School and banned foods

[AnneD]

Bumpontherun: I am planning on saying something. I think the egg and celery ban is an overreaction and it seems the school lunches are exempt.
I also agree with you about the food sharing issue. Kids are not allowed to share food at school, and in my opinion the parents of children with allergies also have the responsibility to teach their children to not take food from anyone as it may not be safe. My friend's son, who is severely allergic to several foods, has been drilled from an early age to not take food from anyone unless his parents have approved it. He is not yet 4 and he has never taken anything from anyone, not in the playground, not at a party or a picnic. His family happily eat all the stuff he is allergic to around him. There is no need for segregation, they are just careful and sensible.
I don't mind the crisps ban as I don't give crisps anyway, but I do object to them confiscating home-made cake (not that I'd give it often) when school lunches have dessert every day and it's often cake or biscuit.

 

[CaptainMummy]

I found out there is a boy in my daughters class with a nut allergy... yet nuts aren't banned which I find weird!

 

[noon_child]

seeing as there is a coeliac in her class, and a few lactose intollerant students, I do wonder what's up with not banning all wheat and dairy (which would of course be too much trouble for school dinners, so that would be why).

Coeliac disease and lactose intolerance aren't allergies. Trying to digest these foods causes illness. These children will not be having a life threatening reaction from touching wheat and dairy with their hands or mouths, or being touched by those who have themselves eaten these foods - which could be the case in a severe nut or egg allergy.

 

[Rags]

Ds's school has a nut ban - think that's pretty normal as it doesn't need to be eaten to cause a severe reaction (unlike dairy intolerance, celiac etc), apart from that no fizzy drinks, everything else is at the parent's discretion. Ds takes grapes for a play piece, cheese sandwich, crisps, small sweet (chocolate raisins, small bag haribo or such) and a bottle of grape juice - he only ever eats the sandwich at school and finishes the rest when he gets home.

 

[loeylo]

seeing as there is a coeliac in her class, and a few lactose intollerant students, I do wonder what's up with not banning all wheat and dairy (which would of course be too much trouble for school dinners, so that would be why).

Coeliac disease and lactose intolerance aren't allergies. Trying to digest these foods causes illness. These children will not be having a life threatening reaction from touching wheat and dairy with their hands or mouths, or being touched by those who have themselves eaten these foods - which could be the case in a severe nut or egg allergy.

Came here to say this. My dd has cmpa (cows milk protein allergy) which is I guess what you mean by lactose intolerance, which is incredibly rare in children. My dd can touch milk or milk products and can be around others eating it, she can even tolerate to digest very small amounts of dairy in her diet. My dd is of the more severe end of the spectrum and I've never heard of anyone having an anaphylactic reaction to milk, however celery and eggs CAN cause these types of reactions. As can nuts obviously.

I work in a high school and we have kids who have some strange allergies however we haven't banned anything, but the kids I teach are 11+ so it's different.

Whilst obviously it's best that children are aware what they can't eat, some might not have the capacity to understand the implications, for example if a child has autism or another condition.

In terms of the fatty/sugary snacks, it's done to protect children who don't have parents who ensure that they eat a balanced diet. Whilst I know most parents who spend time on internet parenting forums probably are aware of what a healthy diet entails, unfortunately many parents don't. Look at childhood obesity rates. Schools are tasked with improving the health and wellbeing of pupils and one way they do that is encouraging healthy eating habits.

 

[WackyMumof2]

Our school has bans on soft drink and candy, the kindy has a ban on candy, juice, soft drink, candy and yoghurt which doesn't worry me. Nuts only IF there is a student of concern. It can get frustrating but I would also expect the same respect of parents if it were my child. Nut allergies though rare can be serious and kids will be kids and they share and swap lunches. They don't understand. Segregation isn't fair because it can have a negative impact on young kids. I think as a parent all we can do is accept it and deal with it.

Nuts are banned in our school which I'm fine with. I have one child on school dinners and one on packed lunches (school dinners are free for first 3 years but once my daughter hit p4 I refused to pay for the food they serve!). I would never give my kids fizzy drinks anyway but I would be livid if they introduced a sweets/crisps ban - it's my choice as a parent what I feed my kids. On the days my younger daughter is getting a dessert at school I give my elder a bit of brownie or a jelly. They rarely get crips but very occasionally I will give Pom Bears or Quavers as a snack.

OP if our school was as restrictive (and inconsistent) as yours I would complain - especially when you are going to the trouble of making egg free sponge.

Whilst I totally agree with avoiding allergens in kids with anaphylaxsis I don't agree with the point above about kids sharing food. One of the girls in my 5 yr olds class has a severe nut allergy. She has been coming to parties with us for 2 years and always tells me about her allergy and asks about foods she's not sure of. My daughter also remembers about it. I think kids do need to be encouraged to take responsibility for this becuase they won't always be in a closed environemnt like a school.

It's the Kindy that has a ban on all that sort of thing. Cakes and cookies they don't have an issue with but it's soft drink, yoghurts (because 6 kids with yoghurt can make for a VERY messy clean up operation and they go watery in Summer), candies etc. The ban is there because the kids who don't get it tend to cause issues with the kids that do. Honestly, if you can avoid a dozen screaming 3 year olds, then by all means do by avoiding the high sugar foods! I wouldn't want to be working with screaming 3 year olds who feel like they have 'missed out'. But the Kindy are also quite flexible too and do shared lunches and parties where that stuff is allowed. But more often than not, unless one of these are scheduled, then it's focus is on lunches that are as healthy as possible and I like that.

 

[WackyMumof2]

Came here to say this. My dd has cmpa (cows milk protein allergy) which is I guess what you mean by lactose intolerance, which is incredibly rare in children. My dd can touch milk or milk products and can be around others eating it, she can even tolerate to digest very small amounts of dairy in her diet.

I find this too! My eldest is Lactose Intolerant but it plays up mainly when he's sick or stressed. At the moment, he can't do ordinary milk so he's on soy for the next 6 months but he is able to hold down Ultra Pasteurized long life milk which myself and his teacher find weird. DS3 on the other hand, has Cow's Milk Allergy and is on Goat formula as milk gives him a very sore tummy, rashes on occasion and excessive vomiting. Doctor is pretty sure it's not Lactose Intolerance (because an allergy is something you have for life or something. He did explain it but can't remember) though he CAN have small amounts of chocolate, cookies, cakes etc. Cow's Milk based products (as in milk, yoghurt, cheese etc) we tend to avoid more often than not but will on a very rare occasion, get a little bit as a treat but not enough to give him a sore tummy. He loves chocolate milk but we always make that a third milk, 2 thirds water when he does get it. It makes him stink and a little unsettled but doesn't cause him any pain as such when we water it down like that.