Is eating Peanut butter before school breaking the ‘nut free’ rules ??

[RenaissanceGraffiti]

Dd has ARFID and autism so has a limited diet . Breakfast is always peanut butter on toast.
School is nut free and one day dd last week dd had gone in and said she had PB when they’d been chatting about breakfast - after school the TA said as there’s a child in the class with a nut allergy can we give dd a different breakfast ?? Surely this isn’t breaking the rules !!

If your daughter hadn't mentioned it, no one would ever has known what she ate for breakfast

Not eating peanuts immediately before coming into school with a child with a life-threatening peanut allergy isn't way beyond ‘show a bit of consideration’.

My friend has never, in 30 years, asked me not to eat nuts just before meeting him. But I wouldn't do it, because my wish to eat nuts at that specific time is less important than, you know, killing someone.

I've been an indoor lunchtime supervisor for years. No one has ever told me not to eat peanut butter or nuts (or other food like kiwis) before doing into school. I normally eat before I go in and this never occurred to me. Having said that, I choose to always wash my hands on entry and exit - maybe that's something she could do before leaving the house.

No. But.

We have a child with a VERY severe nut allergy in our school. We have asked families with children that eat nuts/peanut butter before coming to school to please wash hands/brush teeth before coming in. Families have been just fine with the request.

It really is that severe, and no one wants to endanger a child's life. It's not a difficult request.

We were told they just need to make sure their teeth are brushed and nothing on their clothes. You can’t never eat nuts outside of school.

At a training session for exam invigilators recently I was very surprised to be told we should avoid eating nuts for breakfast (not just peanuts, any type of nut) before going into work as some students had allergies.

I don't know if they ask all 1000+ students and staff to do this or just requested it from the invigilators.

It's not a difficult request.

for all sorts of reasons that assumption will not be true for many people.

It’s not a reasonable adjustment. Or something you as a school can control.

if you ask your employer to ensure nut free colleagues, you are going to be told that is not a reasonable adjustment. They’re going to decide that permanent home working is the actual adjustment they can make.

Things need to be proportionate. They need to be realistic. They need to take into consideration the effects on other people.

The OP is washing her daughter's hands and face, changing her clothes and brushing her teeth before school.

Her life and wellbeing is just as important as the child with a nut allergy. ARFID can also be life threatening

You don’t know that families are actually complying with the instruction to not eat peanuts.

or that they understand what that means.

I used to think about this as my one of my kids had a very allergic child in her class but ultimately unless every child kept a but free house at home how on earth could you guarantee there are no traces on you? My kids had crunchy nut breakfasts and we also used to feed the birds with bird feed on the way to school which contained nuts and so there had to be minute traces on their clothes. It was never brought into school. They washed hands as soon as they were in and It never affected the other child at all. The other child must be exposed to this level of allergen in their daily life surely or they would never go out. I don’t think the school can mandate to you what you can eat before you enter the building but they should rigorously enforce hand washing as soon as they are in to avoid any cross contamination.

No they can't dictate east you eat outside school
Allergic kids will encounter people that have eaten nuts earlier in sll aspects of life.

Could you do breakfast before getting dressed if it is concerning you?

Is there are documented cases of a child reacting to the breath of another child who had had nuts a couple of hours before?

I can find advice that it is in saliva for several hours, but I doubt the children are kissing in class...

Absolutely this.

Aside from which banning nuts goes against recommended advice.

The level of hysteria on this thread is utterly unwarranted and unhelpful to everyone.

See: www.allergyuk.org/living-with-an-allergy/at-school/#:~:text=No%20nut%20policy,snacks%20brought%20in%20from%20home.

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No nut policy

Many parents and schools try to implement a ‘ban’ certain foods (such as nuts) from school premises. However, we do not recommend a ‘no nut policy’ in schools, as it is not possible to guarantee and enforce a nut free zone, as staff cannot monitor all lunches and snacks brought in from home. A free from environment creates a false sense of security and does not safely prepare children for environments where nuts may be present. The school would need to consider other children with different food allergies and it is not practical to restrict them all. Therefore, the school should have procedures in place to minimise risk of reaction via cross contamination.

No, carry on giving her the breakfast she enjoys.

This. If you were sending DC to school with it smeared over their mouth and hands it would be different.

My son is autistic and nuts are his only protein source so he has it at every meal I wash hands and brush teeth. For lunch he has soy nut free version from amazon. We would struggle a lot without his, haven't been told to do otherwise

Any school that is guaranteeing parents a nut free environment and nut free classmates is being extremely foolish and hasn’t thought it through.

I remember reading this guidance when considering whether to have nut-free breakfasts at home.

https://www.allergyuk.org/living-with-an-allergy/at-school/#:~:text=If%20your%20child%20has%20a,expired%20ones%20should%20be%20replaced.

It's a ridiculous motion and not one I would ever have entertained.

It sounds as if you are taking all the right precautions - and managing difficult circumstances yourself.

A pedantic point: peanuts are not nuts they are pulses. (My daughter has a peanut allergy but can eat nuts. A nut allergy might not mean a peanut allergy... clutching at twigs here)

I highly doubt this is something the child's medical team have asked for.

Just make sure hands and face etc are washed and teeth are brushed

My children have multiple allergies including nuts , milk, egg. They've both had anaphylaxis to milk/egg (including from contact only in one case) but we accept children are likely to eat those things most days not just before school but at school.

I highly doubt this is something the child's medical team have asked for.

Just make sure hands and face etc are washed and teeth are brushed

My children have multiple allergies including nuts , milk, egg. They've both had anaphylaxis to milk/egg (including from contact only in one case) but we accept children are likely to eat those things most days not just before school but at school.

I don’t have a child with a serious allergy and would probably think very differently if I had. But given the circumstances (before school, autism, hand washing and tooth brush after) I think the risk is very very minimal. It’s not possible or practical to eliminate nuts or contact with them in every home of every child who is in contact.

@RenaissanceGraffiti this is from the Allergy UK website : """No nut policy Many parents and schools try to implement a ‘ban’ certain foods (such as nuts) from school premises. However, we do not recommend a ‘no nut policy’ in schools, as it is not possible to guarantee and enforce a nut free zone, as staff cannot monitor all lunches and snacks brought in from home. A free from environment creates a false sense of security and does not safely prepare children for environments where nuts may be present. The school would need to consider other children with different food allergies and it is not practical to restrict them all. Therefore, the school should have procedures in place to minimise risk of reaction via cross contamination."""" the risks associated with socialising with other people who have eaten nuts is generally over stated . its highly understandable why parents /schools wish to control risks ,it can be very anxiety provoking, but generally it's about managing the risk of ingesting allergy foods unintentionally.

My son has peanut butter for breakfast every morning. There are kids and teachers at the school with severe nut allergies and it has never caused a problem.