School menu

[Budgiesareloud]

The company that makes school meals in my area has changed.

Dc2 has started school this year and has a mild allergy to egg.
The majority of the regular menu is fine for them.

To start with school wouldn't offer anything other than a jacket spud beans and fresh fruit daily until the allergy form was filled out by a Dr. And then the company's nutritionist got back to the school with a menu.

They will have been in school for 3 weeks by the time they can transition to the allergy menu.

My AIBU
The allergy menu is entirely Gluten free, mostly vegetarian and definitely not to everyone's tastes.

They can't have ice cream which is served once a week, no custard on the crumble (yes its egg free) some days the pudding is a fruit smoothie
No 4 yo is going to be happy being told they can't have ice cream when the rest of the school can and they know they aren't allergic to it

AIBU to want my child to have as much of the regular menu as possible and not be forced to have such a restrictive menu?

Unfortunately mass catering cannot cater for every individual child. You could switch them on to packed lunches on the days when you know there is egg in the menu offerings.

YABU, they are catering for a large amount of children. It would be impossible to make certain meals for different children.
If my child had allergies I would send them in with a pack lunch on the days the meals aren't suitable.

. . . There won't be egg in the menu

Dc will be on the allergy menu which is free of multiple allergens ...

It is not at all possible for dc to be allowed the regular menu they must only have allergy menu

Yes it is perfectly possible for mass catering to manage with the proper training
Big drip feed I work for the company we managed fine for the last 3 years doing it with the previous company
I work at a different school to my dc

Have I understood this right. the allergy menu lumps all allergies together so is very limited as its gluten and dairy free and the child has to eat that even on days the main menu doesnt include the thing they are allergic too? It seems a bit lazy to be honest. Like they dont want to work out which meals have egg in and just avoid those..

It'll be a liability thing - just send her with a packed lunch if you don't want her eating the allergens menu.

They don't have funding to train and cater for each child so adopt a broad brush approach.

Nothing wrong with jacket spud, beans and fruit.

Supplement the days the menu is not to their taste yourself.

Honestly, schools are underfunded and can't bloody win.

That doesn't sound good if they aren't being exposed to other potential allergens they might develop other allergies? Or is that not how it works?

I wonder if they have a table just for children with allergies, then serve them all relevant allergen free food to avoid cross contamination between the children.

Nothing wrong with mostly vegetarian food or smoothies for desert.

Is it free school meals?

Hmm my school manages to offer the main on the day the child can eat it or the allergy menu on the day the child cant.

Just send packed lunches that way you will know exactly what is in it and can add your own favourites for him.

Hmm, I've put YABU, sorry and I say this as someone who suffers from allergies!
They have to try and cater for everyone and have options for all, and that's not always easy.
Not sure why your child can't have ice cream though if they're not allergic to it?
I'd definitely be raising that with the school as I would be a bit WTF about that

They have to try and cater for everyone and have options for all, and that's not always easy.
Not sure why your child can't have ice cream though if they're not allergic to it? that's the OP's point though. The ice cream is there and available but OP's child who isn't allergic to it isn't allowed it!

@Wole

*They have to try and cater for everyone and have options for all, and that's not always easy. Not sure why your child can't have ice cream though if they're not allergic to it?* that's the OP's point though. The ice cream is there and available but OP's child who isn't allergic to it isn't allowed it!

Probably because all the kids with allergies are sat together so it's to stop cross contamination.

And they can't just move her as she'll then be sat on a table with kids who have her specific allergen in their food.

Our school has multi coloured lanyards for each child with an allergy or other dietary requirement. It seems to work well. We are a very large primary, the catering staff and SMSAs are all happy with it.

It seems quite sensible to me.
They offer the "regular" menu, where nothing is guaranteed to be free from a range of allergens and cross contamination, and an "allergy" menu, where they can guarantee that the food is free from allergens and cross contamination. Your child cannot safely eat the regular menu, as she has an allergy, so she gets given the allergy menu, which is safe for her to eat. She is being provided with a hot meal that is safe for her to eat and free from allergens daily. That seems fine to me.

I don't think you're being unreasonable. My school have just changed to probably the same catering company too... hoping that kids can have normal menu choice when they don't contain their allergens. Will be meeting with the head and writing letter to the company if not. It's not fair if they don't get a proper pudding!

Our school doesn't have a separate allergy menu.

Any child with specific allergies has those listed on their records. Meals are chosen in advance by either the parent (online) or the child (when the dinner register is taken). This gives the relevant staff time to check against allergens and alter the orders when necessary.

At lunch time the children are given their pre-booked meals, and have cards with their allergies listed so that lunchtime staff are aware.

Some children may already feel restricted by their allergies. It makes no sense to restrict their diet further by refusing to let them have food that they're not even allergic to.

Our new allergy rules are

If you have an allergy you cannot say (except when it's cooked in cakes etc) you'd be surprised how often I hear it

No egg, but it's ok in cake
No milk, but it's ok in cake

We can't be liable to make the decision of what is ok. They are all getting a lot stricter with allergy children.

It's for their own good, better off disappointing a child than making them ill.

They offer the "regular" menu, where nothing is guaranteed to be free from a range of allergens and cross contamination, and an "allergy" menu, where they can guarantee that the food is free from allergens and cross contamination. Your child cannot safely eat the regular menu, as she has an allergy, so she gets given the allergy menu, which is safe for her to eat.
I know I said not sure why can't eat ice cream when not allergic to it in my pp, but now you've said that that makes sense if so

I don't think YABU. My grandson is allergic to soya but the school do not have a separate 'allergy menu'. He has an allergy card with his photo and meals are chosen in advance from the menu. In his case it tends to be the vegetarian meals that have to be checked most carefully for soya.

There’s no option to choose what she has on which days?

@shakeitoffshakeacocktail

Our new allergy rules are

If you have an allergy you cannot say (except when it's cooked in cakes etc) you'd be surprised how often I hear it

No egg, but it's ok in cake
No milk, but it's ok in cake

We can't be liable to make the decision of what is ok. They are all getting a lot stricter with allergy children.

It's for their own good, better off disappointing a child than making them ill.

A minor ingredient, baked, would be pretty low on both the dairy ladder, and the egg ladder, so could absolutely see how they could truthfully make that statement.