Definition of a Peanut Free/Nut Free Home?

As you all know by now, I don’t eat at other people’s homes unless they are 100% peanut/nut free. We were invited to someone’s home for dinner where the hostess actually had a peanut allergy. One would assume that if you go to someone’s house where there is someone with a peanut allergy, that their home would be peanut free. Wrong!!

Before eating, I asked if everything was nut free to which she responded ‘of course’. While the evening was really nice and the food was entirely peanut/nut free, I later found out that they keep peanut butter in the home for the peanut butter loving husband. My husband gave up peanuts cold turkey, so this could lead into a whole other discussion but it won’t!!

As soon as I heard that they keep peanut butter in the home, my heart skipped a beat. I don’t know why, We were finished dinner and I was totally fine. It’s not like the peanut butter was going to jump out of the pantry onto the plate, but I have been consumed by the whole idea of how people define peanut/nut free? To me it’s easy, a kitchen completely free of all peanuts, nuts and any product that states may contain traces of peanuts or nuts. With a jar of PB in the pantry this ultimately impacts the level of control one has in a peanut/nut free home. I could not stop thinking about when he eats it? Where does he keep it? Does he use a plate? Does he eat it near his wife? What if she touches the plate after? We all make our own decisions, and we know our respective comfort zones. The allergic hostess has been living with a peanut loving husband for a few years and she’s just fine.

The big question is I am posing is what defines a peanut/nut free home in your opinion. This sounds like a simple question, but there are many answers.

:)

J.