FA school restrictions question

[Mamabear4]

We just received a school letter with information regarding the restrictions for the year related to food allergies that are present in our school. I was hoping to get your advice to ensure that I'm interpreting this appropriately. My interpretation is that if you are providing a snack to be eaten in the classroom (either by just your child or for the whole class), it may not contain tree nuts, peanuts OR be produced in a peanut facility. HOWEVER, these items MAY be provided in your child's lunch, but they will have to eat at a "nuts allowed" (edited for clarification) table in the lunch room (and will have to be thoroughly cleaned after eating). Am I interpreting this right, or are all nuts and nut facility items banned throughout the school? I've copy and pasted the relevant portions of the letter below:


This year the classrooms will be nut free. We will have a “nut free” table in the lunchroom. Only children who do not have nut products in their lunch may sit at this table.
The safety of all of our children is paramount to all of us at XXX school.
We Need Your Support
Please help us by voluntarily adhering to the following food allergy safety guidelines:
 Do not send any food items to be eaten as snacks in our classrooms with ingredient labels indicating they contain peanuts, peanut butter or nuts of any kind.
 Do not send any food items to our classrooms with ingredient labels indicating they were manufactured in a factory that processes nuts.
 We will require that any child who eats peanut butter or nut products for lunch use a provided wipe to clean their hands after eating.
 If your child ate foods with any nuts or peanut butter for breakfast, we would greatly appreciate you making sure that his/her hands are washed with both soap and water before leaving for school. Water alone does not do the trick!
 We will not be doing any classroom projects that involve peanut butter or nuts. Please do not send any of these projects into the classrooms with your child.

[KrisM]

Kids with nuts in their lunch can not eat at the nut-safe table. Other than that, I agree with you.

[Mamabear4]

Thanks - I probably wasn't clear with my wording - I meant that I thought it implied that there was a nut free table for those with allergies and a nuts allowed table for those who brought nut products. I called that 'nut safe' b/c nuts would be allowed but in hindsight that was a poor choice of words - I'll edit original to be clear

[Mamabear4]

So we had our open house tonight and I clarified with one of the administrators...apparently, ALL students in the lower grades (not middle school) are 100% nut free. No actual peanuts/tree nuts, no traces of peanuts/tree nuts and nothing processed in a nut facility.

Oh my - what am I going to pack for lunches??!! I would love to get ideas from those of you with more experience with food allergies. After a couple brief internet searches, I learned that apparently there are not even many brands of bread that are made in nut-free facilities.

Any assistance appreciated!

[SnuggleBuggles]

My Trader Joe's bread is nut safe.
Ds2 and dh prefer Sunbutter instead of peanut butter.

Think outside of sandwich options too. Pinterest can help. Cinnamon raisin bread or bagels with cream cheese are a hit here, for example.

[Mamabear4]

Unfortunately, no Trader Joe's near me, but I will head to the grocery store this weekend (hopefully DH can stay home with kids) so I can scour the labels. I'm 100% fine with no peanut butter and nuts, but the "no nut facility" thing has me really concerned. I have no idea how prevalent that is and know that it's going to take a bunch of research to ensure that I don't mess up and just buy my normal brands of items.

All FA moms have my utmost respect right now!!

[SnuggleBuggles]

There may be charts out there with allergy safe brands. However, you need to read labels 100% of the time b/c one day things can be safe, the next they aren't. It's impossible to keep up. Is buying at school an option? It sure is convenient!

[nfceagles]

My DS is allergic to milk, eggs, and peanuts and I have no problem finding bread. Some have milk and a very few eggs, but I've rarely, if ever, seen a nut warning. Hopefully, your child will like Sunbutter and it's an easy replacement for you. If not, try Wow Butter. My personal fave is Don't Go Nuts Chocolate Soy Butter. YUM! I have to order it from Amazon though. Granola bars will be tough. Cereal bars are usually safe though. What specific things would you send that you can't now. I may be able to offer alternatives. Thanks for making the effort. Personally, I think it's excessive to prevent OTHER kids from eating things that MIGHT contain TRACE amounts of nuts. And that's coming from a mother who does not allow her child to eat foods with such warnings. Many nut allergic children are allowed to eat those things.

