Look at all the allergens that various people (and children) have to deal with. We can't expect everyone to secure the environment for allergics -- no nuts, no seeds, no milk, no eggs, no gluten and so forth. Peanut allergy is real but it has become something of a frenzy IMO. If your child is allergic, it is your responsibility to wipe down the cart before you put him into it.

I wouldn't have been feeding my child while shopping; I tried to teach her that there is a time and place for meals and also made sure that she had those meals before we went out on errands -- or if I needed to pack a lunch I would stop someplace appropriate to eat it. But that isn't what this issue is about.

If your child has an allergy most expecially a life hreatening allergy its up to the parents to keep the child safe. How do I know that child walking past me has a severe allergy....how does that mother know my kid could lose her life if she bumps the grocery cart into her...we have to be responsible for the safety of our own kids. And that means taking the time to wipe a grocery cart down before putting the child into it....its too important not to...it also takes less time than the energy needed to blame the rest of the world.

Were peanut allergies and other food allergies among children discovered and diagnosed recently? When I was growing up in the 60s and 70s never heard of them. Also maybe the child had low blood sugar and needed a boost. Not that a PB&J sandwich is the most effective means to do that.

This issue is like the type of questions and dilemmas with no clear answer often faced in ethics classes/ethics discussions. Where each of several conflicting alternatives may seem to be compelling and yet also troubling.

Like others, I've been puzzled by what seems to have been an explosion of food and other allergies and sensitivities in current times compared to times past. But I haven't heard enough credible information to form an opinion about it.

It's normal for people to want to protect their little ones. I don't support a militant reaction directed toward someone innocently giving a hungry small one something to eat but neither do I accept some of the callous attitudes a few of you have expressed in this conversation.

The latest research indicates that lack of exposure to allergens at an early age may be responsible for the upswing in childhood allergies. Doctors were advising parents to not introduce foods such as peanuts, eggs, etc. until babies were older (there was no evidence for this). It is now thought that this led to more children with allergies. With new scientific evidence, doctors now advise exposing young children to these allergens earlier in order to avoid allergies to them.

Eating while in a grocery cart is similar to playing in the dirt. Kids love playing in the dirt, the sandbox, etc. Do kids wipe down the swing chains at the playground? Did your kid ever play on a floor? A sidewalk? Ever been to the zoo?

I just don't understand why anyone would feed their kid in a grocery cart. Beyond that.....I haven't got an opinion.

I can only say why I sometimes fed mine in a grocery cart. I had to shop during a meal or snack time, and than there's the looking at all the food items will always make a child want to eat.

Our local grocery store has, through the years, offered parents/kids free mini-muffins, free cookies and free fruit to keep the tykes happy while shopping and all happily eating in the shopping cart.

Were peanut allergies and other food allergies among children discovered and diagnosed recently? When I was growing up in the 60s and 70s never heard of them. Google allergens in vaccines and life threatening food allergies.

I was a 90's kid and never encountered a peanut allergy so it's pretty recent. As someone already said, I'm betting it has to do with fear and parents not introducing nuts as earlier as they did in the past.

I think there's also a social and cultural aspect. Allergies are almost trendy right now, and I suspect a portion of those allergies were not actually diagnosed by a doctor. It makes it more difficult for those with real allergies.

There's a much bigger focus now with nut-free schools and news articles about people dying from breathing in peanut particles. Allergies when I was a kid were dealt with much quieter.

I also think it's believed to be more common than it is. In my preschools out of hundreds of kids, only a few had a nut allergy yet we had a whole established anti-nut protocol. Mostly due to liability reasons in our increasingly litigious society.

I cannot post a source, but many years ago when peanut allergies became so prevalent that peanuts were banned from airplanes, I read somewhere that genetic modification of food was to blame.

I avoid it as much as possible and buy only organic/gmo certified when I can.

I know the issue was the peanut allergy, but people comment on how gross it is that the kid was eating while in the cart...What is the big flipping deal about the kid eating a sandwhich in the cart...you can buy popcorn at the snack shop eat while at Target....maybe that is a snack this kid likes...no different than eating gold fish, animal crackers. Maybe it was after school and she was eating part of her lunch.

