd feeling reading that sign.  I had, personally, never eaten there, but have enjoyed eating at another previously peanut-filled restaurant on numerous occasions.  Was their business failing without the shelled peanuts?  Will others follow?  Perhaps they feel we allergic people can go somewhere else to eat.  I will NOW.  


But sure, why not go back?  Nobody said they had to take the little killers away.  Seafood restaurants still serve seafood even though some of us are allergic.  Cows still give milk...


It didn’t bother me so much that they made this pro-peanut choice, but that they went back to it.  Has the battle come full circle?  Have food companies and restaurants tired of taking care of the allergic?  


Quaker Oats has come out with a new line of Cheerios.  You guessed it - Peanut Butter Cheerios.  Why would you possibly consider contaminating the first finger-food for toddlers?  And it looks very much like multigrain cheerios, so don't doubt that mistakes will be made in the shopping aisle.  


So, we’ll see what happens.  I grew up without any "peanut-free" foods.  Allergic-kids are, at present, living in a fairly safe world in comparison.  But if food agencies, schools and restaurants decide they don't care about going the peanut-free route anymore, these kids are in for a real dose of reality.  


They're going to have to do what we did.  Pray.real.hard & don't.eat.anything!