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

Is it Wheat or gluten the child is allergic to? I know it isn't cheap but could you buy Gluten free bread/wraps as an alternative?

Far too restrictive, especially in a setting where many children will only eat limited foods anyway. The school need to sort something.

Ref, the pork - as a baby my son was diagnosed with dairy intolerance (sweats, sinus and chest congestion, rash, eczema) and I was advised not to feed him pork because pigs are fed on whey. Perhaps this is why the parents added it to the list and it’s been misconstrued? 24yrs later he is still mostly dairy free but eats pork without symptom.

My son is in a SEN school and they was offering a trail for a child with a severe peanut allergy. Was was advised that no one I mean no one was eat anything with peanuts in who was in contact with our child for a week beforehand. That's impossible. If that child started at school we would be expected to never eat anything containing peanuts ever. It's not possible with the best will in the world. I can't guarantee it because I don't check all labels. How will they police it? You might need him a dedicated set of ingredients just for lunch and hope for the best.

I'm not an expert but I understand the issue is microscopic pieces of cat skin rather than cat hair. So hair on clothes is unlikely to cause a problem. The microscopic pieces of skin are more likely to be picked up from furniture, curtains, etc. rather than children's clothes.

Turn it on its head.

Ask the school for a list of foods that are allowed.

This is difficult but can be done with some planning and might end up being much healthier overall. In your position, I would make a schedule where you pack the same lunch on specific days that way it becomes automated. For instance: Monday = homemade dairy and wheat-free muffin with sliced cucumber & tomato and fruit. Tuesday = lentil pasta (we use a brand of pasta that is just made from lentils), veggies and fruit. Wednesday = roasted squash with quinoa, etc.

If your child has restricted eating then this will clearly be very difficult and in that case the school needs to help provide a work around. Good luck!

My child’s school (SEN autism only) addressed these conflicting needs by providing meat free, nut free, healthy school dinner. The meals met most children’s dietary requirements, but those with very restrictive allergies or other issues around communal eating were provided with lunch in an alternative setting suitable to their needs. It is the school’s responsibility to manage this.

Exactly @JenniferBarkley I laughed out loud at the thought of my and other SEN kids being suddenly able to eat ‘alternatives’! Not in a million years.

I understand the banned nuts and seeds
Not sure I get the wheat, maybe they’re worried about crumbs transferring into someone food or sharing food.
Really don’t understand the pork
Never heard of an allergy to pork….that’s a new one

Monday = homemade dairy and wheat-free muffin with sliced cucumber & tomato and fruit. Tuesday = lentil pasta (we use a brand of pasta that is just made from lentils), veggies and fruit. Wednesday = roasted squash with quinoa, etc.

These are not things kids would eat as standard in a packed lunch, and changes like this may be nigh on impossible to implement for children with additional needs.

The school needs to come up with a resolution, not just push it to parents.

@lunchme Do you have a Kosher shop near to you? Parev products have no milk, obviously no pork and quite often are gluten free, especially if they are Kosher for Pesach. If you explain what you need the shop keeper should be able to help you.

What were to happen if a child at the school has/d ARFID? and their safe foods included those allergens?

This is ludicrous and I say that as someone who has life-threatening allergies myself. He may well be allergic to them all but not all allergens travel as effectively as peanut dust (which is where the whole school banning foods started).

You absolutely cannot expect parents to not send in a sandwich on normal bread, with dairy butter on it and a slice of ham in the middle.

This is a tricky one and something I am navigating as I’m about to try to send my severely allergic three year old to preschool. For her the issue is milk and egg - she is anaphylactic on contact. She also has a nut allergy but that doesn’t bother me as much as people seem more aware and it’s less liquid. So things like cups of tea, mayo, ice cream and cheese spread are dangerous as they are easily spilt. No, it’s not feasible or fair on her to just shut her away for her whole academic life. The difficulty is with young children so much is spilt/smeared etc that it is a dangerous environment for her. And to a previous poster, yes we do avoid cafes, places where people are walking around eating ice cream etc.

I also work in special schools, often all food is eaten in the classroom and because of the additional behavioural needs of the children food gets places even when people are being careful. There are also severe staff shortages which means it may not be possible for one child to sit alone every meal. I wonder if this is what is behind the request from the school.

You also have to weigh up the social and self esteem developments of the child. With my daughter if she doesn’t get the extra support from the education dept that she needs for me and the school to feel she is safe then she won’t be going until she is able to take care of herself more. At the moment there is no extra staffing for anybody to be able to sit with her separately so it will need to be provided. It’s a very difficult situation for all concerned and is about so much more than a lunchbox. Often kids with anaphylaxis have a severely restricted life as it is, and I think schools should do what they can to make life more normal for them. I do agree this is a very long list for people to avoid however, and if these allergies are not all severe would question the ban. I also wonder if this is just one classroom who has been asked to do this rather than the whole school.

Yes, it's not like with NT kids who don't have any special needs, restricted eating etc where you could conceivably tell them to suck it up and where the old maxim about them not starving themselves would actually hold true. You can't just take a group of DC whose needs are sufficient that the state has agreed to fund specialist schooling, in this gatekeeping climate, and assume they'll be fine having their safe foods pissed about with.

Sushi Rolls?

This is what I was going to say. Surely all the allergies can’t be airborne?

@TortillaChipAddict My child has very restrictive eating, same packed lunch for 3 years! However if the school contacted us saying that a parent’s child had your kid’s allergies, and said specifically what they were, I would be very happy to work with the teacher’s to come up with a solution. I guess it’s different in SEN as there is often things kids can’t cope with, so sitting on their own for a bit does happen if they don’t like story time or whatever, so they are more able to accommodate. But I would hope your child at least has some chance of being included.

Omg I thought there was only one page! Why do I always do that!?!?

This is total bs. Milk, wheat and pork allergies are not airborne in the way that nut allergies can be, therefore there is no need for other children to have to restrict their lunches. I’d totally ignore this tbh, absolute nonsense.

@LemonSwan This is an SEN school. SEN children often have issues with taste/texture of food, and its quite common for them to get set on a short list of particular foods - one lady who has posted on this thread said that her daughter would starve herself rather than eat anything other than cheese sandwiches at lunch time - she's not exaggerating or being overly dramatic, it's fairly common in autistic children. You can't fool these kids with vegan cheese and gluten free bread, they usually will ONLY eat e.g. dairylea regular triangles, not the low-fat ones, not Sainsbury's pretend Dairylea, not the same product from the pot not a foil triangle.

It's just not feasible to suggest that these children stop taking their regular lunches and start taking sushi which would also end up either very expensive or a time sink

Yes I know a older women not anaphylactic but will be violently ill, Also I know someone allergic to chicken.

But for someone without a peanut allergy, they would think of a simple peanut butter sandwich as a food they should be allowed to eat in school

My ds wouldn't be able to eat either he has a cheese and tomato pizza for lunch everyday and a yoghurt or brioche roll at snack time he also has ASD and eat limited foods no would be suitable for school.