Airline Peanuts Ban May Soon Become a Reality

Apr 21, 2011, 09:06 by David Hope

Airline peanuts have long been a favorite snack amongst flyers - but due to allergic reactions, they also represent a possible health problem.

The U.S. Department of Transportation says it doesn't have the authority now to ban the serving of peanuts on airline flights.

The agency made the announcement Wednesday when it laid out new airline regulations that range from fees to bumping to tarmac delays, CNN reported Thursday.

Some people have called for a ban on peanuts because of allergic reactions and last year the agency asked for public comment about the issue. It received more than 2,100 responses.

The transportation department said it can't ban the serving of peanuts because of a 12-year-old law blocking it from tampering with peanut policy without more scientific study.

"The department is prohibited by law from restricting the serving of peanuts aboard aircraft unless a peer-reviewed study determines that serving of peanuts causes severe reactions among airline passengers. There has been no such peer-reviewed study, so we declined to take action at this time," the transportation department said in a statement.

Most peanuts comments came from consumers who favored a total ban, but peanut trade groups opposed the ban, as were did airlines and airline industry groups.

Source: UPI