Most people I know who limit their diets because of allergies do so to avoid feeling sick, not because they think they're going to die. Everyone knows that there are rare extreme reactions to seafood and nuts, but I don't think that's what is causing the food allergy buzz. Most people have milder allergies and avoid trigger foods because they cause stomach upset. This article makes it sound like everyone is walking around expecting to be struck dead by a peanut.

This is true. Reactions range widely from person to person, and in the same person reactions can be very different depending on the type of food eaten.

The publicity focuses on the most extreme cases, naturally. Like the girl who died after kissing her boyfriend unaware that he had ingested peanuts recently, for example.

Yeah, and that wasn't even a true report. She died from asthma, and her boyfriend had had the peanut butter nine hours beforehand -- it was long gone from his saliva.