[calebsmama03]

I was just coming here to look for info on this topic. We got a letter that all 100 kids in DDs 4th grade aren't allowed to bring into the classrooms any foods containing peanuts, tree nuts, made in a nut facility, and also no dairy or eggs! Lunches are eaten in the cafeteria but are brought into the classrooms, and snacks are eaten in the classroom, so this means my child cannot bring to school cheese, yogurt, cheese crackers, pirate booty, pretty much any granola bar and a host of other things. Luckily we don't eat near as many processed foods as most families but this still cuts out about 70% of what she would normally bring in her lunch. And the teacher supposedly told the kids to try not to eat those things for breakfast in case they get some on their clothes and bring it into class. I'm really sorry but wtf?!? Makes no sense because the cafeteria certainly serves those things and other kids in other grades will have them and eat in the same cafeteria. I understand nut free tables and such but banning huge categories of food from 100+ kids because of 1 or 2 allergies? Hopefully there won't be a kid with a citrus allergy coming into our school because then the only allowed foods will be apples, bananas and water! I'm starting to think someone needs to manufacture an hermitic ally-sealed glass bubble we can all buy and send out kids to school inside! I have food sensitivity issues myself so I understand cross contamination but seriously, if a child is so allergic that they can't even be in a room with the allergen food - or someone who has recently eaten the allergen OUTSIDE OF SCHOOL then perhaps they are too medically fragile to be accommodated in a traditional class setting? If these kids are genuinely this sensitive then how do they go anywhere? Kids have snacks at the playground, while shopping, at the swimming pool, etc. Do you just have your kid at home, transfer them to school whilst avoiding breathing near any lunchbox carrying kid on the sidewalk, then back home? The world is not going to automatically modify itself to insulate your kid from every single allergen. Sorry but I am really ticked right now and feel like this is all going way too far. I'm wincing at the thought of paying the $6 a jar for sun butter. What about the single mom on a strict budget who feeds her kids cheese sandwiches and PBJ out of financial necessity?

[TwinFoxes]

So we had our open house tonight and I clarified with one of the administrators...apparently, ALL students in the lower grades (not middle school) are 100% nut free. No actual peanuts/tree nuts, no traces of peanuts/tree nuts and nothing processed in a nut facility.



I'd be the mom saying "are you sure?" Because that letter does not say anything like that. Why mention a nut free/nuts allowed table? They could have just written "lower grades are entirely nut and tree nut free, and we do not allow food from facilities processed with nuts".

[schums]

Some of the classrooms DD was in had the same type of food restrictions as your DD's 4th grade. According to the teachers, the food in lunches was not subject to the "rules" as long as it stayed in the lunch box and in the backpack/coat room. Snacks were subject to the allergy rules, and the teachers strongly encouraged fruits and/or veggies. Actually, I don't think they could bring in anything other than fruits/veggies one year. There were 2 highly allergic kids in the class (tree nuts and peanuts), plus the teacher had some food allergies of her own that year. However, the kids were never told to not eat certain foods at home. The teacher was big on hand washing whenever the kids came into the room - in the morning, before snack, after lunch (and obviously after using the bathroom).

I'd definitely ask for clarification on this issue from the teacher and/or the administration.

[Green_Tea]

