to wonder if there really are a disproportionate amt of children who are allergic to ALL nuts?

[oldebaglady]

firstly, I do comply with the zero nut zone policies

secondly, happy to be corrected, am genuinely interested!

but no nuts... AT ALL?? nuts are ideal lunchbox energy/protein snacks and nut butters are great sandwich fillings, much healthier than a lot of the alternatives .

I understand that peanuts are highly allergenic, but
1: other highly allergenic things are allowed; strawberries, dairy, soya, kiwis..
2: they're lagumes aren't they? how are a few almonds gonna affect someone with a peanut allergy? or is it common to have a serious allergy to ALL nuts?

when a child has a serious allergy to a particular fruit, that fruit is banned, fruit in general isn't banned! and it's not banned unless there is actually someone attending who is allergic

the zero nuts policy don't include "may contain traces of nuts" products anyway

please understand that I don't think it's a huge sacrifice to make if some cashew butter or a few almonds in my kid's lunchbox might cause another child to be seriously ill

but exactly how likely is that? that

1. there is going to be a kid in school who is not yet diagnosed
   

and

1. they are allergic to ALL nuts
   

??

(am genuinely curious)

[valiumredhead]

Oh and seeing as pine nuts are actually SEEDS - does this mean ds can have pesto made of pn's?

Is nutmeg a nut or a seed?

[valiumredhead]

Ooooooo I googled - nutmeg is a seed too!

[oldebaglady]

1-1.5% is a lot, considering schools round here have year groups of 120 kids it's quite a lot of children with potential reactions, does the 1-1.5 include BOTH IgG an IgE reactions though?, as only one is worth banning for IMO! The type I have (the just hayfeverey/excema/intollerance type, which ever that is) shouldn't be included, whereas the one my family member has (death if no epipen/treatment) should be what is counted in the stats when talking about bans

anyone know the stats for the next most common allergen? (which isn't banned)? - I'm interested to know what the gap is between peanuts+treanuts, and the next one down

[oldebaglady]

"Other nuts are banned because they are often transported together and are a high crosscontamination risk"

contamination risk foods are NOT included in the ban at DS's school, it's no peanuts or any other nuts, but they are allowed "may contain traces of nuts" products and don't have to only bring food that wasn't prepared in factories that also process nut products

[oldebaglady]

treenuts

[oldebaglady]

IMO severe allergy = potential death and nothing bellow that
including other scary reactions (like becomming quickly covered in horrid lookng hives) can minimise how seriously people take people with fatal allergies

Another child in my family has a scary looking reaction to dishwasher powder traces on cups etc, hands swell up, but it's not followed with throat closing and death. Can be treated with just piriton. So IMO it's not what I personally call serious/severe, but I guess that's because I know someone who dies if people think they are talking about hives or a bit of a ticky tummy when they ask for ingredients to be checked because they are "allergic" and don't bother to take it seriously.

[baremadness]

We are on a steep learning curve at home. Dds first reaction was to peanut butter. Fair enough. Her secont reaction was to the jumper and the 3rd to chocolate icecream that may contain traces of. We have never avoided traces of and normally iy is ok. Buy we are learning that traces of in 1 product is different from another.

Chocolate and nuts are something that are often mixed together so the traces of risk is higher in a chocolate product than say a packet of crisps.

Other nuts are VERY likely to have has some contamination and are a much much greater risk product.

It is a risk benefit analysis. Where the likelyhood of a reaction is a greater risk than the benefit of not cutting the product out just in case you cut the product out.

[Nuttyprofessor]

My DS's primary school had a ban on nuts in lunch boxes.

His class had a greek food tasting and he was given baklava, which has more nuts in it that you could ever imagine.

He started to swell up and be covered in hives.

The school phoned me and told me he was unwell.

He went into anaphylactic shock and nearly died.

DS has never had an allergic reaction to nuts before. The thing that concerns me the most is that there was no reaction on the part of the staff they were watching him die before them, just waiting for mum to turn up.

I would far prefer education about allergic reactions and the indicators of anaphylaxis and how to use a jext/epi pen.

