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.

We had this at my schools as one of the kids was severely allergic just being in the same room would send them into an anaphylaxis. They constantly had epi pens on them due to this. This might not be the reason but just take a step back and think what if that was your child

Cordychase so if you are in favour of a nut ban and I follow through your logic, why don't we also ban the things that other kids are allergic to and can cause anaphylactic shock - in my case certain types of cheese. The risk to me is that if someone cut a block of cheddar with a knife that had just cut some blue cheese then that would be enough to cause me anaphylactic shock. kids eat cheese sandwiches all the time and people often reuse the knife between cheese. it could get left as a crumb on the table which I could then eat and become seriously ill.

and if you ban cheese then what about eggs? if there is a child in the school with egg anaphylactic shock you need to ban all eggs and foods with egg products in.

the problem with the nut ban isn't the banning of the nuts in itself. its the fact that it allows some schools to tick the column marked allergies and say job done. it also somehow imagines that those of us who love nuts but have anaphylactic shock with something else somehow suffer anaphylactic - lite and that we don't count.

You cant just ban nuts and tell the kids with other allergies that its tough and that they will have to learn not to share foods can you?

I think these threads are important to educate other people who don't have allergies

Nobody in my family has food allergies. We all eat nuts and enjoy them. I know there are children in school who are nut allergic though and understand that it's a pretty serious thing.

The mind boggles that anyone would think it's OK to send in cakes containing nuts for a bake sale or something. Any time we're asked to produce home baking I'll stick to less risky things like coffee cake without the walnuts, fairy cakes, scones or lemon drizzle. We forgot to remind people "no nuts" in home baking at the last PTA fair and nobody sent anything nutty anyway - it's common sense.

OP if you feel so strongly take your child out of school at lunch for their peanut butter and cereal bars.

YABU, Op. My DD developed an allergy to nuts when she was 10. Thankfully it wasn't as severe as some in her school but she had to carry an epipen with her as she would have a reaction to the smell of nuts!

cordy

That information doesn't seem conflicting at all. Allergy UK simply lists nut bans as one of the common approaches schools take and Anaphylxis Campaign doesn't support nut bans.

And anyway, you think school should have nut bans "to be on the safe side", so it seems that for you, it's irrelevant that those two organisations don't support bans.

I was thinking that nut bans seemed sensible if a school has a child with a severe nut allergy - after all, surely no one wants to hospitalise another child (or worse) because you've sent your child in with a snack containing nuts - but having read the thread, it does seem increasingly odd that nuts generally seem to be the only allergen singled out for a ban.

Maybe it's because it's easier to filter out nuts than milk, eggs and so on.... but it does seem a bit odd that schools appear to be making greater efforts to protect children with severe nut allergies than children with equally life threatening allergies to other foods.

mummymeister, I can understand that you are allergy sufferer yourself, but do you have primary aged children who suffers from severe allergy as well?

Of course it's better the school/ children/ teachers/ everybody are educated about these things, but that's not easy. Some people on this thread even says they would send nuts against ban because that's their right.

We are talking about primary aged children. I think nut ban is the safest you can do at the moment.

I'm sorry but I do think YABVU. I have a potentially fatal allergy to a specific insect sting, which I was unaware of until the first sting I had. Half an hour after being stung I was rushed to hospital by my husband and immediately taken into an emergency room to have copious doses of adrenaline and antihistamine administered. I had already taken Piriton when I first started feeling itchy, and have since been told that it probably bought me enough time to save my life. Since then I have had to carry an Epipen, although it's a bit irrelevant now as it happened in Africa and these insects don't live in the UK (yet!). My point here is that an allergy isn't necessarily known about until a life-threatening event occurs, and the school have a duty of care to all pupils.

However, on the flip side of this, two of my DDs have had friends to visit (primary school age) and neither set of parents informed me that they had potentially life-threatening nut allergies. I found this pretty shocking, especially as the younger child was 6 and probably not up to telling me herself - I found out about it later through my daughter. I would FAR prefer the school to be absolutely ANAL very strict about what should or should not go into lunchboxes than run the risk of a child ending up in hospital or worse because I had innocently put something risky in my own child's lunchbox.

As an aside, in Africa, where we used to live, peanut allergies were pretty much unheard of. Expectant and breastfeeding mothers were encouraged to eat plenty of peanuts, as it stimulates milk production. The majority of babies were breastfed, and I suspect some immunity was passed on that way. But it's not something that anyone has ever done a study on, as far as I know.

