To think this 'nut free policy' is OTT for a school

[MerryMarigold]

So, letter home about next term's 'nut free' policy and I think it's a bit extreme but tell me what you think. In packed lunches (I will have 3 having packed lunch next year), we are not allowed to include:

• Fruit and cereal bars which contain nuts
• Sesame seed rolls
• Nutella
• Peanut butter
• Cakes made with nuts
• Muesli bars
• Baklava/ Nougat/ Turkish Delight
• Any packets of nuts

I would assume we are not allowed to give them pistachios in a Tupperware box either.

Anyway, my point is that how can they police it this closely? I know some kids cannot come into ANY contact with nuts, but for example, my kids would have nuts in granola at breakfast and probably not always wash their hands before school (if they remembered to clean their teeth when they first get up). I also refuse to check the ingredient list of everything I put into a packed lunch for 3 children so there are bound to be nuts in something they end up having.

Nuts are very healthy and nutritious, so we basically need to swap nut based products for something less healthy. I am most upset about the Muesli bars and no cakes made with nuts. Ds1 is a major food-refuser. He has never managed school dinners and food at home is an issue too. He nearly always has a muesli bar in his lunch, which I suppose I will need to substitute with biscuits. And sometimes I would include cakes made with nuts just to up his nutrition at lunchtime a bit. He doesn't like any form of meat, fish or cheese in his sandwiches.

I do sympathise that there are (a very few) people who have a 'life threatening reaction to nut products' (quoted on the 'nut free policy' letter). However, I would assume they do carry an epi-pen as it is impossible to create a completely nut free environment in a large school of children who are eating nuts at least at home. So, in reality it is not life threatening unless there is a child who has an unknown severe nut allergy. I would even be compassionate if it was stated that a child (without mentioning names) had had a reaction several times in school, but I very much doubt a child has reacted at school, and there may not even be a child with a severe nut allergy, so this is just scare mongering really.

SO, I do need to feel more positive about this and the extra work it will cause me, the extra moaning from my child and the reduction in nutrition. Please tell me off gently! I've had a bad night with not much sleep though, so please bear with me.

Most people with peanut or tree nut allergies are able to eat seeds without problem. Both coconut and pine nuts are seeds rather than nuts, and the majority of nut-allergic people can eat them from allergy uk

Allergies are funny things, very specific to the individual. I'm highly peanut allergic, but can and do eat tree nuts. On the other hand, I'm extremely allergic to mustard (a seed), which is much more complicated to avoid than peanut. I'd like to see a school try to ban mustard ... It is literally everywhere.

many people think that the prevalence of nut bans must mean nut allergies are worse than other food allergies which is not the case at all. People assume that other food allergies cannot be just as lethal because they have never heard of egg and dairy bans for example

And several people have stated that very thing on this thread. I remember hearing on the news of a baby/toddler dying after their nursery accidentally gave them the wrong bottle of milk.

Are sesame seeds different then? Why did it say sesame seeds

Gettingby, it would be ok if the list included crisps as Ds rarely has them, but he has nuts everyday. I know your DC cannot have them, but my my Ds has other issues (plenty, including many surrounding food). They may not be life threatening issues (now) although he has severe anxiety so who knows. We do the best we can. I did come on asking for people to help my awareness but the responses have been so OTT it actually makes me question how reasonable some people are! Luckily there are some reasonable people too.

Yes, I am very aware of the touching thing hence being a bit on the nut free policy as kids may eat them before school or after school whilst wearing school clothes etc. etc.

I have only been made aware epi pens don't always work on this thread (hence thread asking for awareness), although this sounds very very rare and in the one incident above was when a severely allergic child actually ate a choc brownie containing nuts.

We had a child at primary who had a severe reaction to peanuts even if someone had eaten nuts and breathed on them or touched them. Its not something to take lightly.

Whats more important? Your child waiting until they get home to eat nuts or a child potentially dying before they can get to hospital? Our nearest big hospital is almost an hour away... I cant imagin how terrifying that journey would be for a child struggling to breath nor their parents. Epi pens are a stop gap not an instant cure, people still die on the way to hospital if the reaction is severe enough.

I make lots of flapjacks with the kids, not once have they had nuts in them. There are also museli bars without nuts in the supermarkets. Or why not make your own biscuits/traybake to send with them?

For the sake of reading a few labels until you know which ones are safe you are being rather selfish and totaly misunderstanding the severity of an allergic reation to nuts.

Willow RTFT

Sesame allergy is very specific to sesame seeds. Plenty of people who are fine with nuts and indeed other types of seeds are allergic to sesame. I agree that it's mad to ban sesame seed rolls but not hummous, but maybe the school doesn't realise that hummous has sesame in it.

We had a nut ban on a flight once. Well politely asked if we wouldn't eat anything with nut products. Presumably someone with a very bad allergy who could have had a reaction if they touched a table or door handle or such after peanuts.

I was happy not to risk someone elses life.

As others here have pointed out, reactions become much more serious the more the child is exposed.

That is a myth

You say it's a myth but that's exactly what Guys allergy clinic told us.

Thanks Judy, so do I make school aware of this? Bang goes another food out of the 3 'healthier options' containing some protein which he will eat at school! (And he will only eat raw carrot if he has houmous, so basically bang goes all 3). I know, I know, I can make my own without Tahini he won't eat it if it isn't Sainsbury's.