[baremadness]

Woah. With anaphalaxis a scary looking reaction one time could be a fatal reaction the next. It isnt always that easy

[oldebaglady]

baremadness not all scary LOOKING reactions are anaphylactic, it's to do with which antibodies the allergy is connected to IgG or IgE (admittedly I don't know which is which, but one is local and the other is systemic)

I'm saying that I don't think non anaphylactic reactions should be included in stats when considering bans

nuttyprofessor - idiots! if they have a ban, well baklava OBVIOUSLY has nuts in it!

[oldebaglady]

and if someone is properly diagnosed it should be known which (IgG or IgE) it is?

[baremadness]

Dd carries jext. I dont really understand why schools dont have a set of jext or epipens in case of unknown reactions. The instructions are pretty clear. Only use if it looks like they might be dieing.

[oldebaglady]

"I know it can seem like a pain in the arse going nut free, but a little hassle for you is better than any scale of allergic reaction for the other person.

So, YABU"

IABU to ask for the rational behind what I am doing?

People can have serious and potential reactions to non nut things you probably put in your DCs lunch boxes!

[baremadness]

Peanut reactions are more often than not anaphalactic. Hence the ban.

[oldebaglady]

yes, I know they are the most, but I can't find out what the difference is between how allergenic peanuts are, and how allergenic the next high allergen foods down are, like eggs and strawberries etc. Strawberry allergies are also often the anaphalactic kind too and quite common?

[amillionyears]

bruffin, sorry to be a pain about it.
But on the other thread you qualified what you said about airbourne reactions. But you have not qualified it on here.
And it is too important an issue to leave.
Can you please put your qualifiction of the issue, on this thread as well please.

[oldebaglady]

so the first reason I asked has been answered well, that yes if you are going to ban peanuts, it is right to ban tree nuts too (it's not just schools missinterpreting the name "peanut")

but then I'm still wondering about the gap between peanut+treenut allergies.. and the next high allergy food down

and it seems that anyway the people in the know don't support blanket bans, however in large schools if rates really are as high as 1.5% I think it's probably the right thing to do. DS's primary is small though, and the lower classes are in a different building to yr3+, so a ban only when there are known allergies would be more practicible there

[Bluebelleswood]

Bruffin I would have liked you to witness the "bit of a myth" that caused a serious allergic reaction in my dn. My Dn was too young to realise that the man sitting next to us on the tube was eating nut chocolate.

[ElliesWellies]

In my extended family, people tend to be allergic to one type of nut, but not other types, e.g. one person cashew nuts, one person pistachios, another walnuts. These are 'severe' allergies i.e. the throat swells up to the extent that the person cannot breathe.

I don't understand the 'banning' thing. Is there a way to have an allergic reaction other than either eating or touching the substance? E.g. my sister has a severe allergy to cashew nuts. She is perfectly able to sit in a room with other people eating them though.

[FellowshipOfFineFellows]

I've just commented on another similar "nut allergies aren't real" thread.

Yes, you do get children allergic to all nuts. My ds is not just allergic to all nuts, but nut oils, peas (which are part of the same food family) and all fish too, as well as raw egg.

This is what he looks like if he likes his finger with nut dust on. That is two hours after having an ambulance out as he couldn't breathe as his tongue swelled, and he had to have a shot.

So, yep, allergies are universal to all types. Wish they were not, but it is the case in my ds.

[IThinkOfHappyWhenIThinkOfYou]

I haven't seen anyone on the other thread saying nut allergies aren't real, although I'm willing to be corrected. I would say its more an 'eating disorders aren't real' thread with comments such of yours.

"she'll only do it for so long before she gets hungry enough to give in"

FFS

apologies for my appalling posting etiquette. but I'm doing it anyway

[NC78]

"IMO severe allergy = potential death and nothing bellow that
including other scary reactions (like becomming quickly covered in horrid lookng hives) can minimise how seriously people take people with fatal allergies"


Food allergies can be unpredictable. My DD has had moderate reactions to nuts but has to carry an epi- pen because the specialist deemed her to be at high risk of anaphylaxis. She has to avoid all tree nuts and I would be livid if I found out it was not being taken seriously. Someone can have a few moderate reactions that are dealt with with pirton and then go on to have a fatal one.

As far as nut bans go, they are not always neccessary if the chid can manage the risk themselves.

[NC78]

BTW my DD has to avoid all tree nuts and is also allergic to sesame.

Many allergic people have multiple allergies and if you develop an allergy to one nut you are at high risk of developing an allergy to another type.