or have the school gone bonkers?

[ohballs2013]

got a letter last night, in the new teacher info pack.
the school have said that as of the new school term a few more items have been added to the not allowed in lunch box list.
we already had the normal,
no nuts
no fizzy drinks
no bars of chocolate

now we also have

no bananas
no berry fruit, including anything containing berry fruit, such as smoothies, youghurts, cereal bars etc
no fish
no eggs
no crisps
no citrus fruits
no peices of meat, ie chicken legs.

now i get that you have to protect as many kids with allergies as possible..but WTF. is it not going a bit mad?
my own child has coeliacs, so i know all about limited diets, but im astonished at this.

as long as the jam doesnt have red fruits or berries in it. which is pretty much every type of jam

Oh gosh but jam has berries in it.

chocolate spread? (most probably has nuts in though)

Apricot jam sandwiches?

I think a sausage Roll and a Ring Doughnut may be ok. I would send my DS in with that for lunch.

I feel for the parents of children who have allergies, thankfully I've never been in the position

My eldest has odd eating habits (disorder) and the entire way through primary and secondary school would only eat peanut sandwiches, bannana's and berry yoghurts. The school tried to ban all these items too and we had to get involved with lengthy discussions to allow him to take his lunch in (also on residental trips he had to take his own food)

This was due to a girl in his class being anaphylatic

The school were eventually great and taught the children fully about the dangers different food presented and how to carry, eat and store any remains safely.

This to me is the way forward, banning any food that can ever be a risk is not helping anyone (the allergic child or children wanting to eat food that is potentially dangerous to some)

Education is the key here

My eldest son and those from his class that we still see are all very mindful still. An example is it is second nature for my son to ask anyone in the room if they have a nut allergy as he is about to eat a peanut butter sandwich. I don't hear people my age being so aware of food allergies

sparkling i dont know much about allergies either. i do know there are people with severe nut allergies that can have reactions to nut dust in the air (or something like that). im sure its one if the main reasons why nuts are banned on planes

im sure someone will correct me if im wrong though

Do they have to carry lunches in a see-through bag? Only thinking about how silly itis. I can understand children with allergies and having to protect them but really this is too far. Are they calling a stop on school trips too where the possibility of coming into contact with others who may have any of the above items in their lunch boxes is highly likely or will they become known as the school that you must section to one allergy free side?

If their is a severely allergic child. surely it would be more sensible for that child to eat their food away from other children or under some sort of supervision, rather than expect the whole school to restrict their diets to cater to that child's needs?
I know it seems harsh, but the child will always have to make allowances for their allergies throughout its life. the world is not going to change to suit their needs, wouldnt helping the child cope with their allergies and learning how to be safe, be more useful than a blanket ban?

This list of banned food does sound a bit over the top on the face of it - but - is it possible that one of the children starting at the school this year has severe allergies to the banned food?

DH met a lady at work once who had a very severe allergy to oranges. Her allergy was so severe that she would go into anaphalactic (sp?) shock if someone on the other side of a large room peeled an orange or opened a bottle of orange juice. DH witnessed this happening on several occasions.

However, if allergies this severe are the reason for banning the food, I agree that the school needs to clearly explain this. Otherwise, given the amount of banned items (most of which will seem harmless to many parents), I'd guess that many parents are likely to ignore the list of banned food.

Thanks InLove, I always end up offending while trying to learn something on these threads.

Genuinely though, what does happen at High School where there a 1300 children taking anything and everything for lunch?

Christ, my child would be taking in lunch box of fresh air. Far too restrictive.

Your son's approach to eating peanut butter whilst ensuring others' safety sounds much more sensible than ohballs's school's blanket banning policy, sodastreamy. Maybe you can hire him out as a trainer? :)

Hmm that is a really bonkers list.
If it is allergy related then they need to think of better ways to protect the allergy affected children than a ban on so many foods.

It is dangerous to rely on non-allergy parents to protect them anyway - very easy to send a cereal bar or bread that contains nuts without realising. Plus there is nothing stopping parents preparing a compliant lunch on a chopping board smeared with peanut butter and or banana.

I too would be asking if the school dinners are going to comply with the list - I can virtually guarantee that they won't be.

They cannot be serious. There is virtually nothing you can eat then!

I'm all for accomodating allergies, but that level of hysteria over food will do no one any good. You can't ban everything anyone is allergic to. These children will grow up and have to work, an office wouldn't be that accomodating. Nuts/fizzy drinks etc is reasonable, chicken legs because someone might choke in the juniors is ridiculous.

