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.

Spud, we've seen paed and nutritionist and GP at different times in his life. He has multiple issues - the food is just part of it, but not deemed bad enough as he does eat a fair range of food, it just needs to be v specific. To be honest, the anxiety, low self esteem and educational issues are much more of a worry, now and into the future. The food is a PITA that's all.

mish, you are talking rubbish. My friend's ds is Aspergers and has v similar food issues to my son, but he is not diagnosed as a 'food refuser' either. Friend's ds is not a 'fussy eater' (I know plenty of those too). There's only so many labels you can give one child, it doesn't mean they don't have sensory issues/ anxiety and control around food.

"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."

Possibly the most ill informed and selfish statement I've ever read.
Sorry that my daughters serious nut allergy is making packed lunches an ordeal for you. Children and adults die of nut allergys all the time as exposure makes the allergy worse each time. I honestly cannot believe you think it's ok to say essentially that if my child has had a serious reaction more than once ,( ie almost died!) that you would understand more about your precious child not being allowed to have his nutty cake for lunch.
I'm so cross right now- I hope for your sake that you or your child doesn't develop a nut allergy in later life as you will then know how I worry about it EVERY DAY because of parents like you that only care about yourselves. Shocking.

If the shoe was on the other foot and your children had a nut allergy, I'm sure you would expect a nut free school too. They potentially don't want to name names as kids can be cruel and don't know the risks of allergies so might play tricks on said allergy sufferer. My DD has a severe peanut and sesame allergy. We have to be very careful with what she eats.

My dc has severe allergies. Has anaphylactic reactions to milk and eggs and 20 other food allergies and 5 environmental allergies that all require hospital admissions. He has epi pens but that doesn't help the anxiety. Nothing can erase the image of your child ballooned and unconscious. Yes it's a nightmare for parents to have to check everything and I honestly can see that until you experience these things yourself it's so hard to truly understand. I don't want school and parents to be inconvenienced but I will do anything to keep my dc as safe as I can. I will never wrap him in cotton wool, but some things are just not possible for him and it does mean that other children miss out too as there are activities etc that cannot happen because of him. Just be grateful your children can experience these things at home. I am well aware of how the school systems work in correspondence with medical professionals. For them to send this home means that it is serious enough that they need to take these precautions. When looking for schools, top of our priority list was ambulance response times to that postcode. There will always be things that you can make up for at home but nothing is more important than children's safety, whatever that might look like for different children!

Charell20 Sat 23-Jul-16 09:27:45
If the shoe was on the other foot and your children had a nut allergy, I'm sure you would expect a nut free school too.

If you look on allergy boards the informed parents on their dont want nut bans, because of various issues all discussed on this thread

also for anyone interested rather than just wanting to virtual signal

"http://peanutallergyfacts.org/news/15-common-food-allergy-myths-debunked peanut allergy myths"

My son has multiple severe allergies and had an anaphylactic reaction this week.
Epipens are not a panacea, adrenaline carries its own risks.

My sons worst allergies are milk and egg, and we have to accept these exist in the school. He has been taught from a very young age not to share food etc. But, as I understand it, many nut allergic people risk an anaphylactic reaction even from dust from nuts in the air, so this carries a greater risk as the child cannot protect themselves.

The peanust dust is the air is a myth see my post above. There a very few situations where airbourne peanut is a problem and they apply to other foods as well and they are not in school situations.

I am not going to read the thread other than the front page.

But your original post is grossly unreasonable and cavalier about the lives of children with life-threatening allergies. An epi pen is provided for emergencies, and has risks of its own; it is not there so parents like you can ignore food precautions that are taking chances with other people's lives on purpose.

Your children can still eat all the foods you mentioned, just not at school Get a grip.

rosduk
I understand your fears. It is awful isn't it, a constant fear.

people epipens don't necessarily work. Adrenaline (the drug in epipens) is dangerous too. Please don't take any risks because a child is carrying an epipen!!!

merrymarigold many of us parents of kids with food allergies do know exactly what it is like to have a good refuser!!! Funnily enough, when some foods can kill you it is fairly common for these children to develop serious food phobias. My son has been working with a psychologist who specialises in children with food allergies because of his. It is very common and completely understandable to have a child who self-limits what they eat.

So yes, we get it, and what we are trying to say is that struggling to vary meals for a child is just not in the same ballpark (in fact nowhere near the sodding ballpark) as having a child who regularly suffers life threatening reactions to commonplace foods

I cannot believe this is even an issue for you OP.

As PPs said - just imagine it was your child. My DD's eyes and face swell up if she's even near peanuts and I'd I could I would post a picture showing the effect just being near a bowl of peanuts has on her.

She is very sensible and would never accept food from anyone at school.

I am sure your DC will be able to catch up on his nut consumption after school.

Bruffin I've finally stopped being stubborn (because I know that I react to airborne peanut dust) and have looked up the study you refer to.

You are quite right, the experts have found that airborne peanut dust does not cause a severe allergic reaction, so absolutely not an anaphylactic response. However, they don't rule out that it causes reactions that are less severe than anaphylaxis (and these reactions can still be problematic even though they're not life threatening).

The problem with peanuts is that the dust seems to travel well on people so for example if there are peanuts at a party I have to leave because although I can make sure I don't touch anything, I don't have much control over someone coming over and giving me a lovely hug, or worse, a kiss on the cheek. Or if I touch a chair with my hand and then forget not to touch my face then my face will swell up (not life threatening but makes me quite ill). Other nuts and other foods don't seem to travel in quite the same way.

