Chocolate spread ban in lunchboxes

[GeorgianMumto5]

The dc's primary school has recently banned chocolate spread sandwiches from lunchboxes. To be honest, I'm not that fussed about it - it makes no odds to me to feed them choc spread at home, rather than at school - but it has a caused a few people to be put out. Chocolate Philadelphia (which sounds vile, if you ask me) has also been banned, on the grounds that it looks like chocolate spread. Main reason for it being banned is that Nutella contains nuts. Someone asked if a nut-free variety would be OK, but the school said they 'couldn't police that'. Thing is, Mr Kipling's cakes all contain nuts too (or did last time I checked) but nobody's banning them. Likewise those 'Pitch' brioche things. Am I therefore BU for thinking these rules are applied with only half the thought necessary to a sensible decision and a coherent ruling?

I know this isn't AIBU, but I'm not feeling well and haven't the energy for a bunfight. I would, however, like to know what you all think. The school has a fairly relaxed attitude to lunchbox content generally and the 'nut-free' rule is there for a good and specific reason (even if it isn't all that well thought out or applied).

diabolo it's often worth checking the letterhead of the school to see if they carry the 'healthy schools' award logo.

Some headteachers (mine included) are a bit like 'girl guides on acid' - collecting logos for the letterhead as if their lives depended on it. I joke that soon there will be no room on the headed paper from our school for any actual 'letter' as it is too full of logos.

I am just waiting for the 'no authorised holidays in term time under any circumstances' award to be made available (with a hefty certification fee of course - good use of taxpayers money).

Luckily, I work at a school in what is nicely referred to as having 'challenging circumstances'. There is no healthy lunchbox policy, no nut free policy and term-time holidays can still be authorised in 'exceptional' circumstances. Luckily, we have a head who is pragmatic enough to accept that, for some families, a Sun £9.50 holiday is perhaps the only holiday a family can afford.

As a parent governor I am in a very fortunate position that I can directly influence ensuring that this situation remains the same.

At our school you are not supposed to have foods that a child in your class in allergic to (they eat in the classrooms).

Yup, I'd ban it too and not on the grounds that it contains nuts. Chocolate spread sandwiches is not a main course it's a dessert. It would be the same as sending cake or sweets.
I've nothing against chocolate spread as an occasional treat but there's simply no need for it as a lunchbox sandwich choice.

I don't agree that most schools are nut free, I don't know of any locals ones to me that have any kind of lunchbox polices (do I live in a really unhealthy area?) and tbh I'm not sure that a nut free policy is the way to go.

As someone above said it gives a false sense of security, if I had a child with an allergy I wouldn't want to rely on other parents being vigilent with lunch choices.

biscuitsneeded why not put the yoghurt in the lunchbox frozen? that way it keeps the whole lunchbox cooled until lunch and will be thawed enough to eat.

I absolutely detest lunchbox policies with a passion. I am a bit of a rebel, and hate being told what to do when I see absolutely no point in it whatsoever.

DS has a very healthy diet. He is very active, has a normal BMI and is not a fussy eater. He loves fruit and eats whatever veg he is given (apart from courgettes - but who can blame him).

He has school lunches on most days, but a packed lunch on one day a week. It always contains plenty of healthy stuff, but if I want to give him jaffa cakes as a treat, why shouldn't I?

If a parent is consistently sending a child to school with nothing but inappropriate foodstuffs (ie nothing but a tube of pringles as I saw mentioned on another thread), then surely this is a matter for social services as it amounts to neglect?

Our school is not nut free..and if they banned crisps and chocolate biscuits as well some of our kids would actually starve, I think! We do have a high amount free school meals, but lots prefer to bring packed lunches...but the parents of many can't afford 'quality' snack bars etc.

I wouldn't knowingly put nuts in a lunch box, but I wouldn't stop DDs having a nutty cereal or peanut butter for breakfast, and often have nuts in the kitchen or cupboards in some form or other, which might be enough to put a child with a severe allergy at risk...

Why on earth would anyone send their child to school with Nutella sarnies in any case? What's wrong with soggy cheese and cucumber? Surely Nutella is best eaten out of a jar with a spoon?

Our school has 2 severe nut allergy sufferers.... the parent has said that they do not care about nut free policies as they teach their kids not to have anything other than what they are given... they have taught their child to be vigilant as they will encounter nuts in the big wide world at large - so we have no nut free policy......

The youngest has had one reaction at school - but they did not eat anything - it was first thing in the morning - they reckon it was residue from someone having nuts prior to school - you cannot tell people what to eat for breakfast!

Hi,

I do not agree with it. Banned foods from lunchbox? Are they buying to foods for my child? If not let me choose what my son has for lunch even if they do not agree with my choice. He is my son and if I and he want he can eat chocolate, sweets, nuts etc... I am responsible for my son health and it is ok to say me what should I include in his lunchbox, but it is my right to decide at the end what I will pack for him. If it was my son school I would go and speak to the teacher or someone who is in charge of lunch. If they give free foods for my son, it is a different situation. But until I buy the foods on my money (that I earn with hard work), It is down to me and not to them what my son eats.

I understand that some children has nuts allergy, but also there are some children who have milk allergy and lots of other food allergies. The school needs to be aware of children's allergy and monitor the children who have some allergy and not those children who do not have any allergy. Once I just saw couple of papers in my son classroom and there were different allergies on the paper for different child. Couple of children have around 5-6 different type of food allergies in my son class, but we did not get a list what we cannot put in the lunchbox.