To think allergy mum is OTT

[Boogiewoogieanddance]

I genuinely don't know if I am or not, this is a genuine question as I thankfully haven't got any experience in having a child with serious allergies. I am, of course, happy to do what I can to prevent a reaction.

There is a child in my DDs class who is allergic to a list of things so we aren't allowed them in pack lunches. That's fine, I have no issue as I know kids can be careless and gross about their food hygiene. My issue is with the nuts, literally anything that says "may contain nuts" or "may contain traces of peanuts" is not allowed... if the occasional time I don't realise and send something (These are not nut flavoured things or anything with nuts in the ingredients, but I assume are just made in the same factory as nuts.) it is sent home unwrapped and she hasn't been allowed to eat it.

But is it really possible that an allergy can be so served that something that may contain nuts could cause a reaction if opened in the same room.

Many thanks!

I was on a flight once and there was an announcement that a passenger had a severe nut allergy so to not open or eat anything containing nuts during the flight.

Of course I hadn't eaten in hours and the only snack I had with me was a Snickers.

I survived.

Much more practical, and much safer, to police the allergic child's behaviour in this sense than to check allergen labelling on every product brought into the classroom.

I am curious about the thread title - why are you blaming 'allergy mum'? Is she policing the packed lunches every day herself? Is there no dad on the scene? Very strange title.

I have allergies. This is totally bonkers practice! I'm quite fearful for the kids that go from this environment to completely unregulated secondary/the real world. It feels like setting them up to fail.

Banning nuts is fine. Most schools have this policy and parents are happy to comply with no Nutella, Snickers bars, peanut butter. No biggie to avoid those sort of things in a school lunch.

But banning "may contain traces of" products is ridiculous. That covers a huge range of products which don't contain nuts but are made in the same factory or production line. Trying to avoid everything which "may contain traces of" is a much bigger ask and not really reasonable.

Even the title is undermining to that mother. I’m sure she knows her kid best.
Nasty title tbh

🙄

This is relevant to the OP how?

I don’t think I could hand on heart say that any packed lunch I make has literally no traces of nuts. It just wouldn’t be possible as, whilst we don’t use many, we use nuts in cooking and baking. We have cereal containing nuts, breakfast bars etc etc. When I’ve made packed lunches they’re usually at least 90% home made, I wouldn’t have the money to buy specific packaged food to keep the school happy.

I don’t have experience with severe allergy’s so please don’t think me to be ignorant but surely the risk from being in the same room as a food that may contain traces of nuts is the same as sitting near a child that had crunchy but cornflakes for brekkie half an hour beforehand. As I said, I haven’t experience in this so I don’t mean to be ignorant

What happens when the child goes to birthdays parties, on holidays, friends places, restaurant, grows up and gets a job, nuts and 'may contain nuts' whatever label is always out there in the world

Unless the child lives in a bubble it is everywhere

I don’t have experience with severe allergy’s so please don’t think me to be ignorant but surely the risk from being in the same room as a food that may contain traces of nuts is the same as sitting near a child that had crunchy but cornflakes for brekkie half an hour beforehand. As I said, I haven’t experience in this so I don’t mean to be ignorant

The risk would be much higher from the child that had the crunchy nut cornflakes.

Starbucks absolutely DGAF about allergies and cross contamination is rife. So if said child does go there from time to time then it makes a mockery of the school making several hundred children and their families restrict themselves to this extent on a daily basis.

This seems really unreasonable. I can understand an environment like a flight where you can make a small adjustment as a one-off but it is madness to expect parents to exclude hoardes of items that "may contain nuts"

The nut free child should eat lunch separately. And I wonder how the parents are going to manage on days out, secondary school, clubs? It's just not feasible to be that nut free

That would make sense

If we have peanut butter for breakfast, I usually wash my children’s hands and faces after, which should be enough. I do agree it’s a faff and often frustrating if your own child’s diet has their own dietary restrictions and contains plenty of nut related items as well as may contain nuts items. However, it’s much better than putting a child in danger, however awkward it is. The may contain nuts is such a small risk it’s very frustrating that items are being sent home. I also definitely agree re home kitchens and factories.

