Reducing Peanut Allergies

Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023

Tifton, Georgia

478-227-7126 ~ www.tiftongrapevine.com

EATING PEANUTS AT YOUNG AGE REDUCES PEANUT ALLERGIES PEANUT COMMISSION DIRECTOR SAYS

By BONNIE SAYLES

Tifton Grapevine

Keeping infants away from peanut products could be the No. 1 cause of peanut allergies later in childhood, says Don Koehler, executive director of the Georgia Peanut Commission.

During a talk Wednesday to the Tifton Rotary Club, the peanut director said that peanuts, one of Georgia’s largest exports, has become the “whipping boy” for allergies.

“Almost every household in the America has peanut butter,” Koehler said. “The peanut penetration in U.S. households is over 95%.” However, he said, North America and Western Europe lead the world in peanut allergies.

Koehler said that researcher Dr. Gideon Lack was one of the original proponents of keeping children away from peanuts until they were three years old. Now, Lack and his studies show that his recommendation did more to increase the incidence of peanut allergies than anything else.

“Infants with severe eczema and/or egg allergy have a higher risk of being allergic to peanuts,” according to the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. “But it is now known that earlier introduction of peanut-containing foods reduces the subsequent risk of developing a peanut allergy.”

Peanut allergy has been a North American and Western European issue, Koehler said.

“We didn’t see it in Africa, and they eat a lot of peanuts in Africa. We didn’t see it in India or China. China and India grow more peanuts than anywhere else in the world,” so early exposure to the product was not the problem.

“So now, we’re in an major educational effort with pediatricians to tell them the good news that as soon as a child is old enough, (they should) have peanut protein in their milk or on a spoon to lick," Koehler said.

“We introduce peanut protein to infants by the time they are four months old, and over 90% of the peanut allergies are eliminated by that process.”

Georgia grows more peanuts than all states combined, Koehler said.

“Our research has outpaced our ability to grow an edible market,” Koehler said. “We’re going on a new initiative” to look at nonedible uses of peanuts.

In the early 1900s, George Washington Carver at Tuskegee Institute developed more than 300 uses for the peanut, and more than half of them were nonfood uses, Koehler said.

“Our peanut jet fuel is the hottest burning and the cleanest that has been ever put in a jet engine,” he said. Another potential use for peanuts is biodegradable replacement for plastics, Koehler added.

ADEL WOMAN DIES IN TRAFFIC COLLISION AFTER BEING EJECTED WAS MANAGER OF TJ MAXX IN VALDOSTA

By FRANK SAYLES JR.

Tifton Grapevine

An Adel woman who managed the TJ Maxx store in Valdosta died in a two-vehicle wreck Friday night just east of Adel in Cook County, authorities said.

Amy Pharr Hires, 49, a front-seat passenger in a vehicle, was pronounced dead at the scene after being ejected during a collision at the intersection of Ga. Highway 76 and Ga. 37, according to the Georgia State Patrol (GSP).

A red GMC Acadia was turning left from the westbound lane of Ga. 76 onto Ga. 37 while a white Jeep was traveling east on Ga. 76; the Acadia failed to yield, hitting the Jeep in which Hires was riding, according to the GSP.

The GSP Specialized Collision Reconstruction Team is investigating the accident.

Hires was the manager of TJ Maxx in Valdosta for more than 25 years. Her funeral is at 11 a.m. Wednesday at Lenox Baptist Church.

ROSALYN CARTER'S SERVICES SET MON-WED

By FRANK SAYLES JR.

Tifton Grapevine

Funeral and celebration services have been announced for Rosalynn Carter, the former first lady of the United States and of Georgia, who died Sunday at 96 in her home in Plains.

“Rosalynn was my equal partner in everything I ever accomplished,” her husband, former President Jimmy Carter, once said. “She gave me wise guidance and encouragement when I needed it."

Rosalyn Carter had been diagnosed with dementia in May and entered Hospice care earlier this month, her family said. President Carter, 99, has been in Hospice care at home since February.

Mrs. Carter's ceremonies are scheduled Monday, Nov. 27, through Wednesday, Nov. 29. On Monday, her hearse is to arrive at 11 a.m. at the Rosalynn Carter Health and Human Sciences Complex at Georgia Southwestern State University in Americus for a wreath-laying ceremony.

