Nightmare lunch box type ban at school

[lunchme]

DS is 7 and attends a special school.

They have a new pupil coming in and the new list of banned foods are things containing -

Peanuts
Cashews
Sesame
Milk
Wheat
Barley
Almond
Pork

They announced this on our class up this afternoon and no further instruction! But they insist on DS having packed lunch and not school dinners since he likes lunches better because he's seen other kids having crisps etc

My DS has an allergy of sesame and his other classmate was peanuts. The other allergies are all from one child

This isn't to slag off a poor child. I just wish they'd give more notice than a Thursday afternoon

prepare to be surprised www.verywellhealth.com/meat-allergy-82891

Well an intolerance is very different to a severe allergy which can cause anaphylactic. Shock.,but I agree with your principle.

My dd has a long list of allergies. She's in a special school. She sits in with her linked adult at lunchtime to eat. Seems daft to expect everyone else to avoid so many things for one child. Especially seeing as most of the kids also have food issues due to their ASD. Bonkers

You can be allergic to anything.

How is the cost of being gluten free being tackled for everyone? It costs more to buy gluten free and is an expense in addition for those who are not allergic/intolerant.
If it’s no pork for religious reasons the school needs to ask parents/carers to check for gelatine in sweets and other food products.

Could you ask for their menus to get ideas?

Gosh that's a ridiculously restrictive list. I'd question it tbh. I suspect the child has an airborne allergy to one thing and non-airborne allergies to the rest and the school haven't read the material correctly.

Someone who couldn't be in the same room as milk or wheat would struggle to leave the house.

I'm sure there could be an arrangement that works for everyone - no food in the classroom maybe? Although presumably some children would struggle with that change too.

I'd be fighting the school on this. It's way too restrictive.

Imagine being that kid... jesus. Allergic to life. That's sad.

I'd be insisting on school dinners in that case as a lunch box will no longer work. Make it their problem.

That is completely unreasonable, many kids have very restricted diets, one of mine only ate ham sandwiches at that age, every single day. Yogurt is normal in a packed lunch too

I think you need to politely question this (nuts aside). I’m happy to be corrected but live with one person with a wheat allergy and one who is lactose intolerant and neither has issues with ‘airborne particles’.

The wheat allergy person is more sensitive in terms of cross contamination but we’re talking they’d have to lock someone’s lunchbox who’s eaten a sandwich and ingested A LOT of crumbs.

The milk allergy, is that CMP/lactose or what?

I can tell you it’s way more expensive shopping for and buying ‘free from’ foods and I suspect your child will know the difference in many cases and not like it.

*lick

I'd be very surprised if 1 child had all those as allergies. It's a heck of a list!

If this is a specialist school then it's likely this child will be eating with a key worker or multiple 1-1s so unless the allergies were airborne then it would absolutely not be a risk to them if another child had a sandwich.

I would be asking for your child to eat with the school dinners if they don't have to comply with the list because they have a separate room.

I have a severe nut allergy and react to the airborne particles so I understand the ban on those but surely milk, wheat, barely and pork would only cause a reaction if ingested?

Wow poor kid, how do they safely leave the house? I liked someone's suggestion of asking for their meal plan so you can copy ideas.

It's utterly ridiculous to expect the world to adapt to accommodate allergies. If you have an allergy then you need to avoid the allergen- teach children not share their lunches etc. And I can't imagine anyone is going to be harmed because someone else eats pork! How stupid! How on earth are these children going to exist in the world if they can't be in the same room as pork?

I really don't see how that can be enforced. It makes packed lunches unworkable for many kids.
The school need to sort this out.

I knew a child who was allergic to milk (and other stuff incl nuts, sesame etc) and she used to get really quite ill from touching something that had been touched by someone who had handled anything containing cows milk protein. So I think that one can be quite serious. I don't know about the others. But if they are as serious as this, I suspect the answer is probably insisting on school dinners for everyone and making them safe.

Good point. Perhaps the school needs to better supervise the times the kids are eating to ensure no one eats food from another child’s lunchbox

Lots of children in special schools can’t eat school dinners - because they struggle with food. My DD works in a special school. Getting children to eat is very difficult, and many have very, very restricted diets. Even with packed lunches brought from home, they often won’t eat them.

Wait, so your child's needs are more important than the other child? Nope, doesn't work that way.

It is unfortunate for all children involved and I hope that a solution can be reached, I agree OP, it's shit.

This child is probably Coeliac and has allergy for lactose. But pork??? It's definitely religious shit, no way I would follow that stupid list.

We had a child we several really severe allergies. People still put in things like Nutella when someone who did this sent this child to ICU for a month! No one ever did it since then

its life. People are allergic and I for one have zero problem not putting those foods in a lunch box.

Just say it's not possible/cost efficient for you to avoid these allergens so if they want to provide lunches for him that meet their requirements, they are more than welcome, otherwise, you will continue to avoid all nuts but not the others allergens.
It's not reasonable to restrict other children's diet to this extent.