To wonder what is dangerous about my child’s lunch

[NameChangeAK]

I received a message from school today saying my child’s lunch contained a prohibited item and to please review the policy “as there are children with severe allergies and it’s dangerous not to comply”

I don’t usually provide packed lunches - DC has school meals, but they did like todays meal options.

Ive responded and asked what the item was but waiting for a response, but I’m confused - it’s clearly a nut free school but I can’t see anything else anywhere about other banned foods

the packed lunch contained:

• ham sandwich (with butter) on brown bread
• apple
• frube (strawberry flavour)
• carton of own brand apple juice
• Pepperami
• babybel

any ideas what could be the problem or Aibu to think they’ve mistaken the ham as peanut butter or something ridiculous?

I'm going back 30 years and getting annoyed all over again about this Twix vendetta that schools are running.😡

It's not even as if its the caramel, because in our school at least, a Rocky or a toffee yoyo would have been allowed (because it can't be bought as a chocolate bar in the chocolate bar aisle.... ffs)

And very expensive. The chance of finding it in a processed manufactured food is vanishingly small. It is therefore safe to assume that it is almost certainly industrially produced with solvents when included as an ingredient.

Babybel isnt UPF

it’s just cheese

I can’t understand why they would ban dairy, even with a severe allergy, as schools provide kids with cartons of milk. And they can’t expect all families to provide dairy free alternatives to the staples like cheese and yoghurt in lunches. Can definitely understand why peanuts are banned, but not dairy. I work in a school where kids have alsorts of allergies but only nuts are banned. The staff just have to be vigilant about what else they use in lesson (things like lentils used in sensory play can’t be used in one class due to allergies but aren’t banned from school).

We had someone in work who was so allergic to strawberries we couldn’t have anything containing strawberry in the building - not even milkshake. Could be something like that.

They haven't banned dairy, just frubes because they squirt.

I also wonder if it's not just the frubes squirting but if it's partly because how messy they can be generally so make it a nightmare to clean, esp if kids have got it on their hands and transferred the mess everywhere

Good grief who was appalled, there is nothing wrong with that lunch. Maybe peperami is not the healthiest, but nothing much wrong with the rest, everything in moderation.

I understand many children now have allergies but my son’s school is the same. We dread making packed lunches on days where the school dinner isn’t suitable. A very fussy eater so we struggle to provide a decent lunch for him because so much is banned because of about 3 children with allergies. At the point now where we are trying to force him to have a school meal because everything we would assume to be fine for a packed lunch isn’t. Drives us round the bend. We have a growing child who does love food when he can eat what he likes but he can’t take it into school. They are still serving a cooks breakfast minus eggs because of a kid in my elder son’s year having an egg allergy. He left the school 2 years ago! Eggs are good and it’s taken us a year to get the youngest to start appreciating them.

I think it's the school you should be asking.

@OldPerson ....she did and they replied. It was the Frube yoghurt.

As far as I can see, the only allergens are dairy and gluten, and from what I know from working in catering, they're only a problem if the person allergic actually eats them. Customers who had those allergies were perfectly happy to eat other products, that were in the same area as the ones with dairy or gluten.

I've lived in Spain since DD was 7 and they don't have any of these policies. Do British people generally have more food intolerances or higher food allergy rates? I don't think this is commonplace in Italy or Portugal either.

It's becoming the new cancel the cheque 😁

Cancel the frube!

Our kids really need their vitamin D as well.

If kids are allergic (like my own) I make sure I supplement with vitamins or other sources.
If these essential nutrients are being banned because of one allergic child, other kids are suffering.

No wonder rickets is back.

If only she did!

Well why didn’t they spell out to you what the problem item is? You might have missed something recently about a severe dairy allergy or something, but what’s the point in not telling you- bonkers!

https://www.teeslaw.com/insights/can-a-school-decide-what-your-child-eats/

I agree with the drives being messed. I’ve only ever bought them to freeze and eat as a frozen treat. They’re useless as a yogurt. The pouches with screw tops are better or the squashams.

Someone else above mentions dairy and gluten fine being in the vicinity and only when eaten that’s an issue. I know from experience that gluten can cause air born issues for some with coeliac. Coeliac isn’t an allergy though it’s an autoimmune condition and can vary and reactions can come from touching it. However I’ve never come across a dairy allergy that presents this way. We have children at school who carry an open for dairy but it’s only when injested that they have the issue. My own children had a CMP allergy but was never that serious.

I think maybe the messiness of the drive may be being covered up by the allergy as a good reason to ban.
Wonder how they manage the school milk in that class though as those cartons are often left to still, get stood on etc.

Always easier to say it’s a prohibited item than to explain what it is.

Totally! I’d be really annoyed by this. According to the school it could be as serious as a life or death issue, because that’s what serious food allergies are, and yet they are not stating what the dangerous item is. That’s really poor.

As a pp said, it’s probably some kind of copy-and-pasting failure. But that’s no excuse. I can’t bear this kind of communication failure, it winds me up no end.

Pepperami are often banned in schools due to their high fat and salt content. I suspect a miscommunication meant you got the allergy email.

Or it could be a child allergic to strawberries.

@pollymere
IT WAS THE FRUBE 😂😂😂😂😂😂

It very much depends on the person, some with coeliac or a serious milk allergy absolutely have to be extremely careful about cross contamination.

Yes cross contamination, but a child's lunch is individually packed at home, and there should never be cross contamination, because the kids should not be sharing their food or have their food touching other kids food. Dairy and gluten allergies are not like nut allergies, where they can be affected just by breathing in when nuts are in the same area. My dad is coeliac and has never had a problem being near gluten, it's only if he eats it or it's touching something he eats (usually only if he's having a bad day!).