Food Allergy News

Attacking peanut-free baseball games? Dumb idea? Heretical? Worst decision Yankees ever made? Really?!?

by on April 5th, 2012

Yesterday afternoon, FOX News hosted a PR consultant, Fraser Seitel, President of Emerald Partners, to talk about peanut-free seating areas at baseball stadiums.  As the 3-1/2 minute clip started, I of course assumed it would be a “feel good piece” about how baseball is slowing accommodating those afflicted with peanut allergies to a greater extent each year.  So how do I describe the shock that hit me when this guest used the phrases in the title of this blog – and so much more – in attacking baseball for catering to our community?  I won’t.  Watch for yourself:

 

I originally posted this on the AllergyEats Facebook page (www.facebook.com/allergyeats) and Twitter feed early this morning and, not surprisingly, our community is incensed.  I haven’t seen much coverage elsewhere in the food allergy blogosphere, so I decided to share the story here on the AllergyEats Blog as well.  (Please consider passing this along via the “Like” and “Tweet” links at the bottom of the post, on food allergy message boards, through email, etc.)

 

Here are a few selected comments from the Facebook page so far: 

  • I’m an anti-peanut radical because I want my daughter to be able to  safely go to a baseball game???
  • They talked about having wheel chair ramps for people with wheel chairs because ‘we just do that’. Opening up a small area for peanut allergic people should be a no brainer as well.
  • It makes me sad as a mom of 2 allergic children that someone could be so ‘radical’ in his argument against nut free games/sections.
  • Did he seriously say peanut allergies are a “trend”?!?!  Wow!!
  • How cool is it to wake up in the morning and discover that the very act of advocating to keep your kid safe, healthy & alive makes me part of a Mysterious Lobby?

 

There are many, many more comments and quite a few (to say the least) make personal references about Mr. Seitel that I won’t share here.  Further, the counter-arguments to Mr. Seitel’s views are so obvious and numerous that I won’t take the time to address them in this post.

The moral of the story is that we need to keep advocating for ourselves!  The Mr. Seitel’s are everywhere – they’re on the news, they’re school parents, they’re restaurant servers, they’re flight attendants, etc.  Now please don’t take this to mean that I believe every restaurant server or flight attendent is as ignorant as Mr. Seitel – I don’t.  In fact, the very large majority are actually quite understanding and accommodating, even if they have not been well educated about food allergies.  But we as a community have to be aware that there are still many, many people who don’t believe peanut allergies are real or serious.

Fortunately, the public is slowly learning; unfortunately, they are learning because of the growing prevalence and as more of their children, grandchildren, children’s friends, and even they themselves develop food allergies.  In the meantime, we need to keep educating, educating, educating.

As an aside, I am offering my services to FOX News and to Mr. Seitel (yes, it has bothered me to refer to him as “Mr.” this whole post) for a live, televised one-on-one food allergy debate anytime they wish.  I will try to reach out to them directly, but if anyone out there has a contact, feel free to help pass on my offer.

So, I’m sure there are many comments.  Please share them here by clicking on Comments or Reply.

And while I strayed from my usual focus on food allergies and restaurants, please remember to rate any recent restaurant experiences you’ve had on our core AllergyEats site at www.allergyeats.com or on our smartphone app for iPhone and Droid.  (Disney World experiences can be shared at www.allergyeats.com/disney)  Every new restaurant rating you add makes AllergyEats more valuable for our entire food allergy and intolerance community.  And even better – it takes just a minute to answer the 3 questions necessary for your rating.

Comments

    Author:
    Kacie Blake
    Written:


    How fortunate Mr. Seitel is to not have a peanut allergic child.

    Author:
    meg
    Written:


    I just hope these ignorant people develop some horrible disease. Then, I hope that others treat them with the same compassion that they are currently demonstrating.

      Author:
      AEPaul
      Written:


      I don’t think we should wish horrible diseases, or even food allergies, on anyone. What we SHOULD wish, in my opinion, is that they open their minds before they open their mouths and get educated on the subject.

    Author:
    Gail
    Written:


    This is typical of Fox. They invite intolerant “non-believers” to spout their stupidity for everyone to hear. Unfortunately, too many people, instead of doing a few minutes of research, are quick to “jump on the bandwagon” and spout the same foolishness. We need to keep speaking out in order to educate everyone that peanuts, nuts, eggs, and dairy allergies can kill in a matter or seconds.

    Author:
    Kathie Maurer
    Written:


    How can anyone who has held the hand of child, not want to keep this child safe and allow this child to experience a game he loves. Also, comparing it to alleriges to hot dogs,etc., is out in left field. Fraser Seitel, needs to meet some of the children he says are the less then 1% that he would exclude from games.

    Author:
    Libby
    Written:


    Thanks for bringing up the issue both on Twitter and Facebook. I hadn’t seen a response on the FA blogs, either, which surprised me because we’re an opinionated bunch, and wrote up post, as well. I wouldn’t be surprised if you DID get an offer to appear, and I can’t think of someone better, especially since you are more than familiar with the “veto” that the food allergy member of the family or group has on decisions as to where to go, as well as the monetary difference it makes to restaurants.

