I suspect that in many cases the kids aren’t quite that sensitive, but the adults involved are invoking extreme caution. And, of course, kids are more prone to screwing up when it involves a food restriction.
Unfortunately, this can give the impression ALL food allergies are that serious, only leading to more confusion. I may be allergic to peanuts, but sitting next to someone eating a PB&J sandwhich isn’t going to make me fall over dead, or even get a runny nose.
Hygiene hypothisis
Actually, considering the consequences to the person with the allergy, and watching my mom’s experience, I would bet that almost all of the ingestions are because they were lied to, or would not have guessed that the offending substance was in the food. My mom had to go to bed for a while immediately after the baby shower for my first little brother, because one of the church ladies hadn’t heard about the allergy, and put peanut oil in a cake. Apparently even someone as sensitive as my mom can’t taste the oil when masked this way.
My mom would rather not take a single bite of something she considered suspicious. It’s always through ignorance or lies from the kitchen that she ingests peanuts.
I’m just wondering if this is more of a phenomenon in the US where peanuts are grown in abundance? The previous poster mentioned using peanut oil in a cake - peanut oil is not readily available here and it isn’t something I would ever think of putting in a cake.
Peanut oil processed in the US is usually free of allergens (hot-pressed vs. cold-pressed, I think it’s called)
That’s not reliable for the most sensitive allergics. It might be OK for me, but not for others.
Extraordinary allergies do exist, even if they’re rare.