AIBU to report nut-containing muffins being brought into a nut-free school?

[AlmondFlourmuffins]

I’m really conflicted whether to keep quiet about something or not . If I say something it will be completely obvious it was me that reported.

Dd best friend always takes in a homemade muffin to school as has packed lunch. Dd had a play date and when I picked her up said that she had some and can we make them for her lunches after the half term break so I asked for the recipe.
One was a ‘Bakewell muffin’ made with almond flour and glace cherries the other was a peanut butter chocolate and banana marbled muffin. The thing is it’s a nut free school and when I said ‘oh I’m surprised you’ve got away with this’ after she shared the recipe she just laughed. Now I’m feeling like it’s wrong?

I know in the class there are no nut allergies but I have no idea obviously about the rest of the year/school. But if I say something is it going to cause a massive problem ? This is dd best friend and I just don’t know what to do ?

Yes, I would speak again to the parent involved and say - been thinking about the muffins and and I don’t think it’s a good idea in a school as it really does put some children at risk….
I have a son with a severe sesame allergy and it’s declared a nut and sesame free school. Lots of children do have packed lunches so I really hope they respect this. It’s so annoying when a handful of people decide rules don’t apply to them.

You have to weigh up the associated risks with allergens. Nuts are more likely to be fatal aren’t they?

This….

It’s not weird at all.

No. That's not correct.

Milk is the leading cause of allergy deaths in children now

A reception age child absolutely can learn to manage their allergies and not accept food from other people. But we as a society choose not to give them that responsibility, and instead wrap them up in a protective bubble which is far more harmful to them in the long run.

Nonsense.
As the mother of a DC with multiple food allergies, do you think I relied on parents like @DeftGoldHedgehog following the rules to protect my child?
You must be joking!

He was educated and trained how to manage his allergies from an extremely young age (preschool if not earlier).

However, you do have to make allowances for young children, and also realise that his peers at that age are prone to sticky hands and faces, playing more or less on top of each other, and coughing in each other’s faces. As you, say supervison as well as education is needed.

Allergy UK does in fact recommend banning required allergens (depending on need) for facilities that care for very young children (eg preschools) and asking other parents to cooperate with this.
Reception age children are still very young and hence at risk.

Interesting. Just been reading about it.

i guess it’s harder to remove all dairy from all children’s packed lunches than nuts.

but it must be a huge worry for dairy parents.

my reception son seems to understand he can’t eat anyone else’s food without checking with a grown up first. But i still feel on edge. He has an auto injector at school.

So what? It’s worth risking a child’s life?

Also I’d love to know where you got those insane statistics- wildly inaccurate information

Where do you draw the line?

Perhaps we say no food in school at all and kids go home for lunch?

I’d have to say something to her, how can someone be so irresponsible and inconsiderate?? By all means, bake the muffins for dd to have at home but don’t send them to school.

As someone with allergies (thankfully not a nut one) I know how deathly serious allergies can be.
You've got to mention. It's not worth the risk.

Considering the fact that dairy is now the number one cause of anaphylactic reactions in UK children, I suggest you go and give your figures another read over..

Prof Adam Fox (leading allergist) has a brilliant Instagram page that aims to dispel myths around allergy - worth a scroll

Surely he has two auto injectors at school???
The advice is "always carry two" for good reason

I’ve also just realised that our (small) primary school knows what severe allergies they have in school and bans the relevant food. Whilst not always possible i guess, when it is possible, it’s a good idea. Apart from OP’s parent who chooses to ignore….

There are plenty of allergies that aren’t life threatening or airborn. My whole office of 100’s of people is nut free because someone has an incredibly severe airborne allergy, so if you can’t not eat nuts while you’re in work/school to stop someone being at risk, there’s something very wrong with your moral compass.

@Whyarentyoureadyyet i also have a five year old who is anaphylactic to dairy and the nut free thing drives me mad knowing that dairy is the most fatal allergy in under tens and most seem to think it just causes a bad tummy. I don’t think schools should be dairy free but I’d love the same awareness as nuts get

I would say it to the mum again.
Ask her if she sends in the nuts.
Tell her you are going to report.

So you do believe the right to eat nuts in school is more important than a child’s life? Wow.

Peanut allergies are not airborne as the proteins are too large to aerosolise. It is a (long debunked) myth that unfortunately causes severe anxiety.

The only airborne allergens are fish & milk.

Yes, true. He does.

What would be far more useful in schools than silly blanket bans is proper training in anaphylaxis management, better awareness of allergies in general and access to spare adrenaline pens.

I could say the same about cheese/milk /yoghurt in school

Take another look at the figures 😉

Firstly in my previous post I wasn’t talking about children’s reactions specifically.
I said overall.

Within the under 16 category, if you categorise tree nuts, peanuts and unidentified nuts separately then, yes, dairy is the most dangerous. But taken collectively peanuts/nuts still are.
However, I think in certain paediatric categories (younger children) dairy would be far higher tbh. In older children, lower.

And yes, I know the difference between a tree nut and a peanut as I have a child allergic to both.
But firstly, nut-free schools usually means a ban on both. Secondly, these allergies are particularly likely to co-occur in an individual.
The products also tend to co-occur in many manufacturing facilities.
When a lay person talks about ‘nuts’ as on this thread, they usually mean peanuts as well as all the other nuts.

(I absolutely know dairy can be a really dangerous allergy in children, especially young children! I’m not for a minute trying to say otherwise, just addressing your rather snitty post.)

One of my kids has a milk allergy. The amount of people who seem to trivialise this is...... a lot. Unfortunately school staff seem to be some of the worst. However schools seem to be surprisingly reticent about banning milk and milk containing products. Some of the gems I have heard in my time are:

They can have lactofree milk because I brought it in the free from aisle. Worryingly I was being told, not asked this.
Can they have semi skimmed milk?
And I had to stop someone giving them a chocolate finger biscuit because apparently chocolate isn't milk, it's chocolate.

Eventually after an anaphylaxis from a yoghurt covered fruit flake thing that involved the local air ambulance landing on the school field, I had an agreement with school that dc would 't eat anything unless it was obviously a plain piece of fruit, I had provided it or in the case of cookery ingredients I had personally checked it. Things shouldn't have had to go that far though before they sorted themselves out.