Shit I accidentally set a marzipan into a nut free school

[FairfaxAikmann]

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?

Thank you! I agree my wording ‘good one’ wasn’t maybe wise, I just meant a good example of a total school related fuck up which I thought would make the OP feel better as was worse than hers. For me it was a ridiculous series of events that no one could have written which was funny, doesn’t mean I think tick bites are funny.

Genuine question, why is it that nut allergies are taken so seriously in the UK and USA, and english speaking countries in general? Are the rates there higher or are people just more educated & aware about it?

Because in Central Europe, the idea of a nut free anything is completely non-existent. Nobody checks the ingredients on anything, nurseries give out peanuts as snacks, parents would balk at the idea of not being allowed to send their kids to school with certain foods. Yet the rate of anaphylaxis doesn't seem to be significantly higher. Eg If a child with nut allergy passed away due to an unregulated meal at school or nursery then it will make headlines on all the papers. However this isn't the case and people just don't seem to care or advocate for allergies.

Almonds are seeds. They are lumped into the nut category for allergies but they’re a grey area for some nut allergy sufferers with some people allergic and some people not. So; continue to treat almonds as nuts when you are told not to consume nuts due to allergies however in some cases, such as with your friend, they can tolerate almonds but it isn’t a call anyone can make other than the person who knows their allergies.

This one doesn't & is very good:

groceries.aldi.co.uk/en-GB/p-specially-selected-pesto-alla-genovese-190g/4088600054513

@CupcakeTowers thats anecdotal. I have family in Austria and nut allergies are prevalent.

And this is why my son can’t go on long flights, because some peoples dislike of airline food or need to eat peanuts is more important than his life apparently.

@InflatableSanta
Too true.
My son has milk and nut allergies (among others) and his nut allergy is by far the easiest to manage as people give it a lot more credence than the other allergies.

I only wish they took his milk allergy half as seriously. I've had kids spilling yoghurt on a gymnastics mat he was using and throwing cheese crisps beside him in a playground. Parents couldn't care less when I mentioned the milk allergy, but I'm betting reactions would be different for nuts.

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

Speaking of allergies, something extremely tragic happened to somebody I knew a few years ago. He went out for a meal with his family and ordered a prawn dish. Unbeknownst to him, he had a fish allergy and suffered severe anaphylactic shock an hour later and died at the age of 20. Awful

And just to add re flights, it’s a bloody nightmare as you alert them when booking only to arrive and find nothing at all has been communicated to the ground staff or the flight crew so you have to tell them then and there and then hope they make the announcement when enough people are on the plane to actually hear it. I would love it if people were notified in advance but it will never happen as the airlines tend to be useless - it isn’t the allergic persons fault. Anyone complaining would, I’m sure, love their flight being diverted to an emergency landing wouldn’t they, if they are the type to be so inconvenienced by not eating nuts for a few hours.

DD went for a Christmas work do last week. Gave allergies info ahead and the venue had asked. All bread served had sesame on it and she is allergic. You just can’t trust caterers. Unless you have an allergy or experience of one, it’s not taken seriously.

Yes @redcar28 people die from allergies that they didn’t know they had. A newsreader nearly died after eating prawns and she’d eaten them all her life! I forget her name.

It's not likely that schools are actually nut free anyway! Some parents will just ignore the rule and send in products with nuts and some will unintentionally send them in because they are in all sorts of things you don't think of.

Also, allergies tend to get more severe with each exposure. I have a tree nut allergy. I react extremely strongly to walnuts and pecan nuts - if I'm in a room with people eating them, cracking the shells etc, I will get itchy red eyes and hives around my mouth, even if I stay far away. But I could eat almonds without any problems until I was 16. Exactly 16. I know this because there were almonds in my 16th birthday cake.

Are pine nuts actually nuts? Or are they seeds that are called nuts erroneously?

And actually peanuts are not nuts, they're legumes. Though obviously highly allergenic (is that the word?)

Ah the reason I should RTFT before commenting!

Not all nut allergy sufferers are allergic to all nuts. Curious, that.

Yep I do think they should announce it in advance!

I’m more than happy to stick to any restrictions I’m asked to, but it would be much easier to do if they told you at time of check in, or an hour before your flight or something. Then you don’t bring the food onto the plane in the first place.

My child's school is nut free. Thus year her class was in charge of the gingerbread stall. Numerous parents including me made vegan gingerbread not realising began butter contains coconut oil. Lots of last minute panic only to find that another stall was selling flipping nutella crepes!!!

. "So some poor mum ended up with wee ticky coming home to them, probably! Oops"

Yeah, Lyme disease isn't really an "oops" kind of thing.

This is an awful story.

The above was in response to @Beginningless

But I see previous posters have already set you straight on that one, so hopefully you have got the message.

I like that schools are nut free. It doesn't mean i havent taught our DS to be really vigilant with food, it just means there is less chance of it getting to him.
Therr are obviously still the ignorant/selfish parents who ignore the rules, which i explain to him.
Obviously mistakes happen, but you get the "my child shouldn't be deprived of Nuts crewe) quite ridiculous.

To me, weird cashew nut and basil pastes are not 'pesto'. Pesto is crushed garlic, pine nuts, coarse salt, basil leaves, and Parmigiano-Reggiano or pecorino sardo cheese, all blended with olive oil. That's it.

Not nuts but have a relative with a severe shellfish allergy. They can be around shellfish for short periods of time - such as walking through a market or down a supermarket aisle. It's prolonged exposure - like sitting next to someone eating a plate of prawns - that brings on the reaction. For them it's severe hives.

Tbh mine have allergies and we wouldn't buy any food from a school fair or similar. Far too risky.