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We must put real, practical safety concerns above ideals, so this makes sense. But why isn't there more alarm—or even action—over the fact that foods that were

We must put real, practical safety concerns above ideals, so this makes sense. But why isn't there more alarm—or even action—over the fact that foods that were near-universally consumed by people are now increasingly capable of quite literally killing a relatively large part of the population? For example, why is hand sanitizer still widely distributed? When will it end? When all we're capable of consuming is powdered formula? Edit: everyone wondering about hand sanitizer, I was thinking along the lines of the hygiene hypothesis, ie https://www.researchgate.net/publication/12048610_Asthma_and_allergy_in_Russian_and_Norwegian_schoolchildren_Results_from_two_questionnaire-based_studies_in_the_Kola_Peninsula_Russia_and_northern_Norway https://www.researchgate.net/publication/12048610_Asthma_and.... I believe I saw this study on here a few years ago. Edit2: I meant this study https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/cea.12527 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/cea.12527

SwiftyBug 8y ago
Are you implying that hand sanitizer is the cause of the rise of food allergies?
- gruez 8y ago
  Well there's the hygiene hypothesis, but then again, it's a hypothesis
  - dmitryminkovsky 8y ago
    A hypothesis it is, but something about this study got me https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/cea.12527 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/cea.12527
saagarjha 8y ago
Are there people who have severe allergies to ethyl alcohol? I didn’t know this was a thing…
- dmitryminkovsky 8y ago
  Anything is toxic in a large enough quantity, especially ethanol ;)
  - egwynn 8y ago
    but toxicity != allergic reaction
dragonwriter 8y ago
> But why isn't there more alarm—or even action—over the fact that foods that were near-universally consumed by people are now increasingly capable of quite literally killing a relatively large part of the population? They appear to have always been allergens to which a certain share of the population had extreme reactions, which is what produced the advice in the US to avoid exposure at ages when children would be unlikely to communicate a reaction, which is what produced the surge in sensitivity since apparently people are more likely to develop lasting and severe allergies if they are not exposed early, which is why the advice has since been reversed to encourage early exposure with close supervision, rather than a avoiding early exposure. > For example, why is hand sanitizer still widely distributed? What does hand sanitizer have to do with the issue?
- ihuman 8y ago
  > What does hand sanitizer have to do with the issue? I think dmitryminkovsky is jokingly extrapolating the idea of banning allergens to hand sanitizer, since it is poisonous if you drink too much.
  - dmitryminkovsky 8y ago
    :) I figured this might get some push-back and fair enough, I didn’t bring any explanation. I was thinking along the lines of https://www.researchgate.net/publication/12048610_Asthma_and_allergy_in_Russian_and_Norwegian_schoolchildren_Results_from_two_questionnaire-based_studies_in_the_Kola_Peninsula_Russia_and_northern_Norway https://www.researchgate.net/publication/12048610_Asthma_and... Erm this study https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/cea.12527 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/cea.12527
emerongi 8y ago
Are allergy rates really increasing or is this just the effect of media? Our bodies are weird. I spent all my summers as a kid in the countryside, with various animals and lots of vegetation. At age 12, for some reason I developed hay fever. I still spend my summers in the countryside and have to eat allergy pills throughout the summer. Is this the effect of hand sanitizer? Autoimmune disease: hand sanitizer? Very hard to pin down.
- dmitryminkovsky 8y ago
  I was thinking this and this is probably true for many other more subtle things, but there is little subtlety in anaphylaxis and peanuts were the standard food in airlines for decades. If there had been this risk before, wouldn't it have been observed?

SwiftyBug 8y ago

Are you implying that hand sanitizer is the cause of the rise of food allergies?

gruez 8y ago
Well there's the hygiene hypothesis, but then again, it's a hypothesis
- dmitryminkovsky 8y ago
  A hypothesis it is, but something about this study got me https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/cea.12527 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/cea.12527

saagarjha 8y ago

Are there people who have severe allergies to ethyl alcohol? I didn’t know this was a thing…

dmitryminkovsky 8y ago
Anything is toxic in a large enough quantity, especially ethanol ;)
- egwynn 8y ago
  but toxicity != allergic reaction

dragonwriter 8y ago

> But why isn't there more alarm—or even action—over the fact that foods that were near-universally consumed by people are now increasingly capable of quite literally killing a relatively large part of the population? They appear to have always been allergens to which a certain share of the population had extreme reactions, which is what produced the advice in the US to avoid exposure at ages when children would be unlikely to communicate a reaction, which is what produced the surge in sensitivity since apparently people are more likely to develop lasting and severe allergies if they are not exposed early, which is why the advice has since been reversed to encourage early exposure with close supervision, rather than a avoiding early exposure. > For example, why is hand sanitizer still widely distributed? What does hand sanitizer have to do with the issue?

ihuman 8y ago
> What does hand sanitizer have to do with the issue? I think dmitryminkovsky is jokingly extrapolating the idea of banning allergens to hand sanitizer, since it is poisonous if you drink too much.
- dmitryminkovsky 8y ago
  :) I figured this might get some push-back and fair enough, I didn’t bring any explanation. I was thinking along the lines of https://www.researchgate.net/publication/12048610_Asthma_and_allergy_in_Russian_and_Norwegian_schoolchildren_Results_from_two_questionnaire-based_studies_in_the_Kola_Peninsula_Russia_and_northern_Norway https://www.researchgate.net/publication/12048610_Asthma_and... Erm this study https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/cea.12527 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/cea.12527

emerongi 8y ago

Are allergy rates really increasing or is this just the effect of media? Our bodies are weird. I spent all my summers as a kid in the countryside, with various animals and lots of vegetation. At age 12, for some reason I developed hay fever. I still spend my summers in the countryside and have to eat allergy pills throughout the summer. Is this the effect of hand sanitizer? Autoimmune disease: hand sanitizer? Very hard to pin down.

dmitryminkovsky 8y ago
I was thinking this and this is probably true for many other more subtle things, but there is little subtlety in anaphylaxis and peanuts were the standard food in airlines for decades. If there had been this risk before, wouldn't it have been observed?