School nut allergy policy

[PigeonPairinSomerset]

I’m fully prepared to back down on this one but keen to know if anyone supports my view - our school has a nut free policy which I know is common. I am aware how severe these allergies can be in some cases. At our school however , there are children who would only have an allergic reaction if they actually ate food containing nuts. Some of my children’s favourite foods are peanut butter and houmous, which they can’t have in their packed lunches. AIBU to think that the school could just encourage kids not to share food? And for the parents of those affected kids to teach their kids not to eat their friends’ food?! I feel like some really healthy options for my kids are now off the table.

As ever lots of allergy misconceptions on the thread, so to cover the typical ones (for broad information rather than particular relevance to the thread):

• nut allergies aren't necessarily more serious than other allergies. It's possible to have a mild allergy to nuts or peanuts, and anaphylaxis to milk and egg are surprisingly common.

• nut and peanut allergies are no longer thought to be airborne. However the proteins are sticky and tend to hang around on surfaces a long time - so being neat and wiping down with soapy water are important.

• others have covered that the current advice is against nut free schools.

Great response @OP.
I am also irked my OPs who don't actively listen to opinions and who aren't prepared to change their viewpoint!

My two cents:

I'm a mum to a 4 year old with life threatening allergies (epi pen) to nuts and sesame, but also to milk, egg and a couple of others.

"Peanut privilege" is real. Due to nut bans in some schools and on some planes, there's a perception that other food allergies aren't as serious. In fact, more children die from anaphylaxis to milk than to nuts in the UK.

Rather than banning nuts, I'd want schools to be allergy aware and to educate their staff, pupils and parents on the risk of sharing food and what could happen if they do.

I welcome the fact my son's school will have a nut/allergy ban but it provides little reassurance given his dairy allergy! Milk, cheese and yoghurt are bloody everywhere at lunch time.

Before having a kid with food allergies I was totally oblivious and ignorant to them, so I 100% understand the lack of awareness some have. I envy those people!

The best thing a mum can do, in my opinion, is to have an open discussion with their kids so they understand that someone in their class has allergies and how they can help keep them safe e.g. no food sharing, washing hands after eating.

“AIBU to think that the school could just encourage kids not to share food? And for the parents of those affected kids to teach their kids not to eat their friends’ food?!”

How about you teach your kids (or yourself for that matter) the seriousness surrounding nut allergies!! What a ridiculous ask! Someone’s child could die but as long as your kids get their favourite food!

I didn’t know hummus has nuts in it? Is sesame a nut? My dd starts school in September which has a no nut policy, I would definitely have sent hummus in. I’m not sure people should rely on others not sending nuts in, apart from the obvious I have no idea which foods contain nuts and which don’t, and I never check ingredient lists.

Disagree.

Peanut butter is full of good nutrients and great for heart health and blood sugar. Much healthier than a ham sandwich, cheese and crackers or other common lunches.

It’s not their kid so they don’t care, they are just pissed off that their kids aren’t allowed hummus because it could kill someone. Fuck that kid. OPs kid wants peanuts.

@Overthebow There’s cross reactivity with sesame and peanuts/tree nuts. That means that you will often find people allergic to sesame are also allergic to peanuts or tree nuts.

if you are allergic to cashew you will often be allergic to pistachio, and the same goes for walnut and pecan, hazelnut and almond.

@overthebow
No, no nuts in sesame, it contains tahini and chickpeas.

Because some kids also have a sesame allergy, some schools ban sesame/tahini as well as nuts.

Nuts have to be declared on ingredient labels. Some common places they can "hide" include pesto sauce, chocolate, muesli and baked goods.

Hummus doesn't typically have nuts in, so will probably be fine unless the school has a sesame ban too - each school will have their own policy at least partially based on the known allergies of its pupils.

If you are sending a packed lunch to a nut free school then you do need to be having a quick check of ingredients lists because that is one of the layers that school is using to keep its children safe. Most things will align with your expectations, but the odd product will surprise you. No need to avoid things that have "may contain..." warnings.

I have severe anaphylactic allergies. one of them is NOT peanuts. so whilst everyone seems to care that the child allergic to peanuts doesnt come into contact with them in any way, no one gives a shiny about my allergies. and not just me. many others have different food allergies so why are we not banning all these other foods as well. or is it a case of all being equal but some are more equal than others.

The op came back to clarify that the school had also banned sesame seeds. So because sesame seed paste (tahini) is in hummus she can no longer send it in.

It's worth asking the school your daughter goes to for details of exactly what they will and won't allow.

In particular, check if "nut free" is actually meant to mean "nut and peanut free". If it does then look out for monkey nuts and ground nuts as these are other names for peanuts. This is especially confusing as peanuts are a legume so sometimes a bag of peanuts/groundnuts/monkey nuts can technically be nut free.

I don’t think our school bans sesame as well then, just nuts have been mentioned. I also didn’t know pesto contains nuts. I don’t think I’ve ever really looked at ingredient lists as I don’t really have time so haven’t seen nuts mentioned on packaging unless it’s in the name like peanut butter. There’s probably lots I’ll end up sending in accidentally without realising.

