Peanuts and Cracker Jack—two items that are about as American as baseball and apple pie—are apparently getting the boot in some baseball stadiums.
According to The Indy Star (h/t USA Today), these iconic snacks will be banned from an Indianapolis Indians game.
Per the paper:
The peanut-free game is a first for the Indians, a Class AAA affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates, as part of Peanut Allergy Awareness Night.
It’s a big move. In a single season, more than 30,000 bags of peanuts are sold at Victory Field, more than 450 bags a night at each of the team’s 65 home games.
This has to be some sort of a joke, right?
Maybe it’s time we allow adults actually take responsibility for what they eat. If you have a peanut allergy, maybe check the ingredients in an item before consuming it. If you have kids with a peanut allergy, make sure they don’t eat peanuts.
Apparently this is a foreign idea to some.
And don’t give us this entire spiel about certain people not being able to eat certain foods. Should that eliminate the consumption of others who can actually eat said food?
Give me a break here.
Interestingly, the Indians organization doesn’t seem to be the only one taking this matter seriously. The Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers, Milwaukee Brewers, New York Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays are all having some sort of “peanut-free” games this year.
We’ve received calls from fans over the years about not being able to come to the ballpark due to peanut allergy,” said Jon Glesing, Indians senior marketing and communications manager. “Awareness for this is far from new in baseball, (but) we’re finally at a point we can coordinate an awareness night.
Some parents have concerns that their children inhaling airborne peanut particles (yes we are writing this) can cause severe allergic reaction.
The Peanut Institute (yes that exists), has recently put a stop to this “tale.”
In those who are severely allergic, reactions to peanuts can occur from ingesting just a trace amount. This can cause anxiety, especially with the parents of peanut allergic children. But did you know that touching, smelling, or inhaling airborne particles from peanuts does not cause a severe reaction.
Smelling the aroma of peanuts is not the same as inhaling peanut particles that could potentially contain the allergenic protein. The aroma of peanuts comes from different compounds that cannot cause an allergic reaction.
The same study indicated that four times more adults are allergic to certain types of seafood than are allergic to peanuts.
What’s next, time to ban fish fillet sandwiches at fast-food restaurants or Maryland crab cakes at Baltimore-area sporting events?