SuburbanRhonda
Anaphylxis Campaign doesn't support nut bans.

From their FAQs:

Generally speaking the Anaphylaxis Campaign would not necessarily support ‘peanut bans’ in all schools.

www.anaphylaxis.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/FAQs-in-schools-v10-with-links-in-full-for-hard-copy-download-1.pdf

That does not read like an unequivocal dismissal of nut bans, more like a depends on circumstances approach.

mummymeister
the problem with the nut ban isn't the banning of the nuts in itself. its the fact that it allows some schools to tick the column marked allergies and say job done.

It's hard to imagine that any school would use a nut ban as its sole strategy to help students manage allergies, especially since there are likely to be allergies to other foods in a school setting.

My daughter vomits profusely if someone who has eaten nuts so much as breathes on her. The vomiting goes on for 45 minutes and is relentless. Her skin itches profusely if someone who has touched nuts touches things that she then touches.. She carries an epipen but has never had to use it, but it is a huge horse needle that has to be stabbed hard in her thigh and is extremely painful, and can cause permanent nerve damage if you hit the wrong spot. It is not something she can administer herself - someone else would have to stab her with it, someone who has been trained how to use it (ie a first aider would have to be found to administer the injection). Epi pens are only for last ditch emergencies and even then they may not work - we have to carry two at all times in case the first one doesn't work. It is not like taking antihistamines, or an asthma inhaler, or even a bog standard injection. Nut allergies are very common now a days, and there are two other girls in her class that are much worse than her - one will go into anaphalactic shock within 60 seconds if exposed to nuts. I would urge everyone to take no nut policies seriously at schools, as there will usually be a good reason for them. Most schools have a no nut policy now, even secondary schools as far as I know.

My eldest dd has a peanut/bean/seed allergy. I defy any school to police that one. She has an anaphylaxic shock if she eats them so she doesn't. We have kept her safe since she was 3 (27 now) by being careful but not ridiculous I would not have expected her primary school to ban nuts etc and her secondary would definitely not have cooperated.
She went to UEA large liberal lovin' uni where she flourished I'm sure some people ate peanut butter. Blah blah I'm boring myself about this now, let's get on with life give your children what you want them to eat I'm not saying ignore the school just swerve it if you are concerned about your child's diet. School dinners are NOT guaranteed to be nut free and in any case the nutrition falls very far short of perfect all that gloopy custard and mean sponge...

My ds has nut(not peanut) allergy, but less severe than some fatal ones. But just because my ds would be ok without complete nut ban, I don't assume all other children are the same at all.
Also, the anaphylaxis is not the only horrible thing they may suffer. Even not so life threatening reactions are bad enough. Rash makes child crazy with itchiness, vomiting, diarrhea, sneezing, coughing, teary eyes, etc,etc. Life of allergy sufferers are kind of sucks in daily basis.

gillKC - you do realise that a percentage of children outgrow peanut allergies? Our allergy specialist has recommended retesting our daughter when she's older, just in case she is one of the lucky ones. So perhaps your daughter hasn't been just very lucky in avoiding allergens but has actually just grown out of it. And your attitude sucks beyond belief. You got lucky. Is that the approach you are advocating? Just hope for the best if you have a child with an allergy and other parents should send it allergens because maybe no one will notice?

I'm wondering how the people who disagree with nut bans thinking my four year old should handle her allergy when she starts school? She has specific language impairment so though her speech is hard to understand. How is a four year old with these difficulties going to be able to keep her self safe if there isn't a ban in place?

Misnomer and Irvine believe it or not I was a 4 year old child once as well and had my food allergies at that time too!

I don't even remember when I was taught not to share food, or take a bite from someone elses or pick random bits up without checking.

food allergies are not brand new you know.

fascicle if this isn't the case, the use of box ticking, then why don't we hear of schools with dairy and egg bans then?

I don't know of any secondary schools in our area that ban any food stuffs. I am not saying it is easy to deal with allergies. it isn't. I am not saying I don't feel sorry for others that suffer because I really do.

I just don't think that the nut ban is the most reasonable response in the long term interest of the child. there will be a number of allergic children in a school at any one time. sit them together for lunch somewhere else supervised. this isn't about exclusion its about being supportive and taking a positive step. during these lunches in a small group you can discuss the no sharing and care that needs to be taken to reinforce the messages given out at home.

at the end of the day if you have a child with an allergy you have to trust yourself and the child - no one else - to keep you safe.

a nut ban is not the safest option if you are allergic to eggs.

