The second table from the front of the cafeteria looked like every other table of lively, chattering children in the River Ridge Elementary School lunchroom.

Undetectable to the untrained eye, however, first-grader Ty Carter and his friends sat in a peanut-free zone Thursday, just as they do every day.

Ty, 7, has a severe peanut allergy. He can go into anaphylactic shock if he comes in contact with peanut products or with anyone who has touched a peanut product.

Anaphylactic shock is an allergic reaction that causes swelling, difficulty in breathing, heart failure, circulatory collapse and sometimes death.

"It's not just consumption that gives him that reaction. It's the exposure," said Ty's mother, Lyn Carter.

The Columbia County school district recently agreed to stop serving peanut butter cookies at Ty's school.

"The whole thing is awareness. A lot of people aren't familiar with this," Mrs. Carter said.

She spoke to school officials, members of the school board and district administrators. Superintendent Tommy Price said a special table accommodates most children with food allergies.

"We've dealt with food allergies in the past. They're not that common, particularly ones that might be as severe as this one is," he said.

He said the decision to stop serving peanut butter cookies was easy once they spoke to Ty's family and to his allergy doctor.

"Why take the chance? There are other cookies besides peanut butter cookies," Mr. Price said.

Mrs. Carter said Ty also has asthma, which increases his reaction to food allergies.

"He's real good about his allergies," Chris Carter said of his son.

"He's real aware of them, and his friends are."

Ty usually brings his lunch to school. But Mrs. Carter said her son would have missed 27 days of school if she kept him home on the days the school serves peanut butter cookies or peanut butter clusters.

The school still serves peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. But Mrs. Carter said the sandwiches are not as much of a problem.

Unlike the cookies, which were served to everyone, she said, the sandwiches are a third option pupils seldom select for lunch.

Ty said he used to worry about going to school because he was afraid he might be exposed to a peanut product. That changed the day he found out the school no longer would serve peanut butter cookies.

"I felt happy because I won't have to worry about anybody eating peanut butter around me," Ty said.

Mrs. Carter said she would like to start a support group at the school for parents of children who have food allergies.

"I know that I wasn't alone, but I felt like it.

"There is power in numbers," she said.