"I just don't understand why anyone would feed their kid in a grocery cart."

You need to run errands including grocery shopping. You need to take your kids (more than one) with you. Kids can get cranky at the drop of a hat but often especially when doing something they'd rather not be doing. If they're close in age, if one loses composure, they all will.

What to do? As all parents know, food buys quiet and some time. I often packed sandwiches for shopping trips instead of fruit or crackers or a box of raisins, because it was something obviously not just lifted from a shelf. Why peanut butter? It's quick, easy, and something they all liked. If someone had given me gas about it in an impolite way, they would have gotten it right back at them from me. But that doesn't put me in the "your problem, not mine" camp.

Store customers can leave the store at any moment if they don't feel safe. By comparison, what are my alternatives on an airplane when a passenger boards with a dog?

And responsible parents and grandparents make use of the provided sanitary wipes near the carts. A simple wipe down is all it takes. Wait. What's in those sanitary wipes?

According to some sources, kids playing the dirt have built a rock solid immune system. Farmers are rarely allergic to anything.

Dirt is good....NPR

I never fed my children in a shopping cart. If I took them shopping, they were already fed so as to avoid their being hungry and uncomfortable. My Grandchildren are not given PB&J anywhere there are other children. We can't police our entire behaviors around other's possible allergies or sensitivities, it is entirely too complicated and confusing to navigate.

I have heard the expression, " God made dirt and dirt don't hurt" from local farmers. I still suspect farm dirt has e.coli.

I take it your kids didn't play on the lawn.

Yes, my children played outdoors a good deal and got plenty dirty in the process. I do know that early exposure to "germs" builds a good immune system.

I suspect that in 10 years or so there will be no grocery carts, groceries will be delivered. And in 50 years there may be little lawn as population densities increase.

Feeding in grocery carts: The only time that would upset me is if the food was from the store, consumed, but not paid for.

I'm going to play in the dirt (soil) today. Edging the landscape is a very strenuous task in the spring. Ugh. I do cheat though. I wear latex gloves under work gloves. My wife prefers a soft, smooth touch.

LOL

I used to eat dirt as a kid :-)

I never tasted a mud pie. But I knew kids who did!

I've decided gardening is my very adult way of still making mud pies. A little (or a lot in my case!) dirt never hurt anyone.

I wonder if I munch on some Ritz cracker sandwich PB in a store, will I be called a monster?

If my child had such severe allergies, I'd definitely wipe down the cart before putting them in one. I see most stores have wipes right where you pick up your cart. If not, I'd be bringing my own with me in my purse.

I saw a dad at WM with a little boy who was doing that very thing before he put him in the cart. I never thought about allergies, just thought he must be a clean kinda dad.

Interesting discussion though I didn’t read all comments.

i was thinking everything will be delivered as Lucille said, until gas is $5/gal. Then I have no idea what will happen.

I join the group of those puzzled by the explosion of food allergies. The first time I knew this existed was with a coworker that I watched go into shock in the early 80s (Chinese food w/peanut oil). Not one event before then. How come?

There is an interesting article from Princeton University: https://www.princeton.edu/news/2013/07/25/princeton-researcher-digs-contested-peanut-allergy-epidemic

Basically, they are saying that a peanut allergy is quite rare, but it is recieving more attention these days due to the severity of the reaction. The odds are still about the same as being hit by lightning.

Interesting article but I have to say I am aware of 5 or more kids that have the epi pens in their backpacks. Not sure it’s just an increase in awareness. Maybe something in mothers’ own diet? Speculating only, not mommy-shaming, ha

The "flippin' deal" with me is I presume grocery carts to be nasty and kids can be messy eaters and I wouldn't want my kid dropping crumbs or bits of food in the cart....but I don't care if someone else does that. I will try to find a cart when I go shopping that doesn't have left over food in it. Heck, I don't even take a cart if I see someone left a grocery list in it. And I am far from a germaphobe. I handle nasty stuff all day long, and I am probably healthier for it. I just wouldn't feed my kid in a grocery cart. But if someone else wants to do that....not for me to care. I was in a high end supermarket a week or so ago, and saw a woman go up to where pastries are, take one and walk away eating it. I thought that was odd. She didn't take any packaging or anything else. I presume she told the checker, she had eaten the pastry...or maybe not. She certainly looked like she could afford one. I just figured she felt like she was entitled to have one any time she wanted. How the heck would I know?

