Why don't people take nut allergies seriously

[Zeito]

Why don't people of non nut allergy DC take these allergies seriously. It is always " just don't eat them" that doesn't work for airborne allergies or " just use an epi pen" which doesn't stop the reaction only delay it so the person can get medical help.

Nut allergies could kill or make the allergic person severely disabled and I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy

Interesting.
Currently got a discussion going about a Mum wanting to ban all dairy, eggs (and strawberries) from the kids lunch boxes before her child starts school next week.
What is the gluten free, or vegetarian, supposed to eat?

It must be horrific to have such a life-threatening thing to have to be aware of at all times, but im not sure blanket bans are the way to go.

HotInWinter Plenty of other things like Gluten free pasta or Salad

I don't think people grasp how serious and potentially life threatening nut allergies can be. My DD is allergic to several types and they're popping up in even more unexpected places. Her consultant informed us that lots of pesto now contains cashews, sure enough the one I got in Asda lists it as an ingredient 🤷🏼‍♀️ it was fine without it!!

I don't have children with allergies but should a situation arise where I get asked not to provide my child with certain foods due to a child having an allergy I would certainly agree to it and find an alternative for my child and be thankful it's not something I have to worry about myself.

In terms of school dinners it's only 5 meals out of 21 in a week so I'm sure my child can manage without certain foods for such a small amount of meals.

I suspect there is a lot of "allergies" which are just dislikes, so people get "allergy fatigue".

Which unfortunately means genuine allergic people suffer as a result.

Agree with shotsfired, people have got so tired of "allergies" that really aren't allergies that it has diluted the seriousness of people with real allergies. 1 nephew had nut allergy (successfully treated with treatment) and his siblings were diagnosed with the same after skin tests, SIL used to fuss over everything being checked (understandably) but lost my sympathy after allowing unchecked food on many occasion with an "oh it'll be fine" in order to make her life easier.

Cow I've just made my kids lunch boxes for today (it's 6.30 here).
If this mother gets her way to ban eggs and dairy (from the whole school of 700), my sandwiches wouldn't be ok- butter. I don't possess margarine, let alone a dairy free one. Im not actually sure dairy free margerine is available here. For sure, there is no "free from aisle". Ds1 has a cheese string, DS2 has yoghurt. Both out. The slice of cake has both egg and dairy in. Banned. They are left with fruit and veg sticks. The school is already nut free. Actually, DS1 has strawberries, but that's an easy fix.
They will leave at 7am, and get back at 4pm. That is already a LONG day, but for a 7 year old on just fruit and veg??? Sorry, but no. Not for someone who they will probably never even be in the dining hall at the same time as.

I don't actually know what these kids do eat. I guess there are pack lunch possibilities available, but it isn't likely to be what my kids are used to. Why should we overhaul our shopping (and yes, we can afford it, but i bet some families couldn't afford to make all the required switches)? What happens the day DH majes the sandwiches and puts something banned in? Is it not better to know that other food is unsafe rather than assume all the bad stuff is banned and it's ok? Without a massive education program to get me to make balanced meals with these exclusions, I can see how they can cut one fairly major food group in European cooking out of everyone's lunch. Are the teachers going to stop putting milk in their tea????

If one of the kids is a good friend with one of these children, that's a different equation, and switches would need to be considered.

Yes, that's very much a me me me and screw the rest of you response. But life here is shitt enough already. Making it harder for 700 doesn't seem right. Got to go. I realise I'm going to get bashed for this post. I get living with these allergies and restrictions must be terrifying and restrictive. But surely there are better ways than whole school bans. Are we going yo get fish, gluten, bananas, nightshade family all banned as well??? Might as well tell the kids it's water only til they get home! Because im pretty sure you will find a whole host of allergies that people start requesting excluding for if you open the floodgates.

Look, the hard bit is when little kids eat messy or dusty allergens and don't wash their hands well. The allergen is smeared across desks, books, chairs - everywhere. If your kid is highly allergic, you spend all day waiting for that horror phone call.