@Lovethetub oh yeah crunchy nut cornflakes are so popular, it just seems like a losing battle go half the class are having peanut butter on toast/ crunchy nut cornflakes etc surely?

I guess at least they’re doing what they can inside the school hours/ environment

My child has a severe tree nut allergy and I am of the view that banning "may contain traces" foods is unnecessary, as numerous other posters have explained.

When it is kids involved it is safer to remove the allergen if possible- eg the boy that died at school when classmates threw cheese at him as a joke - kids can be dicks and generally have lower inhibitions and understanding of risk, it is not worth risking this child's life and this allergy can be easily accommodated.

Is the allergy nuts or peanuts do you know OP? Or both?

In fairness to the school, if the allergy is so severe that the whole class has to avoid the allergen (and I'm suspicious, but anyway), I wouldn't be trusting everyone to grasp "peanuts are fine but not tree nuts" or "hazelnuts ok in small amounts but cashews very dangerous and pecans lethal" or whatever.

Remove things from the packaging and send it in that way.

The problem is any household which has nuts in it is more likely to send in home made sandwiches which may contain nuts than any product from a factory. Reason, if the process is likely to contain nuts it should be labelled as such, because may contain is not sufficient and isn't legally defined - it is company risk assessment.

If the parents think they are protecting their child they are not, because the shop bought cake which says may contain nuts will likely be manufactured in premises, which are cleaned down in between different products to a high standard and products used, likely stored separately so as to not cross contaminate. Compared to a domestic kitchen, with ingredients stored in the same cupboard, likely handle packaging of products containing nuts to get the products out, mixed in bowls and cooked in dishes that have cooked nut products, stored in cupboards with nut products (my mixing spoons are stored in my cupboard with baking ingredients and foods such as nutella/ peanut butter), put in containers that contain or stored next to nut products. Parents also making packed lunches in a morning may have someone pouring crunchy nut cornflakes nearby, children packing lunchbox whilst eating toast covered in nutella.

It is false security. More allergic reactions happen in "nut free schools" than those without bans. If this has gone on for 6 years, what happens in 18 months when they go to secondary- they will not be policing lunch boxes and school dinners may even contain nuts.

That's true. In a world where some people but eggs in the dairy category I don't suppose they'd realise peanuts are nuts are two different allergens.

My DS has potentially life threatening allergies to a number of things including nuts and peanuts and we have never adopted this kind of approach. As others have said it's not what any of the major allergy organisations advocate and I will be absolutely stunned if a health care professional with expertise in the field has suggested it. It's completely unsustainable and potentially adds risk rather than reduces it.
Yes, airborne allergic reactions are a real thing, though I was recently reading an article suggesting they are less common than previously thought and some reactions that are thought to be airborne are probably touch/accidental ingestion. For example, reactions on planes are actually more likely to be due to contamination of the tray table or seat from previous nut eating passengers than somebody opening a packet during the flight. But you cannot avoid this kind of thing completely. If you ever use public transport, eat in a restaurant, stay in a hotel, go in a shop or even go to the park there is a risk, and you have to learn to live with that.
The likelihood of someone being so sensitive that they would react to airborne contaminants from something labelled "may contain" is incredibly small. I'm not saying it's impossible, there maybe some people who are that unfortunate, but if they are, then they will be reacting all over the place - there are a vast number of ways you would be exposed to a bigger dose of allergens in evety day life than someone eating a "may contain" item in the same room as you.
Of course people with allergies need to be careful but this is a totally illogical and at best pointless policy. At worst it could be actively harmful. Children with allergies need to learn to understand and manage their risk afrom as young an age as possible, but they need to understand the real risks.* *

My DDs have nut allergies but eat items that are marked as may contain traces of nuts.

Their primary school had a no nut policy in place but did not restrict items to that extent.

Yes. I'm on a few allergy fb groups (DD is coeliac) and as schools differ vastly in how well they deal with children with allergies or food restrictions the consensus generally is that the child needs to learn how to keep themselves safe as early as possible because schools can not generally be trusted to do it properly. My DD has been reading and checking ingredients on food labels since she was 7. She never shares food, she washes her hands much more than an average child, she alerts adults in school to issues that could lead to her being glutened. In the case of the OP the school have implemented an unworkable policy due to lack of knowledge and understanding.