A Nut Free School?

[gazzalw]

Have always thought it slightly odd that we've put the occasional pot-full of peanuts/raisins and chocolate bits in DD's lunchbox and it has never caused a major alert at school But finally an edict was issued yesterday saying that the school is now officially a nut-free zone.

We are slightly about it really. It seems like yet another nail in the coffin of freedom of expression in schools (albeit in a different medium!). Whilst I fully appreciate that there is an issue about nut allergies and have every sympathy for families with children/parents with such dietary restrictions, I can't help feel that for some children nut-based products are a healthy option at lunchtime.

Surely the easiest solution would be to put children with sever allergies on one table at lunchtime? And who is to say that other lunchbox products might not have been in contact with nuts anyway?

Am I wrong to be rather annoyed? I seem to recall not so long ago there was talk of banning ham from lunchboxes and possibly cheese too (for health reasons) - what will we be allowed to put in the children's lunchboxes?

Surely if the powers that be want to be so dictatorial about what goes into children's lunchboxes, they should actually consider providing all children with Government-funded lunches as the Scots do?

There are major complications with your suggestion. We (school staff) would need to police every lucnhbox to check whether they had nut products or not. The children who had eaten nut products are still a risk if touching severely affected children and couldn't be near those children.
I understand your frustration, but have you seen a child going into anaphylactic shock after touching a child who has eaten nuts? ... I have and it is terrifying for all concerned.

they probably have a child with a serious anaphylactic allergy starting.
Children with this type of allergy react not just is they eat nuts but if they have any contact. Your suggestion o having a nut free table doesn't work, child eats peanut, touches allergic child on the way out or at play, allergic child goes into anaphylactic shock. Without urgent use of epipen child dies. Is it really worth it so you can have the 'freedom' to give your child nuts or lunch or a snack? Let your child eat nuts at home and send in some other kind o health snack/lunch, there are plenty of options.

I do understand where you're coming from but for some children, food allergies can be life threatening. So, it can be a bit annoying that ds can never have his favourite peanut butter sandwiches for lunch - but if that is the price to "pay" for helping to ensure another child's saftey, so be it.

our dc's school is nut free.
no problem for us at all.

You would feel terrible if the nuts in your childs lunch contributed to a childs death wouldn't you?

Enough said.

I think there have been other threads where parents who have children with severe allergies are actually against a blanket ban.

I can understand both sides with lunches in schools but what do you do if a child goes home for lunch and has peanut butter sandwiches or something cooked in nut oil?

As far as I'm aware peanut allergies are different from other nut allergies as peanuts aren't really nuts but part of the pea family. So does there really need to be a total ban on nuts or just peanut products?

I would not want any child to have an anaphylactic reaction at school because of nuts but there are also a lot of children with other allergies - strawberries, eggs and other dairy products. Should all these food-stuffs be banned too?

And also, there are a lot of foodstuffs produced in factories where "nuts might have been processed" so there are still risks. What about all the children eating nut-including cereal products for breakfast who might not have washed their hands before coming to school?

My Ds has nut allergies

The recommendations are not to have nut bans for various reasons.

I knew someone with an airbourne nut allergy, so even if you ate nuts the day before they could still have anaphalactic shock. A boy in dd's class had a severe reaction after a friend gave him a bite of a cereal bar which the mother hadn't looked on the label and it had nuts in. Although children aren't allowed to share food, it must be impossible to police in a busy lunch hall. Also would your child always know before they sat down that they had nuts, easy for them to just go with their friends. Also why should a child be segregated just because of their health. There would be an outcry if every child with special needs had to sit on the same table and not mix with their class mates.

Nuts are a healthy snack, but high in fat, so once a day after school is sufficient. Lots of other healthy snacks available, imagine how you would feel if a friend of your daughter died because you gave her some nuts for lunch?

Honest question bruffin, as a parent of a child with peanut allergy;
If schools don't go peanut free what would you want schools to do to guarantee your child's safety? It is an expectation of guaranteeing safety posed to me by a parent with a serious allergy and the nurse drawing up the care plan. I didn't have a clear answer as we can't go through every child's lucnhbox or know that a child hasn't had peanut butter sandwiches for a home dinner, so advice from a parent greatly appreciated.

I have a DD with a severe dairy allergy which has already been said cannot be banned from schools so she is essentially put at risk every lunch time. How the school has helped has been to have an adult sat either next to or opposite her with her medication and epipen on hand in a small rucksack. In the early days (she's only in reception) they kept children who had yoghurts etc away from her.

I am against nut bans as they cannot be properly policed and don't protect children with any of the other common allergies.

Gazza, your suggestion of putting allergic children on one table just wouldn't work. What about the child with a nut allergy bringing in milkshake, yoghurt and cheese strings and being made to sit next to the child with dairy allergy; the dairy allergic child bringing in egg mayo sandwiches and sitting next to someone with an egg allergy. Or heaven forbid the child with a severe wheat/gluten allergy sitting next to them all with their sandwiches?

As hard as it is living with a severe allergy children have to learn from a very early age how to keep themselves safe

There was (?is) a lad in DC school who has contact allergy, just touching nut residue on someone's hand could set off a severe reaction.

I think it's a faff, too, OP, but do my best to abide by it.

