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

[sweeneytoddsrazor]

As far as I am aware all the local schools near here have had a ban on cakes and sweets being taken in on birthdays for a number of years. I run a Brownie unit and parents always ask if they can bring anything to share on birthdays.

[SnuggyBuggy]

Also what if you are using nuts at home? Should you decontaminate yourself? What about multiple different allergies? Dairy would be difficult to get everyone to eliminate.

[EwItsAHooman]

Epi-pens don't magically fix an allergic reaction, the point of them is to buy you enough time to get to a hospital for treatment.

[ladydickisathingapparently]

Of course there will be situations where certain shops overlabel with “may contain nuts.” There will be situations where nuts in a product are missed. Some allergies will be more difficult to cater for. But if you can cut out the most obvious sources then you are minimising the risks. That’s all any of us can do.

[Sarahani]

Actually a blanket no nuts policy breeds children complacency and can increase the risk for those with nut allergies. There is no way you can police lunch boxes and lots of foods have nuts in or may contain warnings.

It's much better to teach children about not sharing food and drink, good hygiene and awareness rather than place the responsibility on other parents.

I say this as a child with allergies. Labelling is a mind field and not something the average person can get there head around. Our local allergy service don't advocate big nuts schools either.

[CrispbuttyNo1]

We recently had a guest with very severe nut allergy. All staff were asked not to eat nuts or nut based products before coming into work that week as just being next to someone who had recently eaten them could trigger an allergic reaction.

[Solasum]

Snuggybuggy, I have a very severe peanut allergy, and I can smell if someone around me has been eating peanuts recently, and sometimes I react to that. Or I can sit at a table and know peanuts have been eaten there not long before. It is horrible, but the alternative is being house bound. I always take antihistamine before going into bars and planes, just to buy a bit more time just in case

[WonderTweek]

My son’s nursery is nut free and even my workplace has become “nut conscious”. It would seem that people are more aware of how serious a nut allergy can be. I think this is fair, particularly in nurseries and primary schools where little ones may not be that aware of the severity of their condition.

[LegalEagle99]

I am a parent to a 6 year old that carries 2 epi-pens (in case one fails) because of her nut allergy which was diagnosed at the age of 2 when she licked a peanut and nearly died. I have never, ever been so scared in my life. She could not breathe because her throat closed up so fast and her head swelled to twice it's size. It was horrific and it still makes my heart stop with the 'what if' 4 years later.

I am eternally grateful to all those parents and caregivers that follow 'no nuts' because if my daughter came into contact with even the powder particles of leftover nuts (dry roasted or something as such) and simply inhaled them as they travelled through the air, she would die. Epi-pen or not.

So please, please don't think this policy is unreasonable because for some of us it literally keeps our children alive.

[Alexandra2018]

I thought it was common knowledge tbh
Nuts are dangerous just opening the cake in front of someone who's allergic could start breathing problems

[Iaimtomisbehave1]

What's more important... avoiding the risk of killing someone or your little darling not eating nuts during the hours of 9 and 4?

It's really not a sacrifice. It's stupid and selfish to moan about it. Or do you need to kill someone before you believe the risk?

[SnuggyBuggy]

How would you get public transport? I mean for all you know the person next to you might have been eating peanut butter on toast and have some on their clothes or something? It must be scary.

[Groovee]

Our school asks for nothing to be brought in for birthdays as they are a healthy eating school but also to cover the allergies aspect.

[BettyCrook]

I was thinking about this as many are allergic from many different things. I believe nuts are the most common, but are they the most serious? And the poor poor girl, didnt she die from sesame allergy complications? and sesame is in hummus?

I completely support and understand the nut ban..its not worth the risk but i do wonder about other allergies like coeliacs and crohns (not allergy but affected by wheat), dairy or shellfish? strawberries? .....why is it just the nuts? and all nuts equally bad?

[agnurse]

At primary school, I believe a nut ban is reasonable. You have small children and they don't always wash their hands properly, plus their hands tend to go EVERYWHERE and they get sticky things all over.

At secondary school, really, I think a nut ban is really being precious. If a child has a serious allergy, by that point they should KNOW what they can and cannot eat. Children are old enough to know to wash their hands properly.

As an adult, you can't expect the rest of the world to cater to you just because you have an issue. If someone has a severe allergy to dogs is it reasonable to say that NO ONE living in the entire city can have a dog just because that person can't be around them? Of course not! That person could choose to live in a dog-free building and stay away from dogs, but they can't expect that all of society is going to not have dogs just because they have an allergy.

[Iaimtomisbehave1]

@BettyCrook

I'm allergic to figs and people always laugh when I tell them. I founs out when I had a bad reaction and after surviving it, one of my friends said "what a very middle class way to die... eating a fig and goats cheese salad... hahahaha". So other allergies really aren't taken as seriously.

[smallchanceofrain]

YABU. It's very common for schools to have a nut ban. Perhaps the school now has a pupil or member of staff who has a severe allergy.

My friend's daughter has a nut allergy and for her it could be fatal. Epipens are not a magic bullet, even when administered properly. Waiting for an ambulance with a 6 year old gasping for breath as her throat swells, with panic in her eyes as her heart is races uncontrollably, is truly terrifying. The food stuff that nearly killed her - a supposedly nut free rice crispy cake.

[StripyHorse]

I am sure if your DD takes something to eat herself that lists it MAY contain traces of nuts that would be ok.

The issue with the cake is that she is sharing it with children who can't see the packaging to check the ingredients (and neither can their parents).

[Glumglowworm]

Which is worse: your child not giving cake to her class or a child dying because of a piece of cake?

And you’re really seriously asking if you’re bu?!

Thankfully fatal allergic reactions are still rare, which is why the case in the news currently is so high profile (and a tragic example of Epi-pens not being a magic solution). But why wouldn’t you take an easy precaution to avoid tragedy? Like we have the safety talk every time you get on an aeroplane, even though plane crashes are incredibly rare. The cost is just a few minutes of time, the benefit is lives saved if the worst happens.

[HeckyPeck]

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.

[ladydickisathingapparently]

BettyCrook it’s not that nut allergies are necessarily worse, but they are very common and nuts are generally speaking relatively easy to take out of a diet without causing hardship. My son has a history of anaphylaxis to some nuts and shellfish and we manage ok. Anaphylaxis to dairy is very difficult to manage because it’s a central part of many people’s daily diets. That said, we managed just fine when another toddler at my son’s nursery had to avoid exposure to dairy.

[ladydickisathingapparently]

Agree StripyHorse.

[PiperPublickOccurrences]

Teachers also have better things to do than supervising distribution of birthday cake and clearing up afterwards.

[Dermymc]

Where do you draw the line though? If you have a student who is allergic to dairy do you ban that too?

Teaching careful management of the allergy is most important.

[happypoobum]

If OP is in England then surely it's primary where she has just turned 11? Not sure why people are talking about secondary.

OP has allegedly been a nurse for 30 years, so I am flabbergasted at her stance on this. Given the current global shortage of epipens at the moment, many people are waiting for new supplies, and as PP have pointed out, they aren't magic.

I really can't believe how self centred some people are.