    Author:
    michele
    Written:


    Ok guys, after taking a deep breath I want to help keep this in perspective. My, now, 23 yo. son, living with severe, multiple food allergies, esp. to peanuts, is an avid Red Sox fan and goes to as many games as possible. He has had reactions at the game but nothing requiring medical intervention. When he was little, we brought beach towels to sit on and a small dustpan to manage the area around us. I was delighted when the Sox started their peanut free zone.
    The attitude and ignorance shown in this clip was the same things others parents were saying to me when I asked the public schools he attended, for restrictions around peanuts. I has taken years to get people to understand and change their views. I used to go to PTA mtgs, write letters to the editor, ask newspapers to do articles etc. It was a constant battle and I was always advocating.
    I believe things can change but it continues to takes work to advocate for something that is different. I would always hold my anger despite my fury and fear that my outspoken stance would bring a backlash on him. Every opportunity I got, I would speak out or write or call. This idiot needs lots of emails to the show/ network and whatever other avenue there is to let him know he is ignorant and misinformed. If people can get the contact info and Paul can post it, we should take it from there. We all need to speak out.
    There have been hugh gains over the years, so I know we can make a difference. I guess the work is not yet done. Delta Airlines need a few emails as well regarding their peanut policies (just had to add that)!

    Author:
    TCastro
    Written:


    Where did they find this guy? Why is it a slippery slope to accommodate fans for whom exposure to peanuts (abundant at baseball games) can be deadly. Why did they invite an individual with no authority in this matter. He says that offering peanut-free areas is a bad idea, yet games that have done so have sold out. I don’t see how that is a bad thing from a public relations point of view.

    Author:
    Demetra
    Written:


    I think that it is terrible that they would even give that Seitel character air time. Obviously, he has never met any one with a severe peanut allergy. Our family stopped going to Tigers games because every time we go my son has such severe reactions to the peanuts around him. We wipe down his chair and try to sweep away the peanuts but they are every where and it is no fun for him to not be able to BREATHE! If they do a peanut free area at Tiger stadium we would be willing to go to games again!

    Author:
    Philomena
    Written:


    I read this blog and wanted to find out more about Fraser Seital. He is supposed to be an “expert” in public relations. This could be nothing further from the truth. He is an expert in advising people how to make money and advising people on how to better serve the public has nothing to do with it. He stated that only 3 million people suffer from peanut allergy and that even a smaller number of them would attend a game. Really? Does he think that people with food allergies go to baseball games by themselves? Clearly this expert in PR has no clue that food allergic people have family and friends. And, just like people who need wheelchair assistance to attend a sporting event, we in the food allergy community appreciate any accommodation that helps our families enjoy every day events like the rest of the world.

    In addition, Mr.PR expert, food allergies are on the rise among our children, with peanut allergy leading the pack. Perhaps this should be considered by Mr. PR expert in dealing with the public of the future, who will be attending baseball games for years to come.

    He was confused about who the “anti-peanut lobby” is. Hmmmm.. What a genius this guy is!

    I tried to write a comment on the Fox News site but could not find an email to write to.

    Author:
    Debbie
    Written:


    I am absolutely horrified at this man’s point of view. First of all, I can’t see how being a peanut-allergic baseball fan equates to eating “tofu and bean curd pie.” And why is it okay in his mind for the Mets to offer a peanut-free section vs. the Yankees? Because the Yankees have better attendance?! To me, that would seem to be even more reason to offer up a section like that. What a hypocrite! I don’t believe these teams are cow-towing to a small minority. Is it really “cow-towing” to set aside a small number of seats for a couple of games? I believe Yankee stadium seats about 50,000 people. I’m not sure just how big their peanut-free section is, but it’s probably less than 1% of 50,000. “Cow-towing” seems to be an awfully strong word there…

    This line of thinking astounds me. While I do believe that the chance of a peanut-allergic person having a severe reaction at a ball game is fairly small if they take the proper precautions as they normally do everywhere else in life, I also think it’s great that these teams are making some seats available for this demographic. I have an 11-year old son who loves baseball, and I’ve been taking him to several games a year for the last 4 years. The first few times, I was very nervous taking him to the game. I brought wipes with me and wiped our seating area clean each time. And I had to worry about what he would be able to eat while we were there. I wasn’t able to contact anyone at the ballpark who could tell me which vendors had items that would be safe for my son to eat, so we had to wing it. There are only so many things you can bring to eat when you can’t bring a cooler into the park. And despite my precautions, you can’t do anything if you are stuck next to another person who is eating peanuts. This happened to my son twice, and I switched seats to give him a little more breathing room. It was a “lucky” thing that the fan on the other side of me ate his peanuts at a separate time from the fan on the other side of my son, or we would have had to leave our seats for a while. It would have been a relief to me (especially when my son was younger and a little less self-aware of his allergy) to have had a peanut-free area to sit in. How can this insensitive man begrudge a small number of seats for a few games a year to make some kids and their families happy?

