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?

There's nothing special about nut and peanut allergies, anything can be an allergen and any allergen can cause anaphylaxis.

Nut and peanut allergies are no longer thought to be airborne, the protein is too heavy. Milk and egg allergies CAN be airborne and some people have to avoid, for example, cafes with milk brothers or hotel breakfasts with omelette stations because of it.

The misapprehension that nut and peanut allergies are more serious than others makes it very difficult for those with anaphylaxis to other allergens to be taken seriously so it's something that's always worth clarifying.

A schoolboy died in the UK when a slice of cheese was thrown at him at school.

I imagine it’s a blanket email and they feel they have to send so many they don’t have the time to state exactly what and want parents to find out in the policy - terrible of course given it could be life threatening for a child with allergies as parents may not read it with a fine tooth comb!

After potential seeds in bread and a sensitive strawberry allergy, my immediate thought was it’s just a generic sent out because Babybels aren’t allowed. Kids love playing with the wax and I wonder if they want to avoid a potential choking hazard, younger ones shoving it up their nose or something or damage to furniture from the dye when it’s rolled.

@EnglishBluebell

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/may/02/boy-with-allergy-died-cheese-flicked-at-him-london-inquest-told

It is daft that they didn't say what the item was that caused the issue, also the fact that they didn't/ haven't replied to ops email means she doesn't know what is safe to pack for today's lunch ( if her dc doesn't want today's school dinner)

Please report back @NameChangeAK as I’m intrigued!

There's also a tentative link to antibiotic use in newborns although there hasn't been as much research on this yet . I'm convinced that this is why my son has a severe nut allergy, nobody else in our family has allergies/asthma, we are a nut eating household and I ate nuts all through pregnancy.

Surely the answer is to ring the school?

So if you take something "unhealthy" do they confiscate it??

It all seems like too much effort.

Sounds like a dozy staff member being a bit thick and conflating airborne nut allergies with a dairy allergy that only applies when consumed..

You do realise kids, even much older ones, treat their packed lunches as a tasting/sharing buffet.

Responses like this would make me quite worried if I was a parent of a child with an allergy. Even if someone is intolerant to gluten for example, while it may not be life threatening it can still cause a great deal of illness and pain to them when they have violent diarrhoea for instance. We shouldn’t just take peanut allergies very seriously and not so much the others.

As a teacher and senior leader at a school this kind of things annoys me hugely. Just have an actual conversation with a parent if there is an issue. Saves so much time and confusion all round.

Could it be the babybel, as people were making a mess with or choking on the rind/ Someone has a dairy allergy?
The pepperami- have they banned processed meats?
Apple juice- they only allow milk or water?
Ham and pepperami- the school has gone vegetarian?
Frube- classed as a sugary snack which is banned?
Bread- the school has gone gluten free or keto?

Gawd, I'm really struggling as it all looks so normal!

The apple juice.

Gateway beverage to Strongbow Cider.

The only time I've eaten a lot of peanuts was when my eldest was newborn and I was breastfeeding her. There's no food allergies in our families but lots of asthma, eczema, hayfever etc so her moderately severe peanut allergy isn't out of nowhere. But I have read that if they're first exposed to an allergen through broken skin rather than through the gut an allergy is more likely to develop. I ate a hell of a lot of peanut butter while feeding her and she had quite a bit of eczema at times. Can't win!

Kids swap food all the time. He probably traded his ham sandwich for a peanut butter sandwich

You can't van all known allergens... My school has kids with egg, nut, dairy, fish, sesame, kiwi and strawberry allergies that I know of.... Can't ban everything.

Exactly, and then even if you do try things will slip through. Allergen bans just create a feeling of complacency and there's no evidence they actually reduce the risk of a serious reaction. Better to assume the allergen is present and take sensible steps to avoid it. That's why nut bans are no longer advised.

"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”

WTF, if it's so dangerous, didn't the school name the item in the original message? "Hi Ms AK, we took little johnny''s baby bell off him because one of the children in his class has a severe dairy allergy. Please bear this in mind when putting up his bait"

My guess pepperami for the choking risk

I had a severe allergy growing up. From as long as I can remember I was simply expected not to eat it. People would try to accommodate to a reasonable extent. But ultimately it was up to me not to eat it.

Brilliant!!

It is strange but anaphylaxis as a result of food has gone up 4 times since the year 2000 and more in children so that might be why.
No one knows why but it is hypothesised it's because we eat such a different diet than 50 years ago and our diets have never changed so quickly that our bodies are reacting. Even looking at the OPs lunch only the apple and butter is not processed which wouldn't have been the case a few generations ago. Even bread is much more processed than it was.
All of my kids have weird fecking intolerances to food that make them either vomit or come up in a rash. Luckily not anaphylactic as that would be so scary. Lol
OP the school has either made a mistake or not been clear in it's communication.

Not sure where that LOL came in from!

Generic letter because they disapproved of what was in the lunchbox.

Ham - processed
Babybel -processed
Frube - processed
Peppermint- processed
Apple Juice - the small cartons are rarely 100% pressed/squeezed

In the kindest possible way @Hopper123 that was a lunchbox jammed with UPFs.

Better choices would have been:
Chicken, tuna or egg sandwich
Fresh fruit - endless choices and combinations
2/3 cubes of gruyere
Small container with natural Greek Yoghurt and a drizzle of honey
Water instead of juice

Well we grew up with no seatbelts, my Dad smoking as he read us bedtime stories and priests being trusted to be alone with children. Times change.

What on earth are children supposed to eat at school ? Do the parents of a child that has an allergy to strawberries never take them near a shop or market, do these children only go between home and school, no trips to the park because a child there may have had strawberries as a snack and travelling on public transport of any kind ever?
My sister had a severe allergy to tomatoes when she was a child 70 years ago, the world didn't change for her and she knew to to touch them.