This might explain why Scoot was more inquisitive about my son's allergy recently. In the past, when I informed the FA about the epi-pen I am carrying (I seem to recall that it is required under the terms and conditions), the matter has ended there every time. This year, on two trips, the FA came back with a senior FA to quiz me about the allergy.
In my specific case, there is no threat to life as my son has not ever had an anaphylactic reaction even if he were to consume the items. The epi-pen was prescribed merely as a precautionary measure. If we could be removed from the plane because of this, perhaps I should reconsider informing the FAs in future.
Also, to crewmeal,
The Peanut Institute - Allergy says
Smelling the aroma of peanuts is not the same as inhaling peanut particles that could potentially contain the allergenic protein. The aroma of peanuts comes from different compounds that cannot cause an allergic reaction.
In one controlled study that looked at this, 30 children with significant peanut allergy were exposed to peanut butter, which was either pressed on the skin for one minute, or the aroma was inhaled. Reddening or flaring of the skin occurred in about one third of the children, but none of the children in the study experienced a reaction either in their lungs or throughout their bodies!
So you can still enjoy the smell of cashews. And perhaps that is why HM, we do not see them wearing masks. Unless you are crushing nuts or opening a packet of crushed nuts, I doubt there is enough airborne particles to trigger any but the most severely sensitive person (but I am not a doctor, do not take medical advice from random strangers on the internet).