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.

www.scarymommy.com/peanut-allergy-school/

This outlines the risks it poses. I didn't realise that just because they take the epi pen doesn't mean the reaction will go away, in fact once the medicine runs out the attack can come back

I'm always surprised at those who think that because you can't guarantee a nut free environment, then you shouldn't try to reduce risk at all .

I mean, driving within the speed limit won't guarantee that you won't kill a child, but you don't disregard that and send texts while you drive at 70 in a built up street, do you?

Reasonable precautions that might just save a child's life? Fuck it, too much trouble. No guarantees anyway.

It's not exactly a hardship to make sure there are no nuts in a packed lunch - there's so many alternative forms of protein and fats. And there's all weekend and breakfast and dinner where you can give them nuts. Slightly dramatic to claim it's damaging your child nutritionally to not have nuts for one meal.......

DS1s best friend has a severe nut allergy, I have witnessed him go into anaphylactic shock and his mum having to use the epipen, it was terrifying and I would never want another child or parent to go through that if I could do something as straightforward as no nuts in their packed lunch.

The solitary - I would do all of them if we didn't live in central London. So no I don't let my 5 year old all to school alone, but would if we lived elsewhere. We have treats and chocolate all without reach on view in the house, they don't steal it, then ask and wait for an answer. My eldest is 6, but at 8 I would probably leave him home alone 10 mins yes

Yabu absolutely totally and stupidly

Do you seriously think that it's more important to stuff your child with nuts for one meal at school than that your stupid insistence on doing so could KILL a child?

An epipen is not a miracle cure. It saves a life but it's a million trillion times better to avoid needing it as much as possible

You are increadibly selfish

From the same article;
This is not about “living in the real world.” Outside of a school setting, where else would you find 30 or more kids having lunch together, 80 percent of whom are consuming peanut butter and smearing it on all surfaces within a 12-inch radius? In the “real world,” you find people who can eat a fucking sandwich without getting shit all over their hands and face. In the “real world,” I, or another informed adult, will be close by to help my 5-year-old girl navigate the world of anaphylaxis.

You wouldn't think it was OTT if it was your child it could kill.

My oh works in food production and they have nut free certification. If you eat a snickers bar, in your car, in the car park (and they find out) you'll lose your job.

My sister has a severe nut allergy, she was even bullied in school with children throwing nuts at her. Its really very serious she has been hospitalised many times. I dont feel at ease knowing she has an epi pen.

A few years ago, my child's school banned nuts. Alas there was a parent who ignored the ban because of ridiculous reasons. Her child was sitting next to a seriously nut allergy child, the one the school was trying to protect. The nuts were hidden in a cake. The student with the allergy at that point hadn't been identified to everyone because of the child's right to privacy.
Within seconds of the lunch box opened the child went into anaphylactic shock. The child's heart couldn't take what was happening, but luckily the school did have members of staff fully trained in cpr. Imagine the trauma of witnessing this had on the other students? The trauma of the staff as they fought to save her?
A healthy child now will spend the rest of their live in a wheelchair. All because some selfish idiot couldn't be arsed to adhere to the ban.

Yes it was an extreme reaction to nuts, and something that could have easily be avoided

OP I sympathise both with you, and with those parents whose DCs have life threatening allergies.

Personally, I can't see how a child with such a severe nut allergy that food remnants on clothing or someone's breath could kill them would ever be safe in a mainstream school environment

As an aside - I work with DCs of all ages. The older ones tell me that a lot of make up products contain nuts. I have worked in nut-free primary schools but never been told to check the ingredients of my cosmetics.

The inconsistency and poor risk management is far more frustrating than the inconvenience.

So if you were a parent of a nut allergic child would you feel more confident knowing:

A) The school has imposed a nut ban. It won't be perfect as many lunch ingredients will be packaged with a "Processed in a factory using nuts" style disclaimer, and some ignorant parents will send their children with nuts in their lunches anyway, and some parents will make mistakes and include the odd nut containing food by accident;

or B) there is no nut ban in place.

I'm always surprised at those who think that because you can't guarantee a nut free environment, then you shouldn't try to reduce risk at all.

This is why I was hesitant about posting on this thread. You can't have a discussion about why the Allergy UK advice is so diametrically opposed to what happens in schools without people piling in with hyperbole.

I was hoping to find out from this thread whether anyone was confused by the conflicting advice but I can see that no such sensible discussion is going to be had on here.

'but at 8 I would probably leave him home alone 10 mins yes'

10 minutes? If he knows the house rules, why not 10 hours?
What's the difference between your children at 5 and 6 and at 15 and 16?
Maturity, experience, ability to risk assess.
Try it.
Leave the treats on a table, sharp knives accessible in the kitchen, dangerous chemicals in an unlocked cupboard, tell them not to touch anything and go out for an hour.

panda Allegen food labelling changed a couple of years ago. It is no longer permitted to describe something as "may contain nuts". It either has to be "nut free" or "contains nuts".

My DS primary school eventually had a nut ban when he reached year 3. He has severe nut allergies. He is well aware of the foods that he can not eat and checking ingredients is a must when looking at new foods/brands etc.

