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Original poster

Shit I accidentally set a marzipan into a nut free school

189 replies

FairfaxAikmann · 18/12/2023 19:23

DS gets a snack box to school as he's autistic and often doesn't eat school dinner.
The box is bigger than I would send otherwise as it's intended to be a makeshift lunch if needed.
In addition to the usual fruits, veg, cheese etc he always hangers a cake type thing - something like a mini roll.

However as it's Christmas we had mini Stollen in the house so I sent that.

I had no idea there was marzipan in the middle! I hate raisins so have never eaten the stuff and DH had taken it out of the packaging and out in the biscuit barrel.

Thankfully the SEN unit is separate and there's no nut allergies there.

But shit, I fucked up.

What's the worst you've fucked up with school stuff?

OP posts:
Original poster
FairfaxAikmann · 18/12/2023 20:37

redcar28 · 18/12/2023 20:29

My DS' school is a completely nut free school. Which is a bummer as he's autistic and is partial to a Nutella sandwich every now and again 🙄

Yup. That's another safe food I can't send in.

Luckily he'd eat his own body weight in strawberries and cucumber.

Just means his lunchbox has very little variation unfortunately.

OP posts:
bellac11 · 18/12/2023 20:37

I thought the evidence was that we have created this problem by being 'nut free' or limiting uts during pregnancy and childhood

In societies where nuts are in nearly everything, they dont have such high instances of nut allergies.

Its a real problems

43ontherocksporfavor · 18/12/2023 20:38

@bellac11 whatever the reason , that doesn’t reverse existing nut allergies.

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

General food
notahappybunny7 · 18/12/2023 20:43

bellac11 · 18/12/2023 20:37

I thought the evidence was that we have created this problem by being 'nut free' or limiting uts during pregnancy and childhood

In societies where nuts are in nearly everything, they dont have such high instances of nut allergies.

Its a real problems

Bollocks, more likely caused by antibiotics in newborns among other things.

autienotnaughty · 18/12/2023 20:43

redcar28 · 18/12/2023 20:18

Out of curiosity, what happens if you eat nuts near somebody with a severe allergy? How does the reaction happen if they don't directly consume it?

For some people nothing at all happens. For others even air borne particles or through touching surfaces or hands is enough to cause a reaction. And it can be fatal.

autienotnaughty · 18/12/2023 20:46

redcar28 · 18/12/2023 20:21

We had a flight of couple of months ago. The attendant made numerous announcements saying that somebody onboard had a severe nut allergy and we shouldn't consume any items, so I did wonder what would happen if somebody did. I can understand in a school, where food may get in the wrong hands etc

I read an article about a child who had a reaction to someone eating peanut on a plane. She lived but had to have epicentre/go hospital. It's really not worth it

FreebieWallopFridge · 18/12/2023 20:47

Beginningless · 18/12/2023 20:14

I have a good one. I found an alive tick on my puppy for the first time. I don’t kill anything so I put it in a small Tupperware while I decided what I would do with it. In the morning I’d decided I would take it on a forest walk and put it out. When I went to get it the tub was gone! I hadn’t told DH it was there and assumed tick was now crawling about our floor, as he’d have opened tub to put it in dishwasher.

Went to ask DH and it turned out he’d given DD a bit of cake for school snack and put it in the tub! This was morning time and he said he’d told her to eat it at lunch, so I rang the office and had a giggle with the office lady about the random request to check the tub. She called back 5 min later sounding brave, saying DD had eaten the cake and asked me would she be ok? I said yes and felt sorry for poor DD in case I’d freaked her out.

When I picked her up I apologised and she said ‘I saw the tick mum! It was on my cake so I went and shook it off in the sensory garden in the playground’. So some poor mum ended up with wee ticky coming home to them, probably! Oops

That’s not funny, or ok, or “a good one”

InflatableSanta · 18/12/2023 20:47

My children are severely anaphylactic to milk and egg. (And nuts)

I never see people handwringing about sending in yoghurt/cheese /cake etc.

Milk is now the leading causes of anaphylaxis in children in the UK.

Orangello · 18/12/2023 20:51

I had a friend who claimed to have an nut allergy, but liked eating chocolate marzipan.

very common to be allergic to some nuts only and not others. My son had a cashew allergy but no issues with almonds.

And yes there is good evidence that nut avoidance in early infancy increases the likelyhood that the child develops an allergy.
https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/study-finds-peanut-consumption-infancy-prevents-peanut-allergy

Study finds peanut consumption in infancy prevents peanut allergy

NIH-funded trial compares consumption and avoidance of peanut.

https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/study-finds-peanut-consumption-infancy-prevents-peanut-allergy

WhyMeWhyNowWhyNot · 18/12/2023 20:52

@notahappybunny7 its not bollocks at all - the advice has changed completely as it’s believed that lack of exposure has increased allergies. That’s not to be done by randoms in a primary school though!

@Beginningless thats not a cute story - that was really fucking stupid. You might want to educate yourself about ticks.

Illbebythesea · 18/12/2023 20:52

Pesto pasta. Got sent home with dd because of the pine nuts. I didn’t even think…

InflatableSanta · 18/12/2023 20:52

bellac11 · 18/12/2023 20:37

I thought the evidence was that we have created this problem by being 'nut free' or limiting uts during pregnancy and childhood

In societies where nuts are in nearly everything, they dont have such high instances of nut allergies.

Its a real problems

The science is not at all clear/the causes are multifactorial

There's a strong genetic link - allergies/auto immune conditions often run in families

There's thought to be a strong environmental link (pollutants stressing the body, fewer germs due to places being cleaner, a link to caesarean births...)