DC2s nursery is nut free, lunches and snacks are all prepared on site and no brought in food is allowed unless still in it’s packaging (eg birthday sweets which are given directly to the adult at pickup), no packed lunches or parent provided snacks are allowed, and nappy creams/suncreams that parents send in must be checked for nut oils. There is a seriously allergic child there this year, so the cream checking is new, but the food rules have always been in place.

DC1s school is nut free in name. School provided food is nut free and packed lunches are discouraged, but quite a few do have them as they don’t like some days meals on the menu. There are no checks on packed lunch, so when I was chatting to DCs friend in the playground one day she told me she’d had pesto pasta for lunch that day (which often contains pine nuts or cashews).

The school scenario would worry me more if I had an allergic child, because I’be concerned there could be a false sense of security around access to nuts and not considering nut exposure should a child become ill.

AIBU to think that the school could just encourage kids not to share food? And for the parents of those affected kids to teach their kids not to eat their friends’ food

You really need to educate yourself on nut allergies. For some sufferers even being in close proximity to nuts can be dangerous. There could be traces left on tables or chairs. It's so much more than just eating nuts

You do have time to check ingredients, it takes seconds.

I don't particularly agree with nut free schools, but if your child is attending one then I can't emphasise enough how important it is that you check ingredients. Sending in the wrong pesto could be disastrous.

It's not really ok to casually say you'll probably send stuff accidentally without realising. It will happen because of human error but really shouldn't because of carelessness or laziness.

One of mine has anaphylaxis to multiple nuts including peanuts, almonds, cashews and also egg.

Almost lost them a couple of times to severe reactions . It is terrifying.

I hate the concept of ‘nut free’ schools - it doesn’t work.

unless it is a boarding school in the middle of a forest, with no post and no contact with the outside world - you cannot create a nut free school.

yes - they can make the school meals but free. Yes they can ask the parents not to put nuts in lunchboxes - but it is totally unenforceable and mistakes will happen.

how do the parents that don’t understand about allergies know to check for traces of nuts in every food? Why would they spend hours like an allergy mum reading the small print? How does the parent who doesn’t read / speak English well comply with this.

the only way to control allergic reactions is for there to be good supervision in the dining room - to avoid sharing and cross contamination - good hand washing / wiping of tables etc.

many schools will have kids anaphylactic to nuts, eggs, milk, latex etc - it is hard but THEY the school have to manage the risks - not pass it into other parents and claim to be ‘nut free’.

‘nut free’ lulls everyone into a false sense of security. Mine had their first anaphylaxic reaction as a baby and as soon as they were able to speak - they were taught to question every food they were given. It was a necessary life skill. As they learnt to read - they learnt to read the words of their allergen etc.

people think ‘nut free’ schools solve so much but I found it was just a nightmare and made other parents resent my kid - as ‘they’re not allowed to eat it anyway’ (they knew they only ate what we gave them from home at all situation) bit harsh but they had a point! I never asked for nor would I ever expect a nut free policy and I say that as someone whom watched my child swelling and gasping for air and almost die on more than one occasion.

It has sesame which can cause very serious (deadly) reactions too

This is the thing, how many people don’t know pesto contains nuts? I didn’t until this thread. I wouldn’t even think to look it up as why would I be thinking of it. If it’s not obvious people will send it in.

Adults in school may have severe allergies too, it's not just about the children.

But in relation to the children - it's not just what they eat, it's where they aoread the allergens too who, they talk to (and inevitably spray on).

"I don't care if someone else's child dies, MY child deserves to be able to eat peanuts WHENEVER they want to!"

YAB massively U! Your kids can eat peanuts the other 18 hours a day they're not at school!

It’s not carelessness or laziness, it’s just life. We don’t have allergies in the family, nuts are not on my mind. Life is busy, I have many things to think of, and I’m not going to be scrutinising each item in the shop in case it happens to contains nuts. It would add a long time to a shop to have to read all ingredients and it’s not really something I would remember to do on an every day basis. I’m sure if I didn’t work or only worked 20 hours a week or something then I would have time but unfortunately I don’t.

this no nuts in humous. made with chick peas.

Your child loves peanut butter, fine but they will survive not eating it during a relatively short period of their day.

All the anti-anti nut policy nonsense just shows how completely selfish so many people are when it comes down to it! They won’t put themselves out a fraction even if it could be catastrophic for someone else.

But now you have a child attending a nut free school, so nuts do now need to be on your mind. It's not like you'll be sending thousands of products in each week, likely the same small selection every week. You are expected to glance at the ingredients of them, but not avoid may contains.

You are utterly unreasonable. I’ll put it down to not understanding about food allergies. Hopefully you’ve realised why now -if you’ve read all the responses. Hey, everyday is a school day. Pardon the pun.

Missed your edit about being ohhh so busy. Wonder what that's like...

We have two young DC, two full on full-time jobs and no family nearby. If we can check the ingredients of everything we buy,I promise you most sincerely that you can find the time to read ingredients on the bits you send to school. I promise you it won't add anything material to your schedule.