To think that a headmistress should understand the difference between 'contains prawns' and 'prawn flavoured'?

[l39]

Prawn cocktail crisps are banned at my daughters' school 'because of children with shellfish allergies'. Don't misunderstand - I am totally in favour of not endangering people's lives by exposing them to substances they are allergic to! But there are no prawns in prawn cocktail flavour crisps. There are no animal products at all - it says on the packet 'suitable for vegetarians'. It's just a name. There are no more prawns in those crisps than there are monsters in Monster Munch. Now, I did wonder if there were some brands that really do have prawn in. But no - she specifically mentioned Skips as being forbidden in her latest letter. They're vegetarian suitable too! Shouldn't a headmistress be able to read an ingredients list? I am keeping to the ban but it makes me angry to see such bad logic from a teacher.

Sorry, Califrau. The title is indeed an error on my part. A less serious error than that of the headmistress, though, I think.

Squonk- wouldn't the parent of a child with dangerous allergies be the last one to make a mistake like that? They must spend many hours scrutinising ingredient lists. I wouldn't be complaining if the letter said 'Nothing with the name of prawn on it because we haven't got time to check them individually for whether they're using it literally.' But as I say she specifically names a brand that is definitely no threat and says it is.

Feeling rather relieved no one has been agreeing with the headmistress so far, anyway.

Thanks for the views!

hmmm... not so sure Califrau, that may be a US/UK thing.

Here is a C&P from a website about UK food law:

Flavour/flavoured

The term 'flavour' may have reference to sensory quality of
a food as perceived by a combination of smell and taste.
Alternatively, 'flavour', for which the legally correct term is
'flavouring', is defined in the Flavouring in Food Regulations 1992
as a material used to impart odour, taste or both to a food. Under
the UK Food Labelling Regulations 1996, if the declared flavour of
a product is derived wholly or mainly from the named food, the
product name is (for example) "Strawberry X". If it does not derive
wholly or mainly from the named food, the product name is
"Strawberry Flavour X".
The UK Food Standards Committee's 2nd Report on Food Labelling
suggested that consumers do not appreciate the difference between
'flavour', which the FSC equated with artificial flavouring and
'flavoured' which they equated with the use of the real food to
provide flavouring.
The UK Food Advisory Committee (FAC), in its 1990 Report on
Labelling, decided that the difference between 'flavour' and
'flavoured' was significant and that since consumers were said to
have difficulty distinguishing between the two, 'flavour' should be
banned and replaced by 'taste'.
The supposed confusion between the two words is a misconception.
Contrary to paragraph 64 of the FAC Report, the then Food Labelling
Regulations 1984 as amended, and the current UK Food Labelling
Regulations 1996. make no provision for the use of the term
'flavoured'. As indicated above those Regulations provide for
(e.g.) 'Strawberry X' or 'Strawberry Flavour X' but no intermediate
designation such as ' strawberry flavoured X'.
The only legal use of "flavoured" is in the Cocoa and Chocolate
Products Regulations 1976. In those Regulations, cocoa products and
non-filled chocolates may be described as 'Y flavoured chocolate',
as the case may be, if the flavour is derived wholly or mainly from Y.
The term 'flavour' serves a useful and well-established
purpose. The FAC suggestion to prohibit it and substitute 'taste'
(reiterated in September 1994) is scientifically inaccurate and,
if it were to be embodied in legislation, would create instead of
removing confusion

There is also zero proof that MSG causes any hyperactivity or other problems in children, in fact the countries that use by far the most MSG have the lowest levels of attention deficit and hyper disorders.

PC Crisps are rank though. Skips on the other hand are fab!

Breastmilk is full of MSG. Just thought I'd lob that in.

Blue food, yum! You have just remind me of some classmates I had in primary school.. their mum added blue food colourant to their mashed potatoes to make them more interesting ...

Looking back to it now, with the experience of having a child myself, and knowing that mash is one of the very few things he will eat without complaints... I have started to wonder if those children had serious eating problems or they came from another planet...

PS. The only tartrazine my child has is that contained in Calpol (of all things! why to add it to children's number 1 medicine?)

My dd2 is allergy to red food colouring, but school have banned red face paints on red nosed day due to 'a child who is allergy to the colour red'

BTW she only reacts if she eats something with red food colouring in it

Do you really NEED to send them? Really? No crisps at all at our school and then children seem OK. Or do you think maybe the neglect will show later? Teachers have better things to do IMO.

The advise for schools by the anaphylaxis campaign is not to ban foods in the first place, so the headmistress needs educating on managing allergies in the first place

lol at allergic to the colour red!

Oddly enough my dad has some strange theory about (naturally) red foods and once claimed to be suffering from "red poisoning" after I served up a meal of (red) goulash and red wine.

I tried to convince him that it was maybe the quantity of the wine that was the problem, rather than the colour of the food, but he claims red food has strange and dangerous qualities.

theyoungvisitor, I have a friend who is a homeopath and says that red food is considered quite bad for you and she always asks people sufering from skin complaints such as psorisis (sp?) to eliminate all red foods from their diet.

suffering

but 2 bottles of wine are ok as long as they're not red?

I'd leave it to be honest. Whilst it's probably true that prawn flavoured crisps don't contain prawn, who knows if this is always going to be the case. She's undoubtedly too busy to keep monitoring this and it's just easier to say "no prawn flavoured crisps".

Bruffin, is that also available for peanuts?

I once gave a peanut butter biscuit to my DcS in school, without thinkig. The school did not say anything to me but I had cold sweat all day when I realised that I had done it!

What is this about MSG in breastmilk????

Is that only if the mother has consumed some quantity of MSG herself?

Or are you trying to suggest that MSG is sneakily manufactured within our bodies whilst we are breast feeding?

Please tell me if I'm being really thick but why should a child with allergies dictate what the whole school eats? I know that true allergies can be very dangerous but we are talking about kids lunch boxes rather than party food donations or something. We can't ban peanuts for example from the whole planet because some are allergic to them. In ds1's class a child is allergic to strawberries so the whole class were told they were not allowed strawberries in their lunch box! I sent the strawberries for my child to eat and no one else. Said child knows he mustn't eat strawberries and I think tbh banning everyone else from having them is ott.

Glutamate is a naturally occurring substance - according to this link it is ten times more concentrated in breast milk than in cows milk.

Must be why DS prefers breast!

Mmm, prawn cocktail crisps are lovely. So is MSG.

"The human body treats glutamate that is added to foods in the form of MSG the same as the natural glutamate found in food. For instance, the body does not distinguish between free glutamate from tomatoes, cheese or mushrooms and the glutamate from MSG added to foods. Glutamate is glutamate, whether naturally present or from MSG."

From something called the International Food Information Council

"Research has shown that newborn infants are able to detect and prefer the taste of glutamate." That's why they like breast milk then.

holdingittogether, I'm with you on that and that's how it would have been once. The suggestion nowadays is that if a strawberry or peanut is eaten in the same room they will be hospitalised.

I'm waiting for someone to realise that a kid might eat peanuts before school and have it on their hands.

Btw I love the idea of allergic to the color red. Can someone ask that homeopath what happens if you eat red food with your eyes closed

LOL @ onagar's last post!