School rules and nuts

[Bagsalot]

My daughter is 11 yesterday was her birthday. She took an asda tray bake to school with her. She wasn't allowed to share it as apparently some where on the box it says may contain nuts. This has never been an issue before. Today an email came out stating no nuts or seeds allowed in school including lunchboxes. My daughter's in year 6 has been at the school since nursery age 2, this has never been mentioned. I've asked to see the risk assessment. I feel it's an unreasonable policy but possibly I'm being unreasonable

Sorry, not RTFT, I'm a mum of a child with life threatening allergies and I personally think it's fine to send a 'may contain' cake to school.... the caveat being if there is a child with nut allergies actually in your child's class, in which case they may not want to be identified and singled out (so perhaps this is why the teacher said no, without pointing the child out?).

Many kids each day would have a may contain in their school lunch boxes somewhere.

Of course the school should be nut free.

But it won't be. My worst nut reaction was in a supposedly nut-free setting. I stupidly ate a jam sandwich someone gave me. It had been contaminated with peanut butter during preparation.

But the risk assessment is going to say

What could happen? Child with nut allergy eats a product he/she didn't know has nuts in or was made in a factory that handles nuts.

Potential outcome
Very sick child. Dead child.

It sounds like they're either tightening up their policies after there being so much in the press or there is a new child this year that has a severe/life threatening reaction to nuts. You do not need to see the risk assessment!! Why do you want to see it?

My dd has a milk allergy and is very strictly kept away from milk products at nursery. There is also a child there with a severe nut allergy. Every now and again there's a reminder email home about how if we give our child peanut butter for breakfast at home we must make sure there is no trace left on our child. We're also reminded that many children have allergies and to buy birthday cake from the 'free from' aisle if possible so everyone can join in. This is everything that should be done.

Just because the school has been a bit lax in past years doesn't mean they're suddenly wrong for being more strict on something that has the potential to kill. There have been nut related deaths at primary schools before.

I think while not sending nuts in is fine it’s stupid to even consider classing anything or any place as nut free. Unless all the children at the school live in nut free homes as well then residues will be coming into school from chopping sandwiches or the children having something nutty for breakfast or even on the way to school. Our schools recently banned nuts my children have hot dinners so no problem there but they have a certain cereal in the morning or spread on toast that does contain nuts some times the oldest pops into the shop and no doubt buys a snickers to eat in the park before school.

I think if it was just the general “may contain” nuts that’s on everything pretty much, rather than if it had actually contained nuts, the school have been a bit OTT. Our primary school is not free and while I wouldn’t send in anything that had nuts in the ingredients I don’t check for “may contain” nuts.

YABU to be surprised at the school going nut free as I assumed most primary schools now were and to ask to see the risk assessment though.

My dd has a milk allergy and is very strictly kept away from milk products at nursery.

But milk isn't banned.

It's possible to create safe environments for allergic people that don't involve bans.

If you have a severe allergy you should be worried about anything or any place that claims to be "nut free" unless it is covered by binding food safety legislation. Nut free environments are not nut free and they exist primarily to absolve the school of responsibility for a reaction not to prevent a reaction. In the same way that "may contain nuts" labelling has nothing to do with safety for allergic people and everything to do with companies not wanting to take responsibility for what's in their products.

*At secondary school, really, I think a nut ban is really being precious.

Wanting kids not to die is precious? Now I’ve heard everything.*

My son is in high school now and as far as I know it’s not nut free. I guess it’s harder to police as kids get bigger as they walk to school themselves and can buy snacks/go out at lunchtime

I think while not sending nuts in is fine it’s stupid to even consider classing anything or any place as nut free.

They don't. They know they are only reducing the risk not eliminating it. They know there is risk and still have the emergency procedures in place if the child has an allergic reaction, such as epi pens etc.

Ds(14)'s primary school had a nut ban as one of his classmates had a younger sister who was allergic. In the 3 years they were in the same school together she was blue lighted to hospital in an ambulance 4 times. Twice it was due to stupid parents who knew about the van but their children had obvious nut products in their lunch boxes/snack, twice the source wasnt found.

The cake you were taking in was to be shared with children . So even if the child is in reception they can’t have a rule for year 6 and one for reception.

My ds’s friend has a nut allergy so I am careful what I send even now they are in high school and have always made sure my Ds doesn’t share food.

If your dc could end up in hospital as a result of your child eating something I am sure you would feel differently

Sometimes parents genuinely don't understand too ... very nice, sensible mother of one of the 3 kids who took their own lunch to nursery instead of hot meals (of 30 kids), was sending in a cashew bar to eat daily because it 'didn't contain nuts'. Mine and the third child both had nut (and other) allergies...

It's not easy but children with nut allergies shouldn't really be sharing food at school at all.

It's tough but it's a very important lesson and if they don't learn it until they are teenagers then it's too late.

Why do you think most anaphylaxis deaths occur among teens and young adults?

Twice it was due to stupid parents who knew about the van but their children had obvious nut products in their lunch boxes/snack, twice the source wasnt found.

