To buy ‘may contain’ food labels for catering large event

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I’ve been tasked with buying the snacks for our primary school disco. Biscuits, popcorn, squash, sweets etc….

instructions are that biscuits must not contain milk, nuts, seeds. AIBU to buy if they say ‘May contain’ on the label but not listed as an ingredient? Struggling to find biscuits that don’t say this. Catering for 300 kids and some have severe allergies to milk and nuts.

I'd do it...

I'd buy the proper allergen free ones for those with allergies only, the issue is most are made in factories that make other products

Ask if you buy some seperate snacks for the children with allergies instead

school policy is blanket no milk or nut products at discos

Then no, you can’t. From experience m&s items that say may contain nuts, most definitely do contain peanut traces.

Fucking hell. I'm glad I've always taken DSs own food to other parties if that's how people think.

I can buy "May contain" foods for him because as his parent, I'm the expert on his allergy, I know the result of every skin prick test and every tiny amount of his allergens that we have challenged him to eat do I know what is safe for him. But I would never take that risk with another person's allergy.

If you can't cater for allergies then you say so. You can't just buy stuff that says "may contain" and hope for the best. Someone could actually die, you know that??

Nope, if the reason is allergies you cannot do May Contains.

Many store brand biscuits are safe e.g. Tesco rich tea fingers biscuits

Okay, thanks! If anyone has any recommendations of allergen free biscuits to cater for 300 kids at low cost as it’s PTA funded?

I have a DD with a peanut allergy who carries epipens but eats may contains (which have no legal standing and whose meaning varies from company to company) so I think YANBU.

May contain products will pose no risk to those children with allergies in terms of cross contamination but they may not be able to eat them because of either medical advice or their parents' or their own preferences and risk tolerance.

I'd try make sure you have at least some snacks that each child can eat.

Ideally, everything would be suitable for everyone but it's next to impossible to achieve.

Ours do a goody bag rather than a tuck shop, and kids with allergies get personalised ones with adjustments as needed. That's easier than trying to cater for 300 with no top 14 allergens!

Tesco chocolate bourbons also safe

Tesco Oaty Rounds (in an orange packet). 80p per pack.

Ah sorry, the Bourbons are may contain for sesame (if this is one of the allergies).
Asda bourbons are safe.

No you can’t and don’t take the risk as some children can literally die from a tiny amount of cross contamination which is what those “may contain” labels denote.

Bourbons!

But just because one child can eat "may contain" food and doesn't have an issue with cross contamination doesn't mean everyone is OK with that.
I've seen a relative's child go into anaphylaxis when another child was eating a cake with egg in it then touched my relative's child.
You cannot make assumptions about anyone else's allergies.

I can't believe you'd take the risk.

I know. Just don't provide biscuits?

I am a teacher and I would never give my classes ‘may contain’, even though it’s hard to find much that doesn’t have that.

If you are the provider and you take short cuts and somebody becomes ill, you are ultimately responsible.

Sorry to clarify I wouldn’t expect someone with a severe allergy to eat a ‘may contain’ item…but can they be bought for others and the kids with allergies be at the same party?

we will know who has allergies so they wouldn’t be eating the biscuits (and could get extra of the other sweets and crisps), but is there an airborne risk etc?

May contain products will pose no risk to those children with allergies in terms of cross contamination

This is dangerously incorrect. May contain means there is a legitimate risk that the allergen may be present in the food.

“Precautionary allergen labelling, commonly seen as ‘may contain’, is used on a number of food products to warn consumers that there may be a risk of allergens being present.”

“For some people, consuming even trace amounts of an allergen is enough to cause an allergic reaction. In severe cases, this can be life threatening.
Precautionary allergen labelling, such as having ‘may contain’ included on the packaging, is used as a way of warning consumers that allergens may be present in a food, albeit unintentionally.”

”Precautionary allergen labelling indicates that there is a risk of allergenic cross-contamination having occurred – where an allergen has contaminated the food product unintentionally during the food production process.”

”Precautionary allergen labelling should only be used when there is a reason to do so due to the ingredients, or it has been identified that there is a legitimate risk of allergenic cross-contamination within the supply chain that cannot be controlled or managed.”
https://www.highspeedtraining.co.uk/hub/guidance-on-may-contain/

No, they cannot still be bought. (Edited because I mixed up two posters sorry)

Sorry, I wasn't clear - it will be perfectly safe for children to be in the room with others eating may contains that they are not able to have. It's not like kids going around with peanut butter/nutella/ice cream smeared all over their hands which could pose a risk to others.

It depends on the individual allergies within a school (but tricky to get in touch with each parent to confirm what's allowed) and how the food is served. The goody bag idea works well because the kids aren't all eating together and the parents have a chance to check ingredients.

Thank you!

Ask the catering manager at the school, they do this day in day out and will know the children in question and what can be safely put out for everyone to eat and what can't.

No, it won’t be safe. It might be safe, but you are ignoring that there is still risk.