The possible scenario is :- No peanut ingestion = 101% fit and well ; whereas, possibly even a tiny trace of peanuts in an otherwise innocuous crew meal might = major, life-threatening, anaphylactic reaction at any time at all !
Thanks for getting back to me, Ulster! Your above point certainly hits the nail on the head. Unfortunately the diagnosis is certain - he attended a clinic some years ago with his older sister, who seems to be more badly affected and has been hospitalized. My son tested positive for peanuts, cashews and (to a very small extent) Brazil nuts, but OK for all other nuts and other common allergens. There's a slim chance he might grow out of it, and we haven't investigated desensitisation yet - though with the incidence in the UK at around 1 percent and increasing, the hope is that medical research will come up with an answer before long. There must be many people walking around with this condition who never have it diagnosed, or are at least aware they have a problem but are not prescribed Epipens – these are often the cases you tend to hear about in the news.
In the meantime I'll follow your advice and contact the CAA medical department for their opinion. I've seen one of their forms which asks about allergies but nothing to indicate "what happens if...". I'll certainly let you know what they say.
The good news is the local Air Cadets officer got back to me this morning and said that there is nothing stopping my son joining up if he wants to as long as he knows how to use his medication. So not all bad news.
