Nuts.

[goodbeans]

DS had this message in his nursery diary: 'Please can you avoid pesto because of nut allergies within the nursery'.

This was in reference to him having been sent in with pasta and green pesto (DH on lunch duties, he forgot the rule). I did find it annoying though, as pesto is made with pine nuts, which are seeds and not nuts, despite the misleading name. (I know that some red pesto is made with cashews, and so I would never use that in food intended for nursery, although I suspect that most staff wouldn't question it as it could easily be mistaken for a regular tomato sauce...)

Anyway, I would like to send a note to the following effect back: 'We always avoid sending any food into nursery that contains nuts. However, pine nuts are seeds (despite the misleading name!) If there is a child with a seed allergy at nursery then we will of course be careful to avoid sending any seed containing foods in DS's lunch.'

AIBU to reply like this to nursery? Or is this weird kind of blanket ban (based on a misnomer) normal?! If it is then I will just suck it up, but it is frustrating given that it doesn't seem to have much basis in common sense.

As for the cross-contamination thing, I react if touched by anyone who has touched a nut and then touched me and especially if kissed by someone who has eaten a nut.

I didn't let my children eat nuts until they were old enough to brush their teeth and wash their hands and faces thoroughly after eating, and to avoid touching me for several hours.

I think the most Mumsnet solution to this, in the MN world of every child eating pesto as a basic food stuff, would be to make your own nut and seed free kale-based pesto. You can do it while your chick peas are soaking for your tahini-free humus.

Pesto is delicious and when made properly there are no nuts in it, but given how much cheaper cashews are to pine nuts, a lot of brands use cashews to bulk it out.

I don't see the harm in asking the nursery if the allergy is to nuts or seeds and clarifying that your pesto is home made and doesn't actually contain any nuts. Explaining pine nuts are not nuts is being deliberately rude because most people are aware of that.

anaphylaxis campaign re pinenuts op show nursey the link also anaphylaxis campaign advice re nut band
mouthfull some shop bought pest has tree nuts ie cashew and walnuts instead of pinenuts.

I do think it is reasonable to reply to the nursery note, if only to ask for clarification regarding exactly what is covered by the ban - nuts? seeds? both? If pesto is out (even cashew-free) then what about seeded rolls or bread? Are there other foods which other parents could usefully be alerted/reminded about?

There are only a couple of brands of nut-free pesto. One, I can only find in Waitrose but it is often out of stock. The other, I can only get in a health food shop.
Tesco finest pesto has no nuts- might be a bit easier to get hold of...

Thanks, DoJo. My nearest full-sized Tesco is miles away, but I'll have a peek in the Tesco Metro next time I go past.

sacla coriander pesto is pinenut only

The "no pesto" thing surely came at the request of the parents of the allergic child, who have reason to believe that pesto may be a problem or have been advised by HCPs to avoid it. Its not really for the nursery to justify.
If you seek clarification, they'd only have to ask the parents, who will justifiably be cheesed off that an "I'm a biologist" is questioning their needs and demanding more info on their child's medical needs. Not your business!
They said no pesto. Why not just observe that?

That might not be necessarily so Thefreaks

You got a telling off now you are being petulant and pedantic about seeds and nuts rightyo do you always go to that much trouble to prove a point or just over Allergies and pesto what about an oops we forgot nursery won't happen again

What you are actually saying is my child's right to pesto overrides any other child's health which is really arrogant

OP: give your DS pasta dressed with a little basil infused oil and a sprinkle of parmesan. It won't have the nuts in and will be very similar to his palate.

They did Pesto and pine nuts on Mondays Food Unwrapped if you have catch up tv.

There's a nut free fake peanut butter called Wowbutter if that helps anyone, it also has stickers to put on the sandwich bag that verifies it is nut free. One of my kids loves meat but not cold ham or chicken so that was out in a sandwich. In summer he didn't like cheese as it went a bit funny in the heat. Peanut butter he loved, so wowbutter worked great for him.

One of my children was fussy about many things when little but loved cold pesto pasta with cucumber and cherry tomatoes. He wouldn't touch bread with a filling or pasta with any other sauce on it. So was sent into pre school with pesto pasta salad most days, luckily there wasn't a no nut policy there. If I had a hope of getting him to eat anything pesto was the magic ingredient. Spread under the cheese on cheese and toast, instead of Tom sauce for pizza, onto potatoes then roasted, chicken coated with it then bread crumbed, stirred into mash or rice, spread in omelette before folding.

What you are actually saying is my child's right to pesto overrides any other child's health which is really arrogant

This exactly

My brother had terrible allergies when we were children, way before allergies were properly accepted as a normal thing and way before allergic replacements were available. I remember his face so clearly being told that he couldn't eat certain foods and not really understanding why, it was heartbreaking. Your arrogance is not a nice thing. Just be grateful that it's not your child in that position and stop being so pedantic to prove to the nursery that technically they're not correct.

Why are you sending food in to nursery though? All the nurseries I have had experience of provide all food and snacks etc (allergy management probably one of the reasons amongst others). Why does your DS need pasta and pesto (or whatever) sending in?

Although it would bug me slightly seeing as pine nuts not nuts etc etc I would just not send pesto in again, it's as simple as that. Pesto is not a main food group. I imagine if you did the staff might bin it straight away anyway.

I have an allergy it has been called silly what no way can you be allergic to that or im not near you. It is so irritating and dangerous and threads like oh its not a real thing rile me. Nursery then school dont put out food bans to annoy parents or deprive children of pesto it is so the allergens are not in the enviroment and children are safe. Surely as a biologist the op knows this.

I must admit, before I had kids I might have felt a bit more annoyed at being told "no X food" etc. (would still have complied but would have felt slightly miffed). Now however I am genuinely happy to comply and just feel grateful that I don't have a DC that you have to watch like a hawk all day every day for allergies, and worry about when you're not there. It's not much to ask really - one child doesn't have pesto so another child doesn't have an anaphylactic shock.

My eldest is mid20s and I remember the nut ban coming into her primary some parents were furious im talking marching up to school or sending kids in with snickerbars and peanut butter sandwhiches like they were leading a rebellion or something . It was ridiculous it got so bad HT sent a note home saying if any nut product was found then the parent would be asked to collect the child from school.

Lljkk- Pesto is a basic common food. I would assume all kids eat pesto

You assume all kids eat bright green mush? Do you actually know any kids?

My kids loathe pesto. And basil in general.

My DP has a nut allergy and reacts to pesto.

MrsJayye
If you go on the allergy boards, most parents of children with allergies dont want nut bans. Also have never seen advice from an allergy professional that advocates nut bans in school either.
As a parent and wife of men with nut and seed allergies, i dont see any arrogance, just wish schools would get back some common sense on the subject.

My DS is one of those fussy about sandwiches kids who has peanut butter virtually every day. It would be a hassle if his school became nut free because he'd then basically only have jam or butter! But him eating a less nutritious sandwich is so obviously less important than another child not becoming seriously ill that it wouldn't occur to me to complain. That's a fairly frightening lack of empathy.

But him eating a less nutritious sandwich is so obviously less important than another child not becoming seriously ill that it wouldn't occur to me to complain. That's a fairly frightening lack of empathy

Not unless you are accusing the medical profession and the allergy experts and charities of a lack of empathy, because none of them support these nut bans that are now pretty much automatic.

My kids school has a nut ban yet no nut allergic children, on the basis that one of them MIGHT become allergic at any time. It's ridiculous.