Misnomer I hope you aren't relying on the nut ban as your only line of defence when your 4 year old starts school. I get that it is scary for you but don't expect parents and kids to abide by this because the one thing I can guarantee you is that someone wont. it might be a total accident but someone will bring nuts into the school and it will happen more than once.

if you feel that by sending your child to a school with a nut ban that you can somehow relax and feel better about it then sorry but you are wrong.

Suburbanrhonda if you read again the passage I quote from allergy uk you will see they do support schools putting a nut ban in place.

Misnomer - do not rely on a nut ban.....it is not safe. this is why they should not happen, you are lulled into a false sense of security.
I watched my 3yr old at a party today ask an adult near her, is there milk/soya in these crisps please? (they were refilling the crisp bowl).
she knows to not touch, she knows to ask - i know to never leave her unsupervised and to always check and double check - i would never ever rely on a ban or other parents who don't know her or her allergies.
even age 2 she knew not to pick food off the floor, not to share, to ask before she eats - to check - you drum it into them - do not rely on a ban, other parents will not keep your child safe - accidents occur, products change (bloody jammy dodgers now have milk in sob) sometimes and we don't notice till you recheck the packet again....

oh and i have 3 children in 3 schools - and no nut bans......just a no sharing of food rule in place.
any to the PP who said epi-pens are kept in the office, in the one school we attend where there is an anaphylactic child, the bag is kept on her school desk at all times.
Summer888 - anyone can administer an epi-pen, the instructions are on the outside clearly written. its foolproof so that anyone could administer it. a first aider might just be the schools policy, but on the street anyone can and should administer it - and would be instructed to if you rang 999

/aside/ the government eat well whatever it's called scheme ads have a suggestion on them to change crisps in packed lunches for kids to a 'nice healthy handful of nuts' /end aside/

Nope, I read it again and still can't see it.

I can see where they invite people to contact them for advice should they want to ask their school to put a ban in place. But actively supporting a ban - certainly not obvious to me unless there's a bit I'm not reading in your post.

Yep. You are being selfish and totally unreasonable. All the schools and nurseries locally have this in place TO PROTECT A MINORITY OF CHILDREN WHO ARE ALLERGIC TO NUTS. Ffs. If it was your kid you would care.

I find it strange the school have only just introduced this. We had this in place in my own primary school and that was over 20 years ago! That being said we did have a child who had severe anaphylaxis in my class and people at lunch always swapped food items with each other - it was almost like a stock market for different desirable goodies!

Although the child knew of the risk he did also swap things with other children (kids always will do stuff they know I'd potentially dangerous! No matter how many times they have been told not to!) and if parents had not followed the rule things could have ended badly.

Cordychase so if you are in favour of a nut ban and I follow through your logic, why don't we also ban the things that other kids are allergic to and can cause anaphylactic shock - in my case certain types of cheese. The risk to me is that if someone cut a block of cheddar with a knife that had just cut some blue cheese then that would be enough to cause me anaphylactic shock.

You would hope that at primary school they would ban certain types of cheese if there was a child that was severely allergic.

A no food-sharing policy
I am surprised that kids would ever be allowed to share food at lunch time in junior school.

I know times have changed but I remember sitting in our school dining hall and the hawk dinner ladies would have had us stood in the corner if we had shared food.

Once I got caught trying to throw my apple in the bin and they made me stand in the corner of the dining hall for the rest of the lunch period. After that I always disposed of my fruit before I got to school in the morning. I think my Mum thought that if she kept giving me fruit eventually I would like it and to this day I still can't stand it.

My granddaughter has a nut allergy. She is anaphylactic and has an epipen. She is only 6. I am all for the nut free policy.

It's not only eating actual nuts, it's also contact. Another child has eaten nuts, then touches something, the anaphylactic child might come in contact.

I've worked where kids have been sent home ill after a child has come into contact with someone who had the allergen for breakfast. I would recommend Ikeas chocolate spread with butterscotch pieces as a tasty alternative to nutella. If your child won't eat sandwiches, then don't give them sandwiches! My dd has breadsticks, crackers etc with stuff to dip into or cheese cubes. Try a fruit bar instead of a muesli one, the no added sugar ones are great and far healthier too. Most schools don't allow cakes or sweets anyway including muesli bars as they're too full of added sugar. If your children love them, why not make your own raisin flapjacks instead? Or just buy flapjacks instead :)