I was told when I was pregnant, that the reason for many food allergies is that people feed babies food much too early. Up until six to eight months, breast milk is all that is needed. I don't know how that works with formula, but I didn't start giving my daughter anything other than breast milk until she was 8 mo. old. No food allergies....which may be a coincidence...but I do think most people start giving food a lot earlier than they should.

I have always thought that grocery store carts have filthy handles. Not only from others' hands, but coughing, sneezing, baby drool, meat drippings etc. But this is just one of hundreds of surfaces touched during a shopping trip. I do wash my hands very thoroughly as soon as I arrive home. It's a filthy planet......that's all I can do.

ElizabethA, be careful with internet searches. Did you notice that the Princeton press release you linked to concerns a paper done by a SOCIOLOGIST? They do studies like whether opening a store's door with a left hand or right hand is an indication of whether that person had a job while in high school. To me, this isn't a scientific paper.

I thought it was plausible.

The link describes a study of reported studies, not original research. I did a quick look and came up with an obvious question. A quote from the researcher in the PR piece you linked said "Before 1980, peanut allergies were rarely mentioned in medical literature or the media"

Here's the thing - federal funding for medical research was not historically so robust. Before 1980, funding was paltry. It started to pick up in the 1980s. Papers don't get published if studies aren't funded. Duh. Again, this is like a study reporting that drivers' habits are sloppy because a survey taken on three sunny days in July disclosed that 95% of cars on the road at noontime didn't have headlights or windshield wipers on.

Sorry for the small size, click on the image to enlarge. Medical research funding is the light green line, data through 2012. Before 1980, it was a small fraction of what it is now. I'd suggest that's what the "research" findings demonstrated.

I can’t believe the comments directed at that poor mother! She should not have even commented back. My view is she was perfectly within her right to feed her child a pbj sandwich in the store cart as long as she cleaned up any mess the child might have made. It was such a ridiculous over-reaction by the other mothers who called her a monster and otherwise attacked her verbally.

I’m in the camp that believes you should take care of your own kids, and if that means taking your own precautions, including your own snacks, cookies, whatever, then that is what you should do. If my child had a severe reaction requiring a hospital visit, I for sure would not want them to partake of just any food without knowing the ingredients.

My DGD has a friend with celiac. Her older sister does too. Their mom has always provided their own snacks at birthday parties and such, even a trunk full of food for camp when they were younger. (You would be surprised at what foods in restaurants are dusted with flour.) They are old enough now to self-monitor.

If you try hard enough, you can always find someone or something to support a contrary point of view. I still believe that peanut allergy is not more common; only the amount of attention it gets has. I certainly would not bicker about POV.

I have sympathy for peanut allergy sufferers and will accommodate their needs to a certain point, but this was over the line. Target is not a peanut free space and should not be expected to be.

Good point adellabedella_usa.

Were children dying from allergies before the 1980s but no one knew the allergies were the causes of death?

Exactly. That doesn’t make sense. Unless death was described as “reason unknown” or simply miscategorized. But I kinda doubt that. My mom was allergic to strawberries and we’re talking 1940s. So back then there was some awareness of food allergies. Surely by the 80s science was advanced enough to know about nut allergies and its potentially deadly consequences.

