CLEVELAND -- Some schools across the country are faced with the question: "To ban or not to ban?" The product in question is peanut butter.

NewsChannel5's Jonathan Costen reports that Americans might see that question pop up more in the future.

About a year ago, Leslie Redd got the scare of her life when her 2-year-old daughter Leeanna got a bite of a friend's peanut butter sandwich.

"I was scared to death," Redd said. "I tried driving her (to the hospital) myself, and then I realized school was letting out and (that) I wasn't going to make it, so I called 911 and they came to get her. I was scared to death because I know how quickly it could affect (her) breathing."

Leeanna is allergic to peanut butter, as are many other children.

"It could be life-threatening, (but) most times it's just hives, which are itchy and red," Dr. Lewis Walker, an allergist with Akron Children's Hospital, said.

Should peanut butter be banned altogether in schools? Most schools serve peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and snacks with peanut butter for a few reasons.

"First of all, kids like it," Dale Ann Panovich, a food service director from the Copley-Fairlawn School District, said. "I don't care if it's a kindergartner or a senior in high school -- they like peanut butter."

In addition, the food is healthy. It's also outright inexpensive compared to other foods.

"It's a good source of protein, (it) has no cholesterol, (it's) high in vitamin E, and the government gives (it to) us as part (of) the commodity program," Panovich said. "They give us peanut butter for a reasonable cost.

The Food Allergy Network said that banning peanut butter would be counterproductive, because it would create a false sense of security and pit parents against parents. The network believes that education is the key.

One allergist agrees that banning isn't the answer.

"What we advise our parents to do is go to the school and talk it over with the principal and teacher and then meet with the parents of the children (who) are in that particular class," Walker said.

Children are allergic to all types of foods, including milk, so many schools handle allergies on a student-by-student basis.