Peanut residue: is it the real criminal?
If your children are allergic to peanuts then you have probably had sleepless nights wondering whether the kid sitting next to him is likely to unassumingly feed him a piece of the legume, or if remains of the other kids’ lunch pack is leaving peanut remains somewhere on the table tops or lunch areas. ‘What if my kid eats a peanut someday and comes home choking?’ ‘What if he comes in contact with a piece thrown around somewhere unknowingly?’ you have probably wondered, terrified.
But you haven’t much to worry, new research proves that regular detergent based soaps and cleansers are equipped to completely remove any sort of peanut allergen. And what’s more most schools seem to have woken up to the threat posed by such allergen materials and are taking the task of keeping their tables and lunch areas clean quite seriously.
Approximately 1.5 million Americans suffer from peanut allergy syndrome. For these individuals even slight exposure to any sort of peanut element can cause them to break out in a reaction. And the reactions themselves are of various kinds often making it difficult for people dealing with the sufferers to understand what exactly might be ailing the victim. Usually however hives or on more intense cases choking sensation or lack of breath are the most common allergic reactions. Reactions are usually produced by the consumption of the legumes although many believe that any sort of contact with the allergen can have an adverse effect.
In order to find out how effective regular cleansers are in ridding utensils and other areas of peanut remains researches conducted an experiment, they neatly spread a spoonful of peanut butter on a tabletop and then went on to use a range of cleansers to clean it. Ultimately it was found that normal water, Formula 409 cleanser, Lysol sanitizing wipes and Target brand cleaner where most effective in cleansing out traces of peanut remains. Dishwashing liquid, however, was found to be quite unsatisfactory for the task. Also any regular bar soap or liquid soap was found to clean out hands or any other body part of peanut allergen. Sanitizing gel and normal water, however, had a lower success rate.
A number of families are regularly plagued by the fear of peanut allergen; these results will obviously allow them much needed re-assurance. Hopefully with greater awareness of the gravity of the allergy more number of schools and communities will take required precautions against it.