He has had severe reactions in the past and they are extremely scary for a young child. As a result he is extremely (been through CAHMS) anxious about nuts. If he is sat next to a child eating food that contains nuts he will be extremely anxious for several hours until he is sure that he won't react. On arriving home he will demand that his clothes will be thrown away and never worn again incase they cause problems in the future. He then has to shower and change. (This is so expensive, but the only way to calm him down).

Unfortunately even after the ban, one child's parents continued to send her to school with nuts for her break time snack. The teachers did attempt to police this and it eventually stopped after a week and her parents kicking up a huge fuss worrying that their Pfb wasn't getting her 'balanced diet' any more . (They all changed classes in year 3, so it hadn't been a problem before).

Every single day ds came home distraught that there had been nuts in his classroom. He had to be moved to a different table, away from his friends, got through several sets of uniform and the girl was almost taunting him about the fact she was still bringing them in telling him 'her parents said so long as she didn't let him eat any it's ok, but everyone else could face one!'

This can be a life or death situation for some, as well as creating huge anxiety for some children (which I am surprised hasn't been mentioned yet). School should be a safe place for all children, and if one simple thing could help to make it safer, I can't see why it becomes such a big issue. I understand we all want what's best for our own children but in terms of risk assessment in a school high risk of death would trump another child's fussy eating every time I would have thought?

I think it's a totally reasonable request. My niece has a severe nut allergy and I cater for at family events throughout the year. There are nuts and nut traces in many many products but it just means reading ingredients and learning what to avoid. I keep my home nut free so that she can be safe when she is here. The only hardship has been not having peanut butter but clearly a child's life is more important!

DD's last school had a poorly applied nut ban, which was actively dangerous for the nut-allergic children in the school.
They banned all nuts (including, bafflingly, coconut which isn't a nut but contained the word "nut") even though the allergic children were allergic to tree nuts not peanuts.
This led to parents stocking lunchboxes with seed bars, which had the opposite effect the school intended as the allergic children had far more serious allergies to sesame and egg than they did to tree nuts.
They should really have talked to the parents of the allergic children and made a coherent plan, instead they knee-jerk banned nuts with no idea why, and made the school more dangerous for the children they sought to protect.

Why don't you opt for school meals? Or take your children home for lunch? I think its still possible to have a healthy packed lunch without nuts. If your family is vegan there might be issues.

When my son started school there was a little girl in reception with a severe nut allergy so the school went nut free. It was presented as a common sense way to reduce risk to the child. No one had a problem with it and no other children suffered malnutrition as a result of no nuts for lunch.

YABU

At the end of day fairness and whether or not it's OTT is irrelevant. Safe guarding is a legal obligation not a moral request.

It's not just about eating from someone else's lunchbox. Children are messy and touchy so they could leave peanut butter for example on the table and the allergic child could come into contact with us.

As a peanut allergy sufferer myself, I can't imagine how distressing it must be to be a parent of a child with one. I worry enough about myself. Imagine having to send your child to school everyday worrying that something could happen even with all the precautions in place.

YANBVVVU. I know a child who has a severe nut allergy and sometimes the epipens don't work for whatever reason. When that happens it is incredibly stressful for them, their teacher and any peers who happen to be nearby.

You can deal with whatever changes to your child's nutrition by including the food in their evening meal. How do you think your children would feel if you gave them nuts and that caused the death of another child? You have the luxury of sending your children to school knowing that they are safe, parents of children with nut allergies and other serious medical conditions don't have that luxury.

Stop being an inconsiderate little petal and do the right thing.

My son's best friend was bluelighted to hospital because a parent sent their child in with pistachio nuts at lunchtime. He was on the other side of the school hall from the child with the blase parents. Allergy UK may advocate against nut bans at school but with free licence to put nuts in lunchboxes I imagine he'd spend more time in the children's hospital than at school.

School's don't become nut-free on a whim. They do so because they have children with genuine life-threatening allergies. It's, as much as I loathe the word, all about inclusion. You make allowances!!

And as for secondary school, I imagine he'll have his epi-pen in his pocket constantly rather than his teacher/lunch break supervisor holding the kit for him.

Children seem really accepting of the fact that they can't bring nuts in because several children have severe allergies. All his group of friends brush their teeth extra-well if they've had peanut butter at breakfast and my kid, who is the messiest creature ever, is obsessive about hoovering up before his friend comes over 'just in case'.

OP, just read the labels and give your kids nut-laden treats after school. It isn't difficult and your children aren't missing out at all. I'm sure they understand.

A few years ago, an 8 year old boy at my kid's school collapsed and died in front of his friends and siblings after eating contaminated food. He did have an EpiPen but it wasn't enough to save him.

It's not just the family who suffer from the loss of their child, but the impact on the kids at school and the other adults who tried in vain to save him. Pain they all have to live with for the rest of their lives.

But of course you shouldn't have to inconvenience yourself in any way by restricting your child's intake of nuts to out of school hours.

So no-one has a view about the conflicting advice from Allergy UK about nut bans in schools not being recommended as the best way to keep children safe if they have a nut allergy?