We, the allergic community comprised of food allergy sufferers, parents, allergists, pediatricians, teachers, school nurses and caregivers, are outraged that you have decided to introduce peanut flour into your Keebler and Austin brand crackers, products that are not generally associated with peanuts and are favorites of children.

While there is no doubt that you will relabel your products to warn of peanut content, your decision will put at risk thousands of peanut-allergic consumers who already purchase these brands. Furthermore, shoppers that have no reason to believe that a cheese cracker might contain peanuts may never read your advisories, endangering themselves or the children in their care.

While we understand your interest in raising the protein and lowering the carbohydrate content of your products in as cheaply a manner as possible, doing so using peanuts – the allergen most responsible for triggering anaphylaxis, an allergic reaction that can result in horrific consequences including death – is unethical and irresponsible. Surely there are other less allergenic alternatives that will achieve your nutrition goals without endangering this large and growing community, even if doing so means sacrificing some of your profit in the interest of serving that community.

We urge you to reconsider this move which will undoubtedly call into question the safety of other Keebler, Austin, and Kellogg's products while tarnishing these brands for a generation to come.