    Author:
    Diana
    Written:


    Wow I don’t know how to be diplomatic about this so all I can say is Fraser Seital is a joke of a PR person.

    Author:
    Jayda
    Written:


    I have never heard of an airborne allergy to hotdogs or beer. Moron.

    Author:
    Angela
    Written:


    While I don’t live with a food allergy (that I’ve been able to identify through numerous elimination diets and blood tests), I know many who do. I noticed a few other comments asking who this guy is and where they found him. I didn’t catch if he was a PR Rep or President of Emerald Partners, but if so, would that be the ‘Emerald’ brand of nuts? That would explain how he can spout statistics like that, and why he’s so upset by this – it cuts into their bottom line. Regardless of that, they should respect and appreciate that their products can KILL people. I think further research should be done to determine who he is and if in fact he works for one of the main companies who sell nuts. Then something can be done about him, his spewing and his company.

    Author:
    AEPaul
    Written:


    Reprinted with permission from the author…

    Dear Shepard Smith,

    I am writing regard you piece on the Mets and Yankees setting aside games or sections of their stadiums for “peanut-free” games. In full disclosure, I am the parent of a 7 year old boy who has, through no fault of his own, been born with severe, life-threatening allergies to milk, eggs, tree nuts, and peanuts. He has had eight anaphylactic reactions in his short life which have required epinephrine and trips to the emergency room – a few requiring admission to the hospital. We have had anaphylaxis on airplanes when he breathed Walnut dust which was served in first class. This required diversion of the plane despite our best attempts to notify the airline prior to the flight and the flight crew. We still try to go to sporting events especially spring training baseball games, but usually have to leave when someone nearby starts eating nuts, and my son either starts itching or coughing just from the airborne dust. We have given up going to MLB games.

    I don’t consider myself the “radical” that Mr. Seitel thinks I must be for looking out for the health of my son. I was born in New York and was a Yankee fan for 7 years before moving to the Washington DC region to begin 20 –plus years of suffering as an Orioles fan. I played baseball growing up and love the sport. I would love to take my son to games as my father did with me, but I don’t. I love nuts and peanut butter personally. I don’t eat these or bring them around my son because they will kill him if he is exposed.

    While I see Mr. Seitel as intolerant, I also think his is grossly uneducated when it comes to nut allergies. I would hope that your show, being “fair and balanced”, in the future would have someone to counter Mr. Seitel’s business minded approach to health.

    As an orthopedic surgeon, I am afraid to death of the rationing and statistical analysis being applied to the field of medicine. Making policy decisions on treatments such as chemotherapy for cancer treatment based on statistics for survival may seem like good medicine and business when applied to large populations of people; however, when a doctor potentially makes a decision regarding your mother and father based on the statistical chance of cure versus the cost of the treatment, it doesn’t go down as well. The same reasoning can be applied to Mr. Seitel’s argument about the peanut chew sponsorship at Yankee stadium. While it may not make much business sense to cater to the 1.2% of children who are nut allergic, it just seems like the right thing to do to set aside a few seats so that people, who love the game of baseball but can’t go to games because of a nut allergy, can do so for one or two games in a 162 game schedule.

    I did like your attempt to help Mr. Seitel see through his ignorance by trying to equate the accommodation of nut allergic people to granting wheelchair access to a stadium for those who are handicapped. I’m not sure he got it, but these are the people I have to deal with who can’t seem to go a 2 hour flight without satisfying their craving for a 1 ounce bag of peanuts. As I try to explain to them, if they can give up their nuts for just two or three hours, I will make sure the fight continues non-stop to our destination. A medical diversion due to anyphylaxis screws up everyone’s travel plans.

    I will never be able to change the Fraser Seitel’s of the world, but all I ask of your show is that if you bring a guest on to comment on what I think is a very small, but meaningful gesture by MLB to reach out to a segment of children who cannot go to the ballpark due to no fault of their own, then please bring someone on to counter his small-minded view.

    As many who know me can vouch, I could never be mistaken as a radical, but if sticking up for my seven-year old son and trying my best to allow him to lead as close to a “normal” life as possible with the hand that he’s been dealt, then I’m happy to take that moniker.

    Continue your good work, but do so without the Fraser Seitel’s of the world. They don’t need their 15 minutes.

    Thank you for your time,

    Justin Cashman, MD

    Author:
    Ginny
    Written:


    I have 2 grandkids who have life threatening peanut/tree nut allergies. If these dummies don’t understand what that means, they need to educate themselves now. “Cow-tow???” I guess the guests on Fox just disrespect everyone!!

    Author:
    Rebecca
    Written:


    I cannot believe this idiot!!! People can develope peanut allergies in the middle of their lives just by being around peanuts on the spot. I’m only 10 but i’ve been rushed to the hospital over 7 times becquse i was around peanuts! I’ve never even been to a sporting event let alone a baseball game because of my allergies! and i noticed he carefully skated around WHERE there are 300,000 people with peanut allergies!

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