"Just enough," one might answer to indicate how much peanut butter he wants on his sandwich.

Surely to the confusion of children in elementary schools, some parents and school people are beginning to panic about how to control the use of peanut products within the school grounds.

But a more careful examination of the claims surrounding peanut allergies might temper the reactive policy suggested in some school districts. Much of the fear surrounding peanut allergies is propagated by notions that have not been supported by science.

Take for instance the scariest idea - an allergic reaction to peanuts can be triggered by physical contact without ingestion. This fear has schools separating children at lunchtime.

A Mount Sinai School of Medicine Study conducted in 2003 concluded, "Casual exposure to peanut butter is unlikely to elicit significant allergic reactions. The results cannot be generalized to larger exposures or to contact with peanut in other forms (flour and roasted peanuts)."

Other hospital studies have concluded similarly that there is no evidence showing a child may have a severe allergic reaction from skin contact with peanuts.

A January Harpers magazine article, trying to set the record straight about peanut allergies, states, "Nicholas Pawlowski, an allergist at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, says he occasionally has to spread peanut butter on a patient’s arm to demonstrate to parents that their child will not die from casual contact with a nut."

Another possible myth, floated unabashedly in news reports, is that peanut allergens can travel by air. A John Hopkins study team in 2004 said they were unable to detect an airborne allergen found in peanuts in a simulated environment. Peanut fumes can’t trigger an allergy.

Lastly, many doctors have challenged the notion that the incidence of peanut allergy is increasing. In a Jan. 30, 2006 article in the Boston Globe, Dr. Darshak Sanghavi questioned data from studies indicating increases in peanut allergy incidence. He writes that the methods of determining peanut allergies are often flawed and inaccurate.

On top of that, Dr. Sanghavi suggests that a peanut allergy diagnosis could make children feel anxious. The possibility that creating fear around eating might adversely affect a community of children is an idea often skipped in news articles.

Allergic reactions to peanuts can range from an itchy mouth to seizures, but as severity increases incidence decreases. In short, severe peanut allergies are very uncommon, and schools should take that into account when considering enacting safety policies.

We do not advocate withholding special consideration for students who have severe peanut allergies, but there must be some perspective. Because severe peanut allergies are not common, they should not affect school safety policy more than, possibly, identifying what peanut product foods are sold in the cafeteria and enforcing no-sharing rules.