Nuts on school trip abroad

[Ellie09ellie]

My daughter is due to go on a school trip abroad in the next week. She is 14. We have just had a message to say no buts on the coach as a child has an airborne allergy. They are also having to ask the hotel to become nut free for the duration of their stay. Is this actually possible or even reasonable given that it's a hotel? My daughter is vegetarian and a lot of her food has nuts in it. Is it unreasonable to expect that after paying quite a bit of money that she gets to eat decent food and not live of chips for a week? I get that it's an allergy that could kill but surely the parents weighed up the issues before sending their child on a trip with 50 other children to a foreign country? Has anyone else been in this position? Thank you

I imagine that the girls parents hope for a little bit of grace and understanding when "weighing up"
This child probably missed out a lot when they were too young to manage their food intake themselves. Why should they miss out more now?

It is pretty selfish.

I’d be more than happy to go without nuts for a week in the knowledge that someone with a nut allergy is able to partake in a trip without a threat to their life. It’s very basic consideration for others.

The young lass who died on the plane a few years back after eating a sandwich from Pret a Manger at the Airport, the sorrow of her parents was heartbreaking. OP, go watch an interview from them and then wonder if you’d ask such a question.

I expect there's zero chance the hotel will guarantee that it's nut free. I there were nuts allowed in it the day before they arrive, unless there's some kind of intense deep clean then there's going to be tiny particles of nuts around it the day after. They'd be insane to even consider it regardlesso whether it's sole occupancy or not.

The coach is a fairly bog standard request though so that seems fair enough (though again I doubt an external coach company will guarantee it because realistically they can't can they?)

I'm reasonably sure your child will be fine even if she only eats chips for the week though. It's only a week!

Wow… just wow. This surely cannot be a real question. My daughter is 4…. with a very serious life threatening nut allergy… does that mean she should never be allowed to go on a school trip like other children?? Put yourself in those parents shoes for just a moment and imagine how hard it’ll be for them knowing their child is in a foreign country with a life threatening allergy. I’d give anything for my child to live off chips for a week if it meant she could live a normal life without without reading every packet… in a foreign language!

As someone who is allergic to all nuts, I'm obviously not surprised at all.

I would be concerned about both kids though. The OP doesn't say where abroad, but both nut allergies and vegetarianism are poorly understood in some countries - in France, for example, you'd struggle to get one of those catered for, let alone both.

I don't believe any hotel would become nut-free for a party of 50, either.

I think it's very easy to accommodate dietary requirements and preferences in the UK, but many people get a rude awakening when they go abroad.

I think the OP is hugely unreasonable unless her DD is actually vegan rather than vegetarian. It's much harder to avoid nuts on a vegan diet. But if her kid is vegan, I honestly think a trip to most standard UK school trip countries would be setting her up to starve, even if she merrily ate nuts all day long.

I'm vegetarian and spent 3 years living with someone who was severely allergic to nuts (and several other foods). Not once did I struggle to find things to eat, and this was back in the days before there were so many veggie options around anwyay.

I'd be surprised if the child is has an allergy to all types of nuts. It's a bit like saying no fruit because someone is allergic to kiwi fruit. Ask the school to be more specific,if it's a peanut allergy then your children could eat other nuts.

It's not like saying no fruit if someone is allergic to kiwi. Plenty of people are allergic to peanuts and tree nuts - my DH is. I imagine this child's parents know how hard the allergy is to manage and aren't making the request more difficult completely unnecessarily by including other foods their child is not allergic to.

I'd be surprised if the child is has an allergy to all types of nuts.

Maybe you're right. My DD is only allergic to hazelnut almond pistachio cashew brazil and macadamia nuts, as well as peanut (a legume not a nut) and sesame (a seed). She can eat walnut.

The problem is, it's impossible to buy walnuts that aren't produced and packaged in facilities that expose them to the other nuts, so a pack of walnuts isn't actually safe for her either.

I ran a kitchen at a youth hostel which had kids coming on their residential weeks activity breaks. It slept 130 residents and was a completely nut free site. Guests were advised of this and also asked not to bring any products with nuts in to the guests kitchen either.

I agree with this. I spent just over a week in southern Spain before christmas and ate badly as a vegetarian. One night I asked the staff what the meal options were for someone who doesn't eat meat or fish. They kept offering me fish. I ended up with a couple of starters as my meals.

@Ellie09ellie you are being totally unreasonable. The other child could die. I know several DD with these allergies, these trips are really difficult for them. The other child has as much right to go on this trip as yours does and the school needs to provide a safe environment for them.

No nuts whatsoever. I'm shocked that your school doesn't have this as a permanent policy. Many do

What with this and the gluten free thread last week I despair at how stupid and or selfish some people are. It's quite embarrassing for them but they don't realize it of course.

Yes it's a county wide policy here. No nuts allowed.

There's a reason planes have swapped peanuts for pretzels which is a pain for celiacs but fully understandable.

Me too! If not someone very dense!!

I wouldn’t worry about the vegetarian child. No one ever died from living off chips, omelettes and croissant for a week.

It must be so scary for the mum of the child who is allergic to nuts to send her/him on a school trip knowing some people are completely ignorant as to how dangerous it would be if the child were to come into contact with nuts.

If I were you op I would be thankful that your dd isn't allergic to nuts and that you don't have that worry.

Give your head a flaming good wobble

As an allergy parent you are breathtakingly selfish. You have no idea how difficult it is to have a child with a severe allergy and the amount of logistical planning and trust that has to go into the smallest outing. How does no nuts mean your child needs to eat chips all week? Your attitude is beyond depressing.

I have a child with a serious nut allergy who is going on a school trip away, by coach, in the next week.

I have my head in my hands here as I sincerely hope I am not the parent of the child you are complaining about, as it scares the life out of me that your child could be on that coach and not take on board our issues.

It's incredibly serious. When we travel abroad we have to inform the airline. We also only go somewhere where there is a decent hospital nearby and we hire a car, whether it's needed or not, so we could potentially get to the hospital quickly.

And we do all that when we are WITH our child.

Imagine how nervous we are to finally allow them to travel without us!

It's only now they are getting older that we are allowing them to because they are aware of what they need to be careful of.

However, reading something like this worries me so much as you sound like a parent who could send their child off on the coach with sweets and chocolates containing nuts without taking the matter seriously!

I notice OP hasn't been back after 169 posts telling her she's an arsehole ...