I was good friends with a girl in elementary school that had a severe peanut allergy. We were in 2nd and 3rd grade grade back in 1958/1959. People were well aware of allergies back then. She knew she had to avoid not only nuts but other items that may have nuts in them. Her mother was a nurse and didn't obsess over her allergy. Simply took common sense precautions. Nestle's Krisp candy bars packed in her lunch instead of Mr. Good candy bars, ice cream "crunch" bars that didn't get the crunch part from nuts etc. The only time I remember an incident was when she used a knife to spread something at a Xmas party that had just been used for peanut butter and someone had wiped off enough to look clean but still have some residue on it. She had an allergic reaction, mom took her to the ER to be given a shot ( probably adrenaline) checked over and that was that. No drama, no hysteria over peanut dust or smell. No demanding peanuts be banned in the classroom or cafeteria.

Allergies have always been with us. A lot of the increase today may be due to a number of environmental things but recent studies show the epidemic is may well be in one's head or due to misdiagnoses.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/an-overreaction-to-food-allergies/

https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/food-allergies-facts-myths-and-pseudoscience/

I worked with a woman who is deadly allergic to peanuts. I eat them often while at work. It wasn't until I had worked with her a few years when I was talking to her that I realized I had just eaten them. "OMG! I just ate peanuts! Will you be okay?" She laughed and said, "I'll need an epi-pen if I eat them, but I can smell them no problem." Phew! I had a foster child who was allergic to peanuts and eggs. Lucky for him, he was also on Singular. I fed him potato salad when we were in the middle of nowhere and I had forgotten to bring his epi-pen with us. I almost died when I realized what I was feeding him (mayo has eggs, potato salad has eggs...) yet nothing happened. The pharmacist at work told me a few days later that the Singular made it so he could eat those foods (he had been taken by ambulance to the ER several times when he started eating table food, so I know how dangerous those foods were to him). He's now 23 and eats eggs to this day, as long as he takes his Singular. But still won't eat peanuts even though he carries an epi pen.

I can't help but wonder if the increase in food allergies is due to the former recommendations to delay the introduction of potentially allergenic foods.

Those recommendations were changed a few years ago.

Isn't one of the methods of treating some allergies a gradual exposure to ever increasing amounts of the allergen to increase tolerance?

It would seem to make sense then, that increasing the "clean" spaces where one won't potentially be exposed to an allergen might actually increase the allergic reaction.

I'm no scientist of course, it's just a theory.

My son practically lived on PB&J sandwiches as a pre-schooler, so I often packed him one for lunch. Then a 7 year old boy in his class, almost died. The boy collapsed after using the classroom pencil sharpener. He had an EpiPen, which was administered, but he still lost too much oxygen before his airway reopened. He survived, but now suffers from seizures.

Apparently the teacher had used the sharpener just previous to that student. She had eaten a peanut butter cookie at lunch, and wiped off her hands with a napkin, not realizing that trace residue will still linger, without washing your hands.

The school immediately instituted a 'peanut free' policy. I think my son would have objected, if he hadn't wtnessed his classmate almost die. He was traumatized by it for a while. I had to be more creative with lunches, but I realized a child's life is worth a little bit of inconvience, no question.

If we're not careful, the old favorite family adventure, take me out to the ballgame, will be nut free.

Buy me some (silence) and (silence)

I've seen one theory where our allergies are caused by vaccinations. Our bodies need something to fight. Since we don't get the usual childhood diseases or pinworms, tapeworms, etc., the body turns on itself.

Like I've said before, I live in a very multicultural area with people from all over the world. In talking with other people, they and their families have developed allergies and diabetes since moving to the US. They and their families did not have those problems where they came from. The problem could be vaccinations, change in food/lifestyle or something environmental. We've moved beyond a basic way of living.

50% of the immigrants in my community (Indian) suffered from diseases before arriving here. Many, most, of their parents died of heart disease and diabetes complications.

Rice, Spice and Bread at every meal will do that. Indians snack a lot, and most of our Indian neighbors start dinner at 8 PM.

I disagree it has anything to do with arriving here. 90% of their diet is Indian cuisine. It's their culture.

We also entertain in a very particular
way—quite differently from how people entertain in the West. Socializing
in India usually involves a few hours of drinking and unhealthy
snacking, followed by a very late and heavy dinner. Eating
high-carbohydrate and large meals late at night puts us at a hormonal
disadvantage and favours easy fat deposition. Those who are insulin
resistant are more vulnerable.