I have a DD with a severe dairy allergy which has already been said cannot be banned from schools so she is essentially put at risk every lunch time. How the school has helped has been to have an adult sat either next to or opposite her with her medication and epipen on hand in a small rucksack. In the early days (she's only in reception) they kept children who had yoghurts etc away from her.

I am against nut bans as they cannot be properly policed and don't protect children with any of the other common allergies.

Gazza, your suggestion of putting allergic children on one table just wouldn't work. What about the child with a nut allergy bringing in milkshake, yoghurt and cheese strings and being made to sit next to the child with dairy allergy; the dairy allergic child bringing in egg mayo sandwiches and sitting next to someone with an egg allergy. Or heaven forbid the child with a severe wheat/gluten allergy sitting next to them all with their sandwiches?

As hard as it is living with a severe allergy children have to learn from a very early age how to keep themselves safe

Oops, sorry didn't mean to post twice ... on the phone

Dd2 goes to a nut free nursery, and tbh it's not that hard to avoid putting them in your child's lunch box!
I'm sorry if it causes me a slight problem, I don't care, I will not be the selfish mum that thinks my child's lunch is More important than a child's life

It's a total minefield really. Of course you are right about the keeping them separate issue not necessarily being useful - I hadn't really thought that through until I started thinking of all the other potentially life-threatening allergies that people have.

There are very good reasons for NOT banning nuts completely in school, supported by experts in Allergy and Anaphylaxis.

Nuts are not the only food to cause anaphylaxis!

It's not always peanuts that people are allergic to, can be cashews, walnuts etc. I agree though children with allergies do need to manage their own condition it is a big ask for a child who is 4 or 5. Our school also bans strawberries and kiwi but only for their class as the reaction is not as severe.

Agree with Mintyneb. DS1 is allergic to peanuts, egg, sesame, chick peas, lentils. Other kids in his year are allergic to dairy and wheat. If they ban all of these it doesn't leave much for kids to eat!

From as early as he was able to understand, we have drilled into DS1 why he must never pick up/eat other people's food or anything else unless one of his parents or his teacher has checked the ingredients. As a result he is very sensible about it. One boy in his class does have very severe anaphylaxis to nuts and dairy; he sits at a table away from the other kids but his friends take turns to sit with him.

I don't necessarily agree with the total ban from schools of all nuts, neither do I think that they are an ESSENTIAL part of the diet at school of my DC's (they only get one meal in school and 2 at home, so I can give them nuts as part of another meal or as a snack if I felt so strongly about it).

Surely without too much effort or concern you can find a replacement?

Also, I'm in Glasgow and school meals for my 2 kids are not free or subsidised, so no government funding here!

What I don't get about the banning nuts thing is that so many products may contain traces of nuts or nut oils, and that would be enough to set off a child's allergy if it is that severe so banning nuts wouldn't really minimise the problem much would it?
(Genuine question there! I can see it reducing it fractionally, but not a huge amount as most kids wouldn't take nuts in on a daily basis anyway but would take products that have traces of nuts in regularly).

Not only that but there are other allergies as already mentioned which cannot be 'regulated' in the same way, so how do schools handle that? Surely each child's allergy should be assessed on a case-by-case basis instead of a blanket ban? And ensuring that people are close by with epi-pens/medication should it be needed?

3duracell: kids of that age are capable of handling their own allergies/intolerances to a certain extent though. I started working for a family when child was 3 and a half in November and he knew full well what he can and cannot eat and was saying no to any offered food at that age. Now he will explain to somebody offering him food that he cannot eat it as he cannot eat a lot of food as it isn't good for his tummy.

I'm a dinner lady - we have 5 rows of 4 tables - we have discreetly told the children who do have allergies (3 who have severe ones in our school - another 6 mild) to always sit in the first row - there are only 4 tables to police for "problems" and we can make sure these tables are cleared more often - we have a rolling lunchtime - 400 kids and seats for 200, so classes get called in as and when room is available...

we are not nut/dairy/legume/seed/tomato free - modern medical advice does NOT advise being so - and thankfully, have never had a child with a reaction.

DS is now 16 is allergic to treenuts and seseme seeds and probably some others seed. He was allergic to peanuts but has grown out of that allergy. He has been all the way through the school system without nut bans and it has not been a problem.

The reason for not banning nuts are

Breeds false sense of security- they should treat no place as safe and take the same precautions as they would when they eat anywhere.

How far do you expect to ban the nuts, are you going to ban nut cereal for breakfast before school

Are you going to ban everything someone is allergic to ie dairy, sesame or poppy seeds, the various fruit and vegetables. I have even heard of anaphylaxis to egg boxes. I would also point out that allergies can happen anytime. DS was 4 when his appeared.

Breeds bad feeling amongst other parents

Teachers at ds school used to ask me what he could and couldn't have if they weren't sure. Teaching the other children about allergies and the importance of washing their hands after eating nuts.

My ds was more than capable of making sure that he could eat something when he was 4. We lived in a small cul de sac and all the dcs played out and i often had parents coming to the door asking if ds could eat this or that. When he was 4 he was once in burger king and I forgot about the seeds on the bun. He disappeared off and I found him at the counter telling the server that he couldn't eat the burger because it had seeds on the bun. He is less sensible about it as a teenager now than he was then.