Pesto in lunch box - nut free school

😄😄😄 wow, what an awful take

This post has made me feel better about myself

I can eat shop brand pesto, and have been called a 'liar' for saying I have a nut allergy 🙄

Really? You call protecting children from potential death ‘pandering’?

This won’t help and actually we once had an incident when a child who went to my dd nursery had a reaction every single
week for 3 weeks . They realised that it was the once a week music session where they had recorders etc out after lunch and the child was sharing with others who had dairy which he was allergic to. Awareness is more important than bans which give a false sense of security.

It very often has cashews if it’s come from a supermarket (Sacla and Tesco’s own both list cashews as ingredients for a start). As someone whose child has a peanut and nut allergy I wouldn’t let them eat pesto.

That said I wouldn’t be overly worried if a child at school was eating it and half the time schools have nut bans with no actually nut allergic children. If there’s actually a severe nut allergy in the class I’d expect the school to put in more useful allergy protection - scrupulous handwashing, table cleaning etc. There’s a very very dairy allergic child in my oldest’s class, but they haven’t attempted to ban yogurt and cheese - that child sits in a designated “clean” spot at lunch, the whole class is monitored washing hands upon arrival and immediately after eating, they all know not to share food with Katie etc etc.

Most jarred pesto does contain cashews, as pp say above — but you can buy pesto without cashews (eg. Genovese pesto), or make your own pesto without pine nuts using basil and pecorino.

We had to be careful with pestos when DD sat next to a boy with severe nut allergies at primary school. He could have pine nuts but not cashews, and DD liked pesto pasta for her packed lunch, so we got used to looking for the non-cashew pesto!

And the award for the most out of touch, ridiculous post goes to...

There’s a dangerous tendency for people to think that only nut allergies can be serious when in fact anaphylaxis regardless of cause is life threatening. I appreciate that sometimes nuts can be ‘dusty’ which makes them prone to becoming airborne particles but if any allergy is severe then contact of any type is likely to result in a reaction.

Don’t be silly.

It is correct.
Just because you are allergic to nuts doesn’t mean you are allergic to pine nuts and vice versa.

Of course you can be allergic to both but the pine nut allergy is not due to the nut allergy. Just as a cat is not a nut just because you are allergic to both nuts and cats.

I DID say I wasn’t sure whether the pesto had other nuts in it - depends if home made, if shops made then the brand etc

Mine too, also can't have ready made curries from supermarkets as they are full of them

Peanuts, pine nuts, pecans and walnuts are what DD tested allergic to, though she does actually eat pine nuts in pesto no problem, but I think the OP’s friend is being a dick.

Pesto is often made with cashew nuts and this is one of the most severe allergies. It could result in a fatality. She knows and she doesn't care. I would have a quiet word with school.

Regardless of the nut issue, a croissant with an oil-based spread and cheese inside it is as far from healthy as you can get. If your friend thinks that’s healthier than school dinners she’s delusional.

My son has a bad cashew nut allergy and cannot have pesto for this reason.

Not trying to patronise you. Some nut allergy sufferers have kiwi allergies alongside them, and if that's the case I'd expect the school to add kiwi to the ban. Similarly if an allergy sufferer was reactive to pine nuts the school should add them.

It's hot completely out of hand pandering to a minority. Why should the child have to give up her delicious lunch because someone might have an allergy?

Allergy sufferers should be taken out of school during the lunch hour by the parents/nanny/grandparents etc or given a safe room to eat their nut free food.

Actually, most of the supermarket owners brands of pesto also contains cashew nuts. It’s incredibly selfish of a parent to send in any food containing nuts to a nut free school.
OP, tell your friend about the cashew nuts, and notify the school too.

Thank you for patronising my actual lives experience but I beg to differ, and maybe my experience is that of a child at the school and hence the advice given.

I agree, Schools don't have dairy free policies, yet more children suffer anaphylactic reactions to dairy than to nuts. Having allergen free schools can provide a false sense of security.

This. Pine nuts are SPENDY. Most pesto is bulked out with cashew.

Actually a large proportion of people with (specifically) tree nut allergies are dangerously allergic to pine nuts. So what you is is 100% incorrect.

My son has a serious cashew allergy

Forgot to add pic

Thank you for this information, but your experience isn't the usual one.

https://www.anaphylaxis.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Pine-nuts-allergy-factsheet.pdf

www.allergyuk.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Tree-Nut-Allergy-v2.pdf