As they haven't banned dairy, it seems unlikely that this is allergy driven.

One of the big issues with restrictive food lists like this is that children don't come with allergies that neatly align. So of you go ahead and ban everything that everyone is allergic too, you might find that you have inadvertently disallowed most of the foods that some children actually can eat.

There may be a child with a very restricted diet who can nevertheless eat banana sandwiches. By banning bananas (due to another child's allergy), you might be removing one of the very few packed lunch able options that child has.

And that's without getting into the issue of children with food needs that aren't related to allergies, but are nonetheless entirely real.

Schools always have to balance a range of different needs simultaneously.

The school has clearly gone bananas

I almost guarantee that all the banned foods are on the school dinner menu in some form or another AND that when the school holds a fete or fundraiser they'll be requesting cakes etc etc (again made with eggs, chocolate, flour, fruit, jam and so on).

Mine all eat heathily and I send in the occasional 'naughty' as a treat for them. And why shouldn't I? Quite frankly I'd like to see a teacher or dining assistant try and take my DS's homemade chocolate and banana muffin off her they'd have to call in reinforcements and prise it out of her hands whilst restraining her

We had this bun fight palava at a previous school and I'm afraid I took pictish's viewpoint on all but peanut spreads.
I also highlighted the dinner menu anomolies and asked what they were replacing them with in order to comply with their own rules. Her banana & choccy muffin was never in danger

I'm surprised milk products aren't on that list.

Yanbu that is bonkers.

It probably is allergy related but they need a different way of dealing with it.

I think the anaphalaxis campaign doesnt recomend total bans like this, it thinks education is the eay to go. There must be another way to deal with this situation.

My kids would be screwed, no egg sarnies, no tuna, fruit limited etc. What a pita!

I would feel truly sorry for anyone who is seriously allergic to things, but I think the answer is to get them to eat somewhere else, not 300 odd pupils having to drastically re-work their diet around their needs.

In work they can't ask for everything they're allergic to banned, they have to learn to work round it. Horrible having to eat lunch on your own though.

due to a childs medical issues which are confidential

If there is a child starting whose medical issues are so serious it warrants that list, the school really needs to communicate to parents just how important it is.

And the child obviously doesn't need to be named on the letter but if s/he has a dangerous allergy they're going to want as many people to know about it as possible.

If it is allergy based then school is basically making every parent responsible for one child's allergies. Every parent must rigorously check their own child's lunch boxes to make sure there is no hidden allergens. I,m sorry but I think that is unreasonable and unsafe. Some parents may not be bothered too and the school may be lulled into some false sense of security. If the foods on the list are such a danger to a child, then that child needs to eat away from others under supervision, for their own safety.

Ok, I´ve not read the whole thread, but that is ridiculous! What the hell are they seving for school dinners????

Ok I would ask for clarification as follows

no bananas
is this because they need peeling and then have skin which needs to be binned?

no berry fruit, including anything containing berry fruit, such as smoothies, youghurts, cereal bars etc
I assume allergy but seriously how the hell are they policing this?

no fish
So the school diners are never going to have fish and chips, or fish fingers, or fish cakes?? What about tuna sandwiches? etc I can not see the logic in this one at all!

no eggs
Again allergy but such a fab source of protien for kids that are not allergic to them

no crisps
Ok I can kind of understand that one healthy eating and all!

no citrus fruits
Again is this becuase they need to be pealed etc,

no peices of meat, ie chicken legs. Bones ok I can get that one! But what about boneless chiken thighs etc?

I have an allergic child that has school diners but they have morning snaks and three days a week EVERY child in her school brings in a food that DD is allergic to. DD has already learnt that if she "swaps" etc she will be ill, the kids have learnt that they MUST wash there hands afterwards, that they MUST NOT throw food etc, the school taught them this from the age of 3! I have no intention of stopping anyone feeding there kids the food DD is allergic to, they could have it for breakfast etc before they arrive and still have it on the lips, hands etc. My DD is going to have to managed her allergy her whole life, so she may as well get used to it now! School do and in my case have made adjustments for DD, ie epi pen, emergency protocal, explaining to kids about allergies etc. But what are these school trying to do by elimiating food groups from the school? We can´t eliminate allergic foods from society, all kids need to be bought up with a healthy attitude towards foods, Schools like this will do us a great diservace as parents.

Off to read the rest of the thread!