This is the point. Nut bans don't work. Better supervision is safer (but more expensive) and the gold standard is teaching allergic children how to manage the risk themselves.

Plus if the source wasn't found then it probably wasn't nuts. I've had several anaphylactic reactions most of which weren't to nuts or seeds. Some were unexplained, one was to a parrot (crazy but true!), one was probably due to toxic caterpillars, and one was to pollen in unfiltered honey (I can eat treated "industrial" honey, although I don't).

"The cake you were taking in was to be shared with children"

If someone lets their allergic child share food brought in by other parents, nut ban or no, they are taking an absurd risk.

Manage the risk themselves!?! Ok so we won't ban nuts from school we'll just teach the affected children how to not breathe during lunch time. If a child takes nuts to school and the dust gets in the air that can cause a reaction, if that dust landed on the child's (who is eating the product) clothing and then the child with allergy happens to touch that child during playtime...a reaction occurs. But the one thing you cannot predict and only take measure to prevent is an attack on a child who doesn't have a known allergy up until the point where they are swelling up like a balloon, can t breathe, panicking and have no medication because before that moment right there they didn't even know they even had an allergy. With nuts or the possibility of a trace, if one child in that class had never been previously diagnosed ate some cake and starting having an attack the damage is already done. Better to take precautions by not offering things that most likely would contains traces of nut than be blasé about the fact that it doesn't ACTUALLY contain nuts.

Also nut bans would work in keeping children safe if people actually abided by them!!

Don't even have to read the responses to know that it's a big argument with sensible people telling yes, YABVVVVVVU smattered with some more ignorance of the likes of OP.

Have a

(it's nut free)

very nice, sensible mother of one of the 3 kids who took their own lunch to nursery instead of hot meals (of 30 kids), was sending in a cashew bar to eat daily because it 'didn't contain nuts'. Mine and the third child both had nut (and other) allergies...

Cashew nut bar? Eh?! The clue's in the name! It's a fecking cashew NUT lol. What did she think it was made out of, sprouts or something?

Good points MISTI.

Momma what do you suggest my dairy-allergic DD does? Are you prepared to have nut, egg, dairy, celery, wheat and legume-free schools? No, thought not. Kids do need to learn to manage allergies themselves because that's what will keep them safe. As for 'if parents kept to the rules', well they don't, often through ignorance, but it is the way it is. Why so many randoms are convinced they know better than the anaphylaxis campaign is beyond me.

My DS aged 4 started Primary 1 in August, in his nursery school it was not free. We have moved area for him starting P1. At pep talk before school holidays I discussed his nut allergy and was told all school meals on our district are free from nuts, I expected this to be the case. Day one waved him off at school door with his packed lunch....picked him up at 3pm and he had a post it note in his hand saying teacher wanted a word. She said we just wanted to check that if a child was eating nuts in the same room as DS will he be ok? How bad is his allergy? I instantly felt sick, I said hold on aren't all Primary Schools nut free (Im so dumb!) She said no we allow nuts! Next morning I went straight to the HT, who wouldn't see me but her secretary explained in theory there could be a child eating a peanut butter sandwich next to DS and it's for DS to manage! I have spoken and spoken to them saying that we don't know how bad his allergy is so we should plan/manage for worst case scenario, they have agreed to work with me on this but they WONT bam nuts or nut products. I cannot tell you what its like dropping my 4 year old off every day and waiting on a phone call. A colleague who's DS goes to another dchool in the district got told off for a Nutella bar in his lunchbox and she applogised and said she should have know better due to my son. When she told that teacher about our school she said to tell me the council will soon be introducing a blanket ban on nuts in all schools in our district, it's currently being rolled out. I cannot wait.

That’s madness fredmerc I’d also have assumed that the school was nut free given the dinners were.

This is the point. Nut bans don't work.

They don't eliminate the risk but do reduce it, especially important in a primary school setting where young children don't have 1-1 supervision, and are still learning about their potentially fatal allergy and how to avoid risks.

Also nut bans would work in keeping children safe if people actually abided by them!!

Nope. Not unless all parents remove nut products from the home too.

MommaCinders - I've had to manage my allergy largely by myself, except for being isolated at lunchtimes I had no support in place. Why didn't I have that support? Because my allergy isn't to nuts and is therefore not taken as seriously! My allergen goes airborne and I inhale it? I can die. If I get my allergen on my skin? I need urgent hospital treatment. If I ingest my allergen? I can die.

Believe me, it's not uncommon for young children to be expected to take responsibility for their own lives (I'm not saying it's right, I'm saying it happens).

Manage the risk themselves!?! Ok so we won't ban nuts from school we'll just teach the affected children how to not breathe during lunch time.

Ridiculous hyperbole. There is very little evidence that airborne nut allergen causes any sort of allergic reaction let alone anaphylaxis in the vast majority of nut allergic people.

I'm peanut allergic and peanut smell makes me feel ill. But it's entirely psychological.

I think on balance I'm not against a ban on whole nuts at school. But a blanket ban on nut products doesn't make children safer and isn't recommended by experts.