When Karen Lozier’s oldest son was 3 months old, they gave him a taste of peanut butter. Almost immediately, his lips blistered from the contact with the food.
At 13 months, his mom ran out of regular Cheerios and his grandmother gave him Honey Nut Cheerios instead. Within seconds of eating the toddler staple, the child was wheezing and gasping for air, a severe reaction to the nuts in the cereal.
But it wasn’t until he was 4, when doctors would conduct allergy tests, that Karen’s suspicions were confirmed. Her son had a severe allergy to peanuts and tree nuts.
Since then, the Lozier home has changed dramatically. No longer are candy bars served in the household — even those that don’t have nuts. More often than not, candy bars without nuts are made in the same plant where those with nuts are manufactured.
Karen packs her son’s lunch and has taught him that he must be vigilant about any food that goes into his mouth.
A second son is also highly allergic to peanuts and tree nuts.
“If they come into contact with peanuts or tree nuts, they immediately go into anaphylactic shock,” Lozier explained.
The family has a mainly nut-free home, but Lozier takes precautions herself.
“If I eat anything with nuts, I won’t even kiss them on the cheek,” she said. “And I make them wash their hands if they come into contact with any kind of product that contains nuts.”
She said while she knew how serious her sons’ allergies are, she’d never considered the implications of their teenage years. The story last fall of the girl who died after she kissed her boyfriend who’d eaten a peanut butter sandwich earlier in the day opened her eyes.
“I think that might even be scarier than now,” she said thinking of the days when her sons can date.
Until then, the boys have epi-pens, syringes filled with adrenaline to help them fight exposure to the peanuts or nuts. They also have the allergy medicine Zyrtec and a steroid Prelone available in the office. Their teachers have been trained on what to do in case of an emergency. So far, it hasn’t been necessary.
She said that at the beginning of each year she takes a box of supplies to the school and explains to the teachers what everything is.
“I want to make sure they know what to do in case of an emergency,” she said.
But a couple of incidents in the schools over the last few months — as well as the national story last fall of the girl who died after kissing her peanut-butter-sandwich-eating boyfriend — have made parents like Karen painfully aware of what could happen if their children are unexpectedly exposed to the allergens.
“Not too long ago, another parent sent in peanut butter cookies,” she explained. “A volunteer was helping in the classroom and laid the cookie in front of my son. Without thinking, he picked it up and took a bite.”
Luckily, the child’s teacher saw what happened and had him spit the cookie out.
At Christmas, primary students had the opportunity to visit with Santa, who gave them peanuts. Another child asked his mom, “Doesn’t Santa know I’m allergic to peanuts?”
At this time, the Owen County School System has four children who have been identified as having peanut allergies.
Mary Helen Smith spoke to the school board at its December meeting, explaining that for her son, even touching a doorknob used by someone who touched something with peanut butter can be fatal.
Monday night, the school board gave first reading to a policy that would make the district peanut and tree nut free.
Superintendent Mark Cleveland said last week that he initially learned of the problems at Halloween when the Lozier kids stopped by his house Trick or Treating.
“Janet handed him a candy bar and he told her he couldn’t take it,” Cleveland said of his wife. “She offered a second candy bar but he wouldn’t take it either because it was made in the same plant as the candy bars with nuts.”
Then, Cleveland explained, the incident with Santa Claus and the peanuts occurred.
“We thought we had all these safeguards in place, and they didn’t help,” Cleveland said. “I asked myself, ‘How do I keep from putting a little boy in a life-threatening situation?’”
The policy the school board is considering is pretty stringent. It eliminates peanut butter and jelly sandwiches from the school’s lunch menu. It also asks parents not to send them in the lunches they pack for their children.
The policy eliminates the sale of items that contain peanuts or tree nuts, which would impact a number of fundraisers held during the year. For example, Girl Scouts sell cookies that have peanut butter in them. They also have a “nut sale” in the fall that includes cashews and chocolate-covered peanuts. When the band held its annual fruit sale, peanuts were one of the offerings. And at least one organization sells cookie dough with a peanut butter variety available.
“I think communication is our number one priority,” said board member Brian Young during Monday night’s school board meeting. “If we approve this policy, two of the fundraisers we approved tonight are gone.”
Cleveland told board members Monday night that he has submitted the policy to the Kentucky State Board Association’s attorneys for their review, but has gotten little feedback at this point. He said other school districts are looking at the issue and some are considering school policies instead of district policies.
“I really think, if we’re going to bite this off, it needs to be a district policy,” Cleveland said. “And I think, if we don’t make some kind of attempt, we’re really not doing what’s best for our kids.”
Lauren Marston, student board member, asked if the board would consider a similar policy for fish. She related the story of a cousin who had a reaction to the steam coming off fish patties fixed for lunch in another school district.
Cleveland said he thinks it’s worth considering.
“I don’t care what the allergy is. If it’s that severe, we need to do something,” he said.
Board Chairman Terry Patterson agreed.
“I feel we need to do something,” he said.
Lozier said she’s pleased with the policy, but still has a few questions about its implementation, specifically the need for a nut-free table in the lunchroom if the school is nut free.
She also wonders if the policy will prevent parents from sending homemade snacks to school.
“What happens, for example, if someone makes a box of brownies?” she asked. “There may not be nuts in the brownies, but they may have been eating them while they were mixing the batter. And that’s enough to cause a deadly reaction in my children. I hate that it has to come to this for the other parents, but I want to safeguard the safety of my children.”
“We understand that some kids are going to bring a peanut butter sandwich to school,” Cleveland said last week. “Our plan will be to replace that with a grilled cheese sandwich.”
He said it’s also important that the policy not ostracize those students who suffer from the allergies.
“This is a small price to pay to protect that child’s health,” he added. “I want these little kids to have the chance to grow up to be big kids.”
For the Lozier kids, the allergies are permanent. They won’t outgrow them. In fact, every exposure makes their reaction worse.
“We have to watch every food item. We have to read every label. We have to look at everything that goes into their mouths,” Lozier explained.
For example, the Lozier boys can eat regular Goldfish. But when it comes to those that have flavorings, like cheese and pizza flavorings, they have to say “No thank you.” Those items contain nut oils that are added during the processing.
“I don’t want to inconvenience other kids,” Lozier said. “But these steps are necessary as a safe guard for my boys’ very lives.”

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