One thing the internet is definitely good for is perpetuating factually incorrect stories (Al Gore and the internet, the hot coffee lawsuit, etc.). While that Canadian girl did die after kissing her boyfriend who had eaten peanuts, the peanuts, the kiss, and even the boyfriend had nothing to do with it. The original news reports turned out to be wrong.

Authoritative source: <link>

Sabrina Shannon didn't die from being kissed. She died from eating french fries that had something she was allergic to in or on them.

Yes, deaths do happen from allergies, but not from being kissed by your boyfriend nine hours after he eats something you're allergic to, which was the OP's point.

I have allergies to coffee, sucralose, and aspartame, and it's amazing how paranoid people have got. "Is it okay if I use sweetener?" they'll say, even though they're only adding the sweetener to their tea and we're using separate cups.

The point is: be aware, be educated, but don't be hysterical.

Who is hysterical? People are trying to watch out for you. Sounds as if they are being polite. I don't like to eat something in front of someone if they can't also share in that food. That's manners. I think that's lovely that they care and a good chance for you to educate them.

The original poster's point? Huh. You're the first poster on this thread.

The story strongly implies that allergies are being overstated. The er doctor says he's never seen any deaths. Sabrina Shannon's story is quite sadly an example of how a small or even trace amount of a allergen can in fact kill someone with a serious allergy. I think people can see where someone with a child with a similarly serious diagnosed allergy would be justified in asking for precautions to be taken at school to prevent that from happening to their child.

Sabrina Shannon died of her dairy allergy when her french fries, which she made sure was not fried in peanut oil because she also had a peanut allergy, were cross-contaminated with cheese. Apparently, the tongs used to pick up her french fries had also been used to serve cheese products. She would have been better off eating uncross-contaminated french fries fried in pure peanut oil because highly refined pure peanut oil no longer has the allergenic proteins in it. Actually, the fact that highly refined peanut oil, as opposed to gourmet cold pressed peanut oil, is nonallergenic is a relatively new finding, thanks to scientific research. It doesn't mean peanut allergic folks can now eat Chinese food without looking into the ingredients though since peanuts are used in a lot of Asian cooking, and if something was fried in peanut oil that contained peannuts, the oil becomes contaminated.

It is unfortunate that peanut allergies get all the press, to the point that people forget that dairy, eggs, soy, seafood, etc. can also cause anaphlaxis with ingestion. Apparently, she insisted that her problem breathing after eating the fries couldn't be from her food allergy because she had checked the french fries for peanut oil. It never occured to her or the staff that she was having anaphylaxis due to cross-contamination. 13 year olds shouldn't have to diagnose their own reactions anyway--the staff at that school should have erred on the side of caution and used her Epi-pen. Unfortunately, most school staff are not educated enough about recognition and response to allergic reactions. That's what Sabrina's Law in Canada is all about--legislating that schools have food allergy management plans in place to prevent what happened to Sabrina Shannon. Banning peanuts/nuts would not have helped someone with multiple food allergies. Besides being controversial and generating ill-will among those without food allergies, banning any one food allergen in schools and other public places is completely impractical and unenforceable.