Every three minutes, a person has an allergic reaction due to a food allergen. That’s 480 allergic reactions a day and roughly 70 throughout a student’s school day. Meanwhile, sitting in the hallways and cafeterias of different schools all across the country are vending machines and lunch lines that contain allergens that can quickly become deadly for every child that has a severe food allergy.

According to Food Allergy Research and Education, food allergies affect one in 13 children and more than 15 percent of adolescents with any kind of food allergy have had at least one allergic reaction during school hours. These reactions can easily become a life threatening form of an allergic reaction called anaphylaxis. This type of allergic reaction occurs when enough histamine, a chemical that is toxic to the body, is released in a child’s lungs, stomach, and skin tissues, and causes anyone affected to struggle to breathe and experience symptoms such as hives and vomiting. Many of the allergic reactions that occur during school occur without the student even knowing that they have the allergy that caused the reaction, making it easier for a child to walk up to a vending machine and purchase a bag of chips or a peanut butter sandwich and unknowingly poison their bodies. However, if schools removed the option of certain allergens in their daily menu, then many kids would be spared the rude awakening of an allergic reaction in front of their peers.

People that suffer from a severe allergy do not even need to eat the specific allergen to experience the shutting down of their bodies into anaphylaxis. In other words, if someone with a peanut allergy wants to purchase a product out of a vending machine. They may unknowingly touch the same keys as someone who had previously eaten peanuts. From there the student may rub their eyes and simultaneously stimulate an anaphylactic reaction by transferring the allergen from the keys to the students’ fingers to their skin. In addition, there are certain kinds of allergies that do not even require coming in contact with the allergen. Airborne allergies only require the particles from the allergen to be inhaled to stimulate a reaction. Therefore, schools that use vending machines as a way to earn extra money are increasing the already high risk of a student having a life-threatening allergic reaction.

The responsibilities of a school include making sure that all of their students feel safe and respected, but with vending machines and lunch lines that sell products with peanuts and tree nuts, schools are actively putting students’ lives at risk whether they are diagnosed with an allergy or not.