Child's party food... 1 milk free

[Sunshineaftertherain1]

Hi all,

It's my child's birthday party in a few weeks. I'm doing buffet style food (sausages, sandwiches, pizza, fruit, veg sticks, crisps, popcorn, biscuits etc). I was trying to keep it simple as I'm having a really bad time at the moment, lots on and limited time to do the food.

One child has a milk allergy and it's stressing me out! Does that mean no dairy can be served? It's a buffet, what if the child goes to eat something not suitable? Also, I'm not even sure what food to make for them. If I do a separate box just for the one child, I'm worried they'll feel excluded. I'm thinking I'll have to buy some dairy free cakes too as the birthday cake will contain dairy. I'm also trying to keep costs down and can imagine specific dairy free cakes etc will be expensive and I only need one! Ideally I don't want all the pizza etc to be dairy free as I'm assuming they'll cost more and I've no idea how it will taste.

Does anyone have any suggestions of food choices/biscuits and crisps types etc? Thank you.

Just ask the parents what is ok.

Tell them what you're planning and ask them if their child needs something different...

And the child (and parents) will be very used to checking the food.

If they're a small, the parents will check, if they're 9... The kid will know.

Make some fairy cakes with Pure Margarine, every one can have them.

Sausage rolls are often dairy free.

Take care with crisps, often have milk products in.

Your best bet is to speak to the parents. I was always happy to bring some bits and pieces for my son so it was easier for the party parents. You should also find out how well he can manage his own food, some children are very good at this but for others it takes a while.

And at the end of the day, if they eat everything except the pizza, and you use dairy free spread in the sandwiches... They'll be fine not having a slice of pizza, nit every child would choose pizza anyway.

i'd check with the parents, but the safest option is to have an entirely separate box of food for the allergy child. milk can be in all sorts of things like the pizza and crisps and cake and biscuits etc. if the kid is young, they can't be trusted to choose the right food from a general table of things.

Thank you all for the advice so far. Having looked into it, it shouldn't be as stressful as I thought.

Unfortunately I won't be home baking any foods because I already have to do the birthday cake the day before (which takes hours!).

However I'll get some dairy free spread for sandwiches (and ensure the bread is dairy free), I'm doing 3 types of sandwiches, 1 will be cheese but they can go on separate plates.

I believe party rings and bourbons are dairy free, so I can get those. My son said he doesn't want pizza anyway, so I may just avoid it.

I just don't want him to be at risk/left out but I also wanted to keep things as simple as possible.

When my DC had parties like this the child with severe allergies always had a packed lunch from home.

Use dairy free spread in the sandwiches, no one will be able to tell the difference so can use for everyone. Do ham/cheese/jam and tell them they can’t have the cheese.

Lots of crisps are dairy free
Fruit
Veg
Popcorn (not butter variety)
Party rings
Jammy Dodgers
Oreos
Store own brand Jaffa cakes are usually dairy free, McVities ones have milk
Cocktail sausages
Small party sausage rolls from the freezer are usually dairy free, don’t brush with milk

Small individual milk free cake from the free from section, normal cake for everyone else.

Lots of these things are made in a factory that may contain milk, so best to ask the parents. My milk allergy kids are fine with that but others might not be.

Although I imagine if it’s a severe allergy the parents will send their own food

I just did everything dairy free, as I didn't want allergy child to feel awkward. It was surprisingly easy as there's so much vegan stuff about.

Bourbons are dairy free, as are several other biscuits (Google dairy free biscuits).
Sausages rather than sausage rolls.
Vegan pizza.
Cherry tomatoes
Fruit
Crisps
Vegan cakes

Thank you, this list is really helpful.

In fairness, when I asked if anyone had dietary requirements, mum did say she could bring food if I wanted. I should have said yes but feel bad because everyone else always says no!

I'll definitely message her though, just to double check. She didn't ask about food etc, so I'm going to assume it's not a severe allergy and he can't be near any dairy. However I will definitely ask.

Is it possible to have a milk allergy that's so severe you can't sit at a table with food containing milk?

I’ve never come across a milk allergy that severe so I’m unsure! They’d definitely insist on their own food in that case though.

If you’re worried I’d just take a bag of the packaging with me for the mum to double check if she’s unsure about anything 🤣

Hi OP, we’ve just been through this as DS has a milk allergy. Have you spoken to the parents? We usually offer to bring food if that would be easier for the host! Most of the parties we’ve been to recently have done a separate plate/box for him including:

Jam/ham sandwiches (check the bread is milk free and use a dairy free spread)
Pom bears
Fresh fruit/veg
Dairy free yoghurt/yoghurt pouch
Free from biscuits - make sure they’re dairy free, as the branding isn’t always clear between this and gluten free (Morrisons and Asda do good own branded ones)
Dairy free cake (the ‘we love cake’ brand slices are great and only a couple of quid, Morrisons also do some good free from cake slices)

A few posters have suggested party rings - check ingredients on these as often the own brand ones do include dairy. Hope that helps a bit!

Also just to add - definitely don’t feel bad about doing a separate plate/box for the dairy-free child, if they’re at school/nursery they’ll be very used to this setup, and as a parent I love it, as I can easily check everything looks okay!

These cakes are dairy free, I get them for parties as there’s a few dairy allergy kids in my son’s class - https://groceries.morrisons.com/products/regal-plain-fairy-cakes/112820126

The parents will be well-used to checking ingredients and will keep an eye on what their child is eating. It’s worth asking beforehand what things they like specifically. Last year when I asked, they just said ham sandwiches, party rings (the mini bags) and a bag of crisps (lots of Walkers ones are dairy free) would be more than enough.

Everything here is vegan, so also dairy free: https://www.peta.org.uk/blog/44-accidentally-vegan-snack-foods/

Any allergy, including a milk allergy can lead to anaphylaxis so even cross contact could be dangerous. It’s not the same for everyone so you need to talk to the parents to find out what they are comfortable with.

Even making sandwiches at home you might need to be very careful about any cross contact with dairy. It’s possible that they don’t need as many restrictions though.

My son carries an epi pen for his dairy allergy so very severe. There are loads of party type foods he could have like;
sausages
fish fingers
ham sandwiches
pom bears
party rings/mini gingerbread men/ bourbons
dairy free chocolate
I would check with the parents though (I’m assuming they would have told you if it was anaphylaxis) my child wouldn’t be able to eat things which were on the same plate as the dairy foods and any cross contamination with hands etc would bring him out in hives. Good luck!

Message the mum to double check. Usually dairy isn't airborne therefore you will need to touch the allergen to be affected. While you can have anaphylaxis to dairy, I would be 99% sure that a parent of a child with a serious allergy would be insisting on packing a meal for them. We have a friend who's children are coeliac and it comes down to stuff like being 100% that there's no bread crumbs on the chopping board. She always packs their meals for parties etc, because they can only have food prepped in a gluten free area with GF equipment. She knows it isn't reasonable to expect anyone to do that.

I always do a snack box for children's parties - you can order cardboard boxes off amazon.

I don't even bother making sandwiches any more (3rd child 😂) just buy a load of snacks and some fruit and cupcakes and fruit shoots and put them in the box. Then you can easily label one dairy free. Much less effort and waste and the kids are excited about having a box.

I would make him his own box if you have dairy there - the cross contamination from a bunch of children at a buffet would worry me. I have a serious shellfish allergy so never eat at a buffet with shellfish on it.

Any child with food allergies that I’ve had the parents have either brought food for their kid or the kid knows what they can eat. Nice to have done dairy free cake and a few things but you don’t have to keep the whole menu diary free.

Allergy? Parents make packed lunch.