Why are peanut allergies so common now?

Why do so many kids seem to have peanut allergies now?

• I'm 42 and I don't seem to remember this being a problem at all when I was a kid.

• Answer:

  One theory is that bioengineered peanuts yield oils and secretions that are more likely to cause allergies. "Bioengineering" is the process of taking seeds from the plants that bear the most fruit to plant for the next year. While this does increase the amount of fruit harvested in a single year, it also causes mutations in the plant species. There are very few [if any] "natural" peanut plants left in the world. Corn is another often-bioengineered product. The problem here is that the mutations are effecting the insects that spread the reproductive substance of the plants [like pollen]. There has been argument about whether food made with bioengineered substances should be so labeled in the stores. This could avoid some of the potential food allergy issues cause by bioengineered food.