This story was originally published in The Highlight, Vox’s member-exclusive magazine. To get early access to member-exclusive stories every month, join the Vox Membership program today.

If, like me, you’re a parent of a young child, there’s one thing you’ve come to fear above all else. (And no, it’s not “Golden” from KPop Demon Hunters played for the 10,000th time, though that’s a close second.)

It’s the humble peanut. Even if your child isn’t allergic to the nuts, past surveys have shown as many as 4.5 percent of kids in the US are, which means consistently scouring lunchboxes and snack packs for even traces of peanuts. And for a long time, this problem was getting worse — the self-reported prevalence of peanut or tree nut allergies among children in the US more than tripled between 19

See Full Page