Shôn Ellerton, Jul 11, 2017
Hey! I've got an idea. Why don't we pump lots of sugar to our kids with jam sandwiches instead!
OK. This article is probably classified as a rant.
My wife and I have a two-year-old son, and occasionally, I will be the one who will drop him off along with his packed lunch before going to work.
What do I give him for his packed lunch? Hang on, let me re-phrase that, what would I like to give him for his packed lunch? Something healthy, something nutritious and something low in sugar. Yes, that's right. Peanut butter. And when I mean peanut butter, I mean the natural peanut butter without the added sugar and salt.
So, poised with a knife and a jar of peanut butter, I proceed to assemble my son's lunch comprising of, yes, that's right, a peanut butter sandwich, a yogurt, a banana and some raisins and, um…. A few nuts.
All prepared, we make our way to the kindy house. I explained to the staff that his lunch is in the blue box only to be given a swift warning NEVER EVER to bring peanut butter here again. I was aware that, in rare cases, peanuts can cause allergies, but Jesus H Christ (sorry for being blasphemous for those religiously inclined), isn't this all being incredibly overhyped? I mean; seriously; what has changed in the last 10 years with regard to those being affected by peanut allergies? Having been to school in my younger years in the U.S., I could not possibly imagine having NO peanut butter sandwiches. But hey! Vegemite's OKAY! Loaded with salt! Just what my kid needs!
Dismayed, I took the lunch back home and proceeded to make a new one.
This time, I made a bacon, avocado and egg sandwich. I have to say, I was rather proud of my creation and, without further ado, made one for myself as well!
So, back to the kindy with Lunch v.2!
I was aghast to discover that eggs are also forbidden. But, hey! Jam sandwiches are okay. Let's give all our children jam sandwiches pumped up with sugar and give them Type 2 diabetes instead! (I exaggerate I know). What really pisses me off, is when little chocolates are passed around at kindy. I do not want my kid to get hooked on lollies (Australian for candy), so I am; please correct me if I'm over-reacting, justifiably cheesed off that jam sandwiches and chocolate lollies are allowed, yet, wholesome foods like eggs and peanut butter are not.
So what ARE the numbers? Let's do some research! How many people die from peanuts? It's obviously got be some large number given so much importance of not allowing just one molecule of peanut land anywhere near the kindy house.
So, someone please give me some hard numbers as to the number of fatalities due to peanut butter in Australia, because I could not find any reliable source of data. Maybe I'm not looking in the right place, but there are estimates; most of which are based on no reliable evidence whatsoever.
The most reliable evidence I came across came from the Center for Disease Control that states that 13 known deaths were confirmed worldwide between 1996 and 2006. 13 confirmed deaths in 10 years. Let me repeat that. 13 in 10 years.
Why all the scaremongery?
Is it because we believe our children are at risk of dying due to peanuts and eggs?
Are the other parents of the other children at the kindy aware of their kids having allergies? If so, wouldn't they inform the kindy?
Or is it the bloodsucking legal institutions which characterise Australia as being the secondmost lawsuit-loving nation on the planet? A nation where a burglar robbing your house can sue YOU if he gets hurt in YOUR house!
