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 ?

Inform them but tbh, as an allergy parent I don’t see the point in nut free schools.

my daughter is allergic to egg and peanut. She’s actually far more allergic to egg and that’s never banned and actually in way more stuff. We’ve just taught her around cross contamination, reading labels, not sharing food, which is much safer than relying on other parents, as I know many wouldn’t comply either from genuine misunderstandings or not caring.

Even we as bona fide allergy parents mess up occasionally so it’s too much to put on the general population imo.

You've missed the point. Schools going nut free rather than having robust allergy training is problematic for two reasons

• nuts will creep in anyway,
• there will be many children in every school who are severely allergic to other foods. Including milk.

Schools need robust allergy policies and training rather than thinking they can tick the "sorted allergies" box by wittering on about nut bans

School rang me several times to tell my my daughter had been in the same classroom as a peanut butter sandwich. But when a cheese slice was actually thrown into her lunch box rendering her lunch inedible they didn't even think to tell me or try and sort her some replacement food. it's this utter gulf in understanding of the fact that for children with a milk allergy milk is enough exactly as hazardous as nuts that makes the current approach so frustrating

i think posters dont even realise Natasha of Natasha's law wasnt allergic to peanuts or treenuts (My ds is not allergic to peanuts, just some tree nuts, and seeds mainly sesame and poppy seeds) Natasha had an anaphylactic reaction to sesame seeds in a baguette and Benedict Blythe died because he ingested cows milk. instead of the oat milk his parents sent in and the school had not realy allergy policy.

Indeed, and Karanbir Cheema died when a cheese slice was thrown at him at school.

He had an anaphylactic reaction from skin contact to cheese

This is Natasha's story. She was hospitalised as a child from reactions to milk particles in the air

https://www.narf.org.uk/natashas-allergies

Don’t be THAT parent…

My eldest like me has a whole host of food allergies including a variety of nuts, dairy, eggs and less common things that aren’t even required to be listed in restaurants/schools etc cos they’re not the big 14. We had to teach her at 4.5 to always ask and to recognise the allergens herself because her school
did nothing to support heR despite the HV contacting them and the allergy clinic too.

I don’t agree with complete bans because it gives a false sense of security and doesn’t really help children check for themselves, also we see the fuck you parents who will
do what they want anyway. What should be necessary is proper hygiene education (lack of Hygiene is one of the biggest allergen contaminants - coughing on people/not washing hands to remove the proteins etc) Ensuring EpiPens are available just in case and teaching supervisors how to react if a severe allergy happens.

With my youngest I was called and told to pick him up to deal with a sudden allergic reaction to something we still don’t know what. Thankfully it was only an external urticaria response but in the 40 minutes it took me to get to him at school anything could’ve happened and they refused to do something to help other than a wet paper towel.

And in the end of day it can be very hard to do a packed lunch with a ban for gluten, milk, egg, nuts or whatever your class friends' allergies are.

Even harder if you are a parent not used to deal with it. It's simply not viable. It can be so hard to work out ingredients and often også very expensive.
I am happy to collaborate and of course I don't want to harm other people but when I can't eat gluten/dairy products it can be difficult to also take a 100% ban for several other foods.

Sometimes it's ok to be "that" parent!

What do you mean/who was that addressed to?

I had no idea re dairy being such a big allergen!

Well phrased op

It is. I take responsibility for a 5 yo with dairy/egg allergy and an epipen. I am terrified. She can die if exposed to milk.
Mum trusts me because I have the same issue with milk. And the little girl is so good with dealing with it and knows to stick to the rules. But I always carry my own epipens as well as she has her in her bag.

The nut free school trend is awful. Its so dangerous. There's a reason its not what allergy UK recommend.

Living with allergy means you have to be on guard. There are no allergen free places in reality, & the illusion just means people let their guard down, and don't learn critical habits like handwashing and not sharing food.

I think it’s odd you got the recipe and didn’t just say “oh I’m surprised you send these, they contain nuts?!”. How do you know nobody has a nut allergy? I think all schools are nut free just incase.

As a parent of a child with a different medical issue that means weight gain is hard come by & she needs a lot of nutrient/calorie dense food, I actually could cry when I hear people suggesting schools go:

• nut free
• egg free
• dairy free
• sugar free
• fish free (yep we have kids in our school with fish allergies)

In our school fava beans and sesame are also banned so no falafel or hummous either

Add in the trend for people suggesting more vegetarian meals for children & my daughter would actually waste away.

I think if you go back to this discussion with your friend she is going to take offence. Why not tell the teacher and ask her to get one of the lunch staff to ask the dc what flavour their muffins are and then they will have a reason to ask the Mum about the ingredients. Then they can explain the importance to her.

No, it isn't weird at all.

My first thought would be "why is she sending food containing nuts to a nut free school".

It would be the first thought of any sensible parent, especially if the child is sharing her food.

lets ust ignore the anaphylaxis campaign and leading specialist advice linked to on rhis thread, . Op should actually talk to tbe school about their allergy policy and question why they have a nut ban in the first place ,

On dragons den, some entrepreneurs had come up with a wall unit containing EpiPens - like those wall mounted defibrillators. I would love it if these could be in all schools. Unfortunately it’s several hundred pounds a year (if I remember correctly) so I don’t think this is likely to be considered a priority. My son always has his EpiPens at school but it’s the children who haven’t yet been stung by a bee or haven’t realised they are allergic to sesame that are the risks…

From Seotember, schools are expected to have spare epipens on site. Part of Benedicts Law.

This is so interesting and I hadn’t seen this. My school bans nuts and sesame because these are the two severe allergies in the school. I assume the nut ban is always in place?? But yes, sensible behaviour would be better than a random ban. Like, listing ingredients on school meals, listing ingredients at cake sales, wiping tables down between sittings etc etc etc

DD’s school bans nuts, but do not seem to push the message very hard. Children bring in Nutella, sesame seeds on buns, almond milk etc
I don’t know if there are any children with nut allergies at school, so I am still careful, but no one else seems to bother.

I’d be incredibly worried if someone at work had a severe allergy and we were asked to be X free. I’d absolutely try to comply. My worry is the day I forget to take lunch and buy a sandwich. I’m probably doing it because I’m running late and might forget
to check. I can see that risk for school as well.

What an awful thing to have on your conscience if you cause a reaction.

This thread has been so useful. So sad to hear of all these deaths. Amazing that their parents have pushed incredible things from their tragedies. I will see if the school will get spare EpiPens.