So it's just a case of being over reported in the media perhaps?
Add to this the fact that the "politically correct" nanny world we live in is run by the minority dejour with the squeakiest wheel. We can't possibly endanger any one or offend anyone, except the vast majority.
Hey, how about the option of telling the allergic kid NOT to eat peanuts?
The problem is that some kids are so severely allergic to peanuts that if they breathe peanut, even in that tiny an amount, they go into anaphylactic shock.
At my daughter's former public elementary school, they had peanut-free zones and IIRC, there were eight kids at her school who were severely allergic to peanuts.
I had to pack a lunch for her anyway because they had some sort of corn in almost every main dish they served. Even on Domino Pizza Fridays, Domino Pizzas have cornmeal in the pizza crust. Their chicken nuggets had cornmeal in the breading. They had a deli sandwich on the menu some days and the roll they typically used was multigrain with corn in it, although I could go in ahead of time and request they use a different roll for her sandwich. If she wanted to eat in the cafeteria, which she usually wanted to do on macaroni and cheese days, I had to go check out the ingredients in every item first. I think I put $20 in her lunch account at the beginning of the year and there was still money left at the end of the year.