A repose ceremony will begin at 3:30 p.m. in the lobby of the Carter Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta, and the public will be allowed to pay their respects from 6-10 p.m. A shuttle service will be available at St. Luke's Episcopal Church at 435 Peachtree Street NE.

On Tuesday, a tribute service is set for 11:30 a.m. at Glenn Memorial Church at Emory University with invited guests.

On Wednesday, the funeral is scheduled at 11 a.m. at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains with family and invited friends. Afterward, Mrs. Carter will be interred in a private ceremony at the Carter's residence in Plains, which the couple has owned since 1961. The Carters have donated their property to the National Park Service to become a historic site following both of their deaths.

The public is welcome to line the family motorcade route Wednesday afternoon as it proceeds from the church, down Bond Street, and along Highway 280 in downtown Plains. Viewing areas will be designated, and the public is asked to respect private property and park only in designated areas.

Condolence books will be available to sign at Georgia Southwestern State University, at the Plains Welcome Center, and Plains High School, and at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta.

Tifton Tree Board city liaison Michael Mitchem shows Tifton City Council the framed print that the Georgia Tree Council awarded the city board for being named an Outstanding Civic Organization in the state. The Georgia Tree Council had commissioned the painting, 'Oaks on Broadway,' depicting a street in Columbus.

TIFTON TREE BOARD NAMED OUTSTANDING CIVIC ORGANIZATION

Tifton Grapevine Staff Reports

The Tifton Tree Board has received the Georgia Tree Council 's 2023 Outstanding Civic Organization Grand Award, recognizing the board for exceptional efforts in protecting and promoting Tifton’s "urban forest."

The Tifton board received a framed print of an original painting, “Oaks on Broadway,” by the late artist Barry Nehr, commissioned for the Georgia Tree Council.

“The environmental and health benefits that trees bring to an area are invaluable,” said Mary Lynne Beckley, executive director of the Georgia Tree Council. “The Tifton Tree Board has worked diligently to ensure those benefits are available to their community through a healthy tree canopy.”

The Tifton Tree Board, established more than 20 years ago, advises city officials and the community on care, preservation, pruning, planting, replanting, removal, and disposition of trees and shrubs within the city. More than 1,000 trees have been planted since the board’s establishment, with 160 being planted this year alone.

In 2021, the board was awarded a grant through the Southwest Georgia ReLeaf Program that provided funding to plant 165 trees, replacing those lost from Hurricane Michael in 2018. Just last month, the board was awarded $13,715 from the Georgia ReLeaf Program to plant trees in in disadvantaged areas of Tifton.

An additional grant, being sought this year through Trees Across Georgia, would provide funding for the city to hire a full-time position responsible for community outreach and tree maintenance, continued planting along rights of way within Tifton’s disadvantaged areas, and the removal of mature trees at the end of their life span.

Currently, the Tifton Tree Board and the City of Tifton, with the assistance of Green Infrastructure Center Inc., are developing a plan to recover and manage Tifton’s tree canopy and urban forest. In the next six months, the Tree Board and a citizen steering committee will create a strategy for increasing and managing the city’s tree canopy.

Current members of the Tifton Tree Board are Jimmy Felton, Todd Green, Elizabeth McCarty, Al Potts, Dr. George Vellidis, and city liaison Michael Mitchem.

TIFTON-TIFT COUNTY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

RIBBON CUTTING

Transitions Hair & Color Salon

161 Love Ave., Tifton

Nov. 17

TIFTON GRAPEVINE'S CAT OF THE WEEK

"Charlotte" is looking for a good home for the holidays. Come visit her at the Tift County Animal Shelter and see other pets available for adoption between 1-6 p.m. Mondays through Fridays at the shelter on Highway 125 South, or call 229-382-PETS (7387).

'HALLELUJAH DAY HAS COME'

~ NOV. 23, 1906

On Nov. 23, 1906, Tifton was awarded the site of the state's new Second District A&M (Agricultural and Mechanical) School, the forerunner of Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College. "The Hallelujah Day Has Come, Tifton Lands the A&M School," proclaimed a headline in The Tifton Gazette.