Find out what allergens are most serious for your child's allergic peers and if you can, please avoid sending that in. Speak to the parent for tips and hints on what to pack for a safe lunch box.

Thanks from an adult living with allergies who survived childhood, somehow.

I think people do take these bans seriously, all primary schools seem to have ‘no nut’ policies now don’t they?. But I tend to agree with Hot that it is almost impossible to be aware of every single potential danger.

I used to be responsible for a voluntary children’s activity, a child wanted to join who had a severe nut allergy, his mother visited to see what her ‘policies’ were, I explained everything & showed our round but she felt that it wasn’t good enough & her child would be in danger, I explained that she or her DH were very welcome to accompany the child every week but she said that was ‘discriminating’ against her chid. I stressed that this was a voluntary organisation & other children were accompanied by their parents if they had specific needs. . I appreciate it was a difficult situation but felt her expectations of volunteers was just too high.

I think people who aren't aware of anaphylaxis and the relationship with food allergies must be in a tiny minority.

TintarellaDiLuna i dont know which kid it is!!! I can't talk to the parent.
I do know they are not in my kids years, as I know there are no spaces for new kids to join.

I've already stated if it was my kids friends, I would need to make changes.

But for someone who they might never come across????

Having had a child with allergies I think nut allergies get over-emphasised in comparison to others, e.g. with default all school bans. My DS with allergies to milk and eggs was not allowed to have peanut butter sandwiches at nursery because another family didn't want their child exposed to peanuts in case he was allergic. So his potential allergy trumped DSs actual allergy. They had milk all the time at nursery and since contact with milk was sufficient for DS to have a reaction he did have a couple of minor reactions due to spills etc.I have no problem avoiding nuts for an actual allergy but don't restrict DSs diet more than needed.

Having said all that DH has a colleague with a severe nut allergy and despite everyone knowing about it he says he has to regularly confiscate nut containing foods from the snack tables because people never check. So YANBU OP.

actually i think most people have heard of nut allergies, but agree that that some dont understand severity at times.
In our experience most dont understand that other foods can equally be life threatening.

I actually think that people take nut allergies way more seriously than they do other allergies. Nuts are also much easier to avoid than things like milk or soya.

Nuts aren’t that easy to avoid. They’re a common hidden ingredient in many foods. My son has had a life threatening reaction to a chocolate cake supplied by a holiday company - we were reassured twice that it was safe. My daughter has reacted when she was told to hold hands with someone else in PE - they had been eating nuts.

One allergy doesn’t trump another.

That said, I don’t think blacklisting foods helps. People, including children, have to learn to manage their own allergy. One day these kids will leave home - and parents won’t be there to monitor every situation

My DS is allergic to nuts, milk, eggs and sesame and has been allergic to Soya in the past. Of those we find nuts are by far the easiest to avoid.

Soya is a bloody nightmare to avoid, thank God DS outgrew it as it is in everything!

I just don’t know what to say..other than my 10yr old dd has had full anaphylaxis 17 times in the last 6 months!! Her throat has swelled shut. She is my little baby. My darling daughter, the absolute love of my life. Just like your children are. You make their lunchboxes, not worrying other than shall you put a banana or orange in. I have to worry what all the other parents are putting in. Not least what I shall feed her.

I appreciate it is too much to ask the general parent to change their habits. It’s not fair for them to adjust what they feed their kids, for the sake of mine. It’s far too difficult these days just to get the family ready to leave the house, sort packed lunches out, reading bag etc.

As a mum of a dangerously ill child, I don’t ask you to adjust your habits, or change what you feed your child. All I ask is that you don’t show anger towards me for being scared and voicing my fear.

My biggest fear is that I send my daughter to school, wave her off with her friends, only for her not to return due to a lax parent who feels giving their child peanut butter sandwiches is more important than my child being able to breath