Last time i looked there was no evidence. Sometimes reactions get worse, sometimes they dont and sometimes im my ds case he grew out of it.
They are now curing allergies by repeated exposure by starting with minute particle and building up exposure

Yes but that's in a very controlled manner.

Letter came home from my son's school saying that a child had an extreme strawberry allergy so could no foods containing strawberries be sent in (as well as nuts) fair enough, but another parent with a child at the school said that she saw a note on the staff room door that there were strawberries in there so stay out!! Surely everyone including staff should follow the rules, what if they had it on their hands and touched the child?

No idea about the science of it, but my own allergy to sesame only became evident about ten years ago, and every time I've accidentally eaten it since the reaction has become progressively worse.

Children with life threatening allergies need to learn to manage them, the cotton wool treatment of children with peanut allergies does nothing to prepare them for real life.

Anaphylaxis is anaphylaxis, irrespective of what causes it...the message that your safety is less important than another child's just because your allergy is different is hard to take when you're that young.

There's a child in DS's class with a weakened immune system. We have been asked not to send our child in if they have a temperature or an undiagnosed rash and to inform the school of any illness. Of course I comply with this (although I'm sure some idiots won't), because I'm assuming they have asked this for a good reason. I don't moan about it in the playground or on online forums (Do some of you have ANY clue how upsetting to hear some of the things said about your child who has an illness, through no fault of their own?) I don't know anything about this child's condition so I don't pretend to, I just do what is asked of me.
I'm also assuming the same goes for requests to not bring in certain foods. Nobody expects everyone to comply but it reduces the risks.
I think if people knew the fear of sending a child to school knowing there is always a possibility they they will receive a phone call saying they're on the way to hospital they may be willing to do their tiny bit to prevent that.

MerryMarigold - are you actually still harping on about "healthier" options?! It is one meal in a day FFS, I'm really pretty sure your precious allergy free child will be ok missing out on the three pistachios or one spoon of humous he would eat for lunch.

For those stating that a ban is not necessary, I completely agree. Those of us who have children with allergies would never solely trust a ban to be strictly adhered to by all. However, if it deters some parents from sending in nut products then it reduces the risk of exposure and anyone would be grateful for that? I did not insist or even check that my daughters school had a nut free policy as I would hope making them aware and providing epipens was enough for them to know what she ate needed to be strictly monitored regardless of a ban being in place.

I'm not even sure the debate here is about whether the ban is necessary or not, I think it is that there are some people who are selfish enough to not want to reduce the risk to another child's life. School meals are free until a certain age after which point I believe most children would take a packed lunch and at that point the risk of exposure is excessive which is a lot to ask a 6 year old to navigate. If 1 child in 10 is going to have nuts (accidentally or not) I would rather that than 10 of them having them.

I think most people who are saying bans are not as helpful as one would like would still support them regardless as it is a life or death situation they are addressing. MerryMarigold seems to be the only one more concerned about her child's nutrition and how conveniently he will ONLY eat the very things that would be banned (For the record, a high amount of nuts and biscuits/cakes containing nuts aren't exactly that healthy so maybe you should assess what you're actually feeding your child. And if they're not having it everyday then maybe having it as an after school snack or on the weekend would have been enough instead of being completely insensitive and frankly stupid)

You can buy those mini houmous snack pots for just the purpose...

I would much rather my child went without nuts for her lunch then she see someone have a possible fatal allergic reaction while at school

Merry
Ever heard of cross posting? Last post you did appeared ONE MINUTE before I finished writing mine. In other posts you are still complaining about the ban and asking for explainations from the school, what is there to explain?

And I am not the only one who wrote that a childs life is more important than having nuts at lunchtime.

No peanut allergies are not worse than other allergies. see my previous post about anaphylactic shock - lite. it doesn't exist.

I am getting really tired of reading the " a child's life is more important than your lunch. this could literally kill people" I bloody know that - I live with it. fortunately my food allergies are foods which aren't all that common and certainly don't appear hidden in lots of packaged food.

there is no one on this thread or any other who is ever, ever going to say that their right to eat a certain food trumps another persons life. stop keep repeating it posters we know this.

the thread is debating whether having a ban is reasonable or helpful in the light of the advice from allergy UK NOT TO HAVE NUTS BANNED.

it isn't just about nuts and as someone who doesn't have a nut allergy but has anaphylactic shock with other foods, I think the constant concentration on nut allergies completely misses the point. this is about knowledge - knowing who has it and what they have - and about being careful when eating, washing hands afterwards, not taking food from other people etc.

I too worry that the nut allergy kids in nut free schools don't learn not to ever share food. then suddenly at 11 start at senior school with no nut ban and continue on with this learned behaviour.

I always query what I am eating. No One wants anaphylactic shock. it makes you feel awful.

Bang goes another food out of the 3 'healthier options' containing some protein which he will eat at school!
Can't you just make your son a white bread tuna sandwich or something.

Surely nobody's complacent enough to allow a child with any allergy to share food, regardless of any ban are they mummymeister ?

In my ds school there is a child with a severe nut allergy.
I would hate if my ds contributed in any way to that child going into anaphylactic shock and perhaps dying.
I support the schools diktat.
Ask yourself 'What if it was my child?'
And yes it is a pain in the a** with lunches etc but just suck it up.