I think it would be useful to point out something about Epipens (which despite using for nearly 25 years I only recently found out)... The adrenaline doesn't treat the reaction or stop the reaction, it purely acts like a pause button until proper emergency treatment can be administered.

I never realised this. This is one of the reasons why it is so important that anyone who has an allergic reaction of the severity that requires an Epipen is taken to hospital (or phone an ambulance) immediately. There is also a high risk of secondary reactions later on after everything has seemingly resolved (though thankfully I have never experienced this).

My boy had a secondary reaction about 6 hours after his first one ineed . He was a 6 month old baby so luckily (?!) they were keeping him in hospital overnight for monitoring and to see a paediatrician.

Hi, They use peanut oil and eggs in vaccines. Eggs are noted in the ingredients peanut oils does not need to be. You can find the vaccine inserts on the Internet.
Egg free vaccines are available for egg allergic.
That's why there is such a big change it reflects the vaccine schedule and ingredients.
My son has several friends with serious nut allergy and three with egg allergy, two with chicken allergy. The egg allergy can be just as serious as the nut allergy serious. It is
very complicated for teachers to monitor each individual child but with the potential for serious reactions it's better to have a blanket ban for younger kids where lunch can sometimes be eaten in the classroom leaving potential risk on the tables and the chance of kids exchanging food is an issue.

My DD has a serious egg allergy it was completely fine with flu vaccine with egg. NHS guidelines are now that children with egg allergy can have the standard flu vaccine.

It's not actually egg it's chick embyros.

An interesting twist on the "what came first, the chicken or the egg" debate. Is a chick embryo a chicken or an egg?

But still I think the biggest difference is that for some allergy, you need to consume it, and some, you need to be just in the same room, or be in contact with residue to cause fatal result.

Don't I know it! Welcome to my life, I'm severely contact allergic and very ill in the same room as my allergen...difference is that I'm not allergic to nuts so had to self manage from starting school. My major issue is with the double standard, it's not only nuts that can kill without ingestion.

Are people aware what a sever allergic reaction is really like?

I react to certain drugs, I poof up a bit, get a rash, get uncontrollable shakes, be sick etc ..... But having seen a sever reaction mine are not sever.

They are devastating, sudden and scary for everyone.

Please don't risk it, as I've said do your best, we can't avoid everything but a little bit of care and reading a few packets doesn't take long. Anyway have you seen how much sugar is in flapjacks!!!

I think you're being a tad unreasonable...
The kids with anut allergy will probably die if they consume any.
Yes they carry an epi pen, that is to buy them enough time to survive a journey to the hospital before they get further treatment and close monitoring of their airway.
My sons school have the same.
Yes there will be extra thought, but perhaps a bit of compassion for the family of a reactor might be needed.
They are relying on the world being considerate to prevent this kids early death. You still think it's too much to ask?

@merimum your handle on allergies amazes me-whoever told you that nut allergies are "completely different to other allergies" and "a child won't die if it's exposed to dairy"?? My son was 5 months old when he went into anaphylactic shock with his dairy allergy. He is now 12, and has never come as close to dying than that day (thanks to an ultra strict diet and the epi pen which gives us enough time to get the the hospital. Oh, and he doesn't even have to ingest it, he has contact allergy too. Please think before you make uniformed insensitive comments

So yes, we get it, and what we are trying to say is that struggling to vary meals for a child is just not in the same ballpark (in fact nowhere near the sodding ballpark) as having a child who regularly suffers life threatening reactions to commonplace foods. angry

When did I say it was? I said I am not trying to compete. I said it was not compassionate for people to assume it was just 'easy' and I should just be able to do it without a second thought. I was objecting to people not even letting me have a bit of a moan about it and having a go at me as if I were planning on giving my child tons of nuts to take into school.

Blimey. I hope when I post that I usually at least read the OP properly and the OP's comments. It is really tiresome otherwise.

OP I wouldn't take much notice now. It is obvious that people are posting without having read more than the first page.

Thanks NewShoes. Some people though (like the one quoted above) are reading my comments and persisting in twisting them and totally misrepresenting what I've said. Oh well. It is AIBU, I know. I shall try to refrain from reading anymore comments. I think I've learned what I needed to.

Suburbanrhonda there seems to be some conflicting information about nut bans from the organization's you mention. This is what Allergy uk says about nut bans.

School Meals / Catering

Food allergy is increasingly understood by those working in schools, so most schools have processes in place to minimise risk to children with food allergy. Two common approaches are to have:

A no-nut policy – this means parents are told not to include nut- based or foods made from nuts or peanuts in children’s packed lunches
A no food-sharing policy – this means that all children, not just those with allergy, only eat their own food. In this way there can be no confusion or need for decisions to be made about whether a child with a food allergy can or cannot have some of their friend’s food
If the school does not have these in place, you can contact Allergy UK for advice about encouraging them to adopt these policies. In the first instance, arrange to meet with the head teacher once you know your child has a school place; you can then raise your concerns and make suggestions about how your child, and any others with food allergies, can be kept as safe from risk as possible. The head teacher of a school does not usually have any managing role regarding the school catering, but should be able to put you in touch with the people who do the school’s catering.

Anaphylaxis org says it doesn't see nut bans as the best way forward, as it doesn't help the child to be responsible for their allergy.

Personally I would rather err on the side of caution and have a nut ban in primary schools as not all children that age find it easy to be responsible 100% of the time, and when a possible consequence is death you really can't be cavalier about it.