There may be a dietary link but the advice has varied between early exposure and late exposure being better

There may be a link the the way food is grown and processed

It's not something where the cause is a result of individual decisions, but societal changes play a part.

APurpleSquirrel · 18/12/2023 20:56

I'm the Chair of the PTA, so I know which kids have allergies at our school.
I bake cakes for the school Halloween party, & make sure we have options for the children with allergies as I know most parents won't make or buy ones suitable for those kids, so I always make sure I do.
I was making some this year & needed to put vegan chocolate on them - all fine, had vegan chocolate to use. Made them, took them & then realised when all the kids where talking & saying how good they tasted & realised the vegan chocolate I had used was made with nuts hence why it tasted so much better than the standard free-from chocolate 😬
Thankfully there are no nut allergies in the school but will be much more careful next year!

bellac11 · 18/12/2023 20:56

notahappybunny7 · 18/12/2023 20:43

Bollocks, more likely caused by antibiotics in newborns among other things.

Show quote history

Is there really any need to be so rude, hostile and aggressive

There is lots of evidence and has been growing for years that nut (and other) allergies have increased because of lack of exposure during infancy.

fitforflight · 18/12/2023 21:00

MsChatterbox · 18/12/2023 20:29

I sent my son in with belvita chocolate filled bars about 6 times (each time being for a week) before I realized it said chocolate hazelnut on the packet 🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️

I'm allergic to nuts and actually these Belvita soft bakes have no hazelnuts in them! They're a hazelnut flavouring but not actually made from nuts. Assume it's just chocolate and sugar. I even emailed Belvita to check and they confirmed :)

Universalsnail · 18/12/2023 21:01

redcar28 · 18/12/2023 20:18

Out of curiosity, what happens if you eat nuts near somebody with a severe allergy? How does the reaction happen if they don't directly consume it?

Some people are so sensitive to their nut allergy they can have a contact reaction by it being in the air.

Citrusandginger · 18/12/2023 21:01

Bollocks, more likely caused by antibiotics in newborns among other things.

Blimey, when did eating newborns become a thing? I know I don't keep up but that one completely passed me by.

Universalsnail · 18/12/2023 21:02

InflatableSanta · 18/12/2023 20:47

My children are severely anaphylactic to milk and egg. (And nuts)

I never see people handwringing about sending in yoghurt/cheese /cake etc.

Milk is now the leading causes of anaphylaxis in children in the UK.

My kid also has a milk allergy.

But it's a lot harder to ban all milk products in a school then nuts which is a fairly simple ban

fitforflight · 18/12/2023 21:03

Illbebythesea · 18/12/2023 20:52

Pesto pasta. Got sent home with dd because of the pine nuts. I didn’t even think…

Pine nuts are a seed, they aren't actually nuts. I think the FDA in America lumps them in with tree nuts but we don't in the UK. The risk with pine nuts is only if you're also allergic to sesame.

MsChatterbox · 18/12/2023 21:04

fitforflight · 18/12/2023 21:00

I'm allergic to nuts and actually these Belvita soft bakes have no hazelnuts in them! They're a hazelnut flavouring but not actually made from nuts. Assume it's just chocolate and sugar. I even emailed Belvita to check and they confirmed :)

Show quote history

That's fantastic news as my son loves them!! Thank you!

gotomomo · 18/12/2023 21:06

No school but I boarded a 10 hour flight with food because I hate airline food and hadn't bothered requesting meals we could eat, we had wraps with sesame in them, snickers bars and flapjacks, everything contained nuts basically ... and then over the sound system comes that it's a nut free flight! Well nobody complied, guy was eating peanuts next to me so I ate my food.

I do have sympathy for those with extreme allergies but I think other customers should be alerted at least 48 hours before the flight if there's restrictions

fitforflight · 18/12/2023 21:06

MsChatterbox · 18/12/2023 21:04

That's fantastic news as my son loves them!! Thank you!

Show quote history

I love them too! I still check the packet every time just in case but if you look at the ingredients there's definitely no hazelnuts in which is great! Suppose it's along the same lines as some prawn cocktail crisps being fine for vegetarians. Just a flavouring :)

CuriousityKilledThePussy · 18/12/2023 21:09

PhulNana · 18/12/2023 20:24

Curious thing, when I was 15, I had a friend who claimed to have an nut allergy, but liked eating chocolate marzipan. She was amazed when I told her that marzipan is made from almonds. Didn't believe me at first.

She could have been allergic to peanuts. Eating marzipan doesn't mean she was lying. Not all nuts are the same.

InflatableSanta · 18/12/2023 21:09

Universalsnail · 18/12/2023 21:02

My kid also has a milk allergy.

But it's a lot harder to ban all milk products in a school then nuts which is a fairly simple ban

Show quote history

Oh I get that.

But the point is it leads to people mistakenly assuming nut allergies are inherently more serious. And assuming if they have banned nuts they have ticked the allergy box.

Devonshiregal · 18/12/2023 21:11

OhBeAFineGuyKissMe · 18/12/2023 20:24

The airborne concern is for peanuts and not, as far as I know, for almonds. That has to be directly consumed.

A lot of advise is against having nut free schools as it creates a false sense of security, for reasons exactly like this.

Don’t think anyone who has a nut allergy or works for any allergy charities would advise this. This is some kind of nonsense someone made up because it irritated them they couldn’t eat nuts on an aeroplane and wanted to be dismissive. Kids have sticky hands, get close to each other and share food without understanding consequences. They need to be looked after and having nut free schools is a very good way of helping to do this. And anyone who has a child with a severe allergy of any type will know there is no such thing as a feeling of security, false or otherwise.