I was just coming here to look for info on this topic. We got a letter that all 100 kids in DDs 4th grade aren't allowed to bring into the classrooms any foods containing peanuts, tree nuts, made in a nut facility, and also no dairy or eggs! Lunches are eaten in the cafeteria but are brought into the classrooms, and snacks are eaten in the classroom, so this means my child cannot bring to school cheese, yogurt, cheese crackers, pirate booty, pretty much any granola bar and a host of other things. Luckily we don't eat near as many processed foods as most families but this still cuts out about 70% of what she would normally bring in her lunch. And the teacher supposedly told the kids to try not to eat those things for breakfast in case they get some on their clothes and bring it into class. I'm really sorry but wtf?!? Makes no sense because the cafeteria certainly serves those things and other kids in other grades will have them and eat in the same cafeteria. I understand nut free tables and such but banning huge categories of food from 100+ kids because of 1 or 2 allergies? Hopefully there won't be a kid with a citrus allergy coming into our school because then the only allowed foods will be apples, bananas and water! I'm starting to think someone needs to manufacture an hermitic ally-sealed glass bubble we can all buy and send out kids to school inside! I have food sensitivity issues myself so I understand cross contamination but seriously, if a child is so allergic that they can't even be in a room with the allergen food - or someone who has recently eaten the allergen OUTSIDE OF SCHOOL then perhaps they are too medically fragile to be accommodated in a traditional class setting? If these kids are genuinely this sensitive then how do they go anywhere? Kids have snacks at the playground, while shopping, at the swimming pool, etc. Do you just have your kid at home, transfer them to school whilst avoiding breathing near any lunchbox carrying kid on the sidewalk, then back home? The world is not going to automatically modify itself to insulate your kid from every single allergen. Sorry but I am really ticked right now and feel like this is all going way too far. I'm wincing at the thought of paying the $6 a jar for sun butter. What about the single mom on a strict budget who feeds her kids cheese sandwiches and PBJ out of financial necessity?

I think you need to call the school to clarify. If the cafeteria serves those things, then I don't see how they can restrict lunches brought from home. Perhaps they have designated a separate storage area for lunches, and it's just snacks that have that guideline? My students put their lunch boxes in a big bin that sits outside my classroom door. Only snacks come into the classroom.

[calebsmama03]

The letter says "includes backpacks". I think part of the problem is that all of 4th grade is in portables so there is no hallway outside class to leave Lunches. Last year lunches went into a basket in the hall. Also, portables = no running water to wash hands. Each room has a door key that serves as the bathroom/hall pass for when they have to go during the day. It really just seems to be going too far. There is no way to prevent these kids from ever coming into contact with a nut or egg or dairy molecule if they ever leave their house. It's overreaching. What's next- telling people they can only use certain, u scented laundry and personal hygiene products due to an allergy? What about severely dog allergic kids- do we all need to vacuum our kids as they walk out the door to prevent a stray dog hair entering the class?

[123LuckyMom]

The letter says "includes backpacks". I think part of the problem is that all of 4th grade is in portables so there is no hallway outside class to leave Lunches. Last year lunches went into a basket in the hall. Also, portables = no running water to wash hands. Each room has a door key that serves as the bathroom/hall pass for when they have to go during the day. It really just seems to be going too far. There is no way to prevent these kids from ever coming into contact with a nut or egg or dairy molecule if they ever leave their house. It's overreaching. What's next- telling people they can only use certain, u scented laundry and personal hygiene products due to an allergy? What about severely dog allergic kids- do we all need to vacuum our kids as they walk out the door to prevent a stray dog hair entering the class?

I agree that it's irritating, but if your kid carries in the peanut butter, and his allergic friend DIES as a result, I think you would wish you had tried a little harder. In my old boarding school there was a girl who did die from her peanut allergy. The parents were very understanding and did not sue. They knew she was in danger every single day. Imagine what it would feel like to be the parent of a child who really could have a severe reaction and lose his or her life. That's what I do when I get irritated by these rules. It puts my annoyance into perspective when compared with their terror! These allergies are becoming more and more common, and we don't know why. It's really not about children being medically delicate. It's about the grownups having altered nature to such an extent that our kids are developing these problems. It is our responsibility as a society to protect these children, who certainly did not ask to have a life-threatening allergy, and to find a cure for this pervasive problem. I'm struggling, too, with how to do snacks and lunches, because we get a lot of protein from nuts in our house. I've gotten a lot of help from my friends with allergic kids. They know all the good stores, brands, ideas. On this board there's a lot of good help. If you don't want to shell out the dough for sun butter, there are other sandwiches and lunch ideas besides PB&J.

[calebsmama03]

I agree that it's irritating, but if your kid carries in the peanut butter, and his allergic friend DIES as a result, I think you would wish you had tried a little harder. In my old boarding school there was a girl who did die from her peanut allergy. The parents were very understanding and did not sue. They knew she was in danger every single day. Imagine what it would feel like to be the parent of a child who really could have a severe reaction and lose his or her life. That's what I do when I get irritated by these rules. It puts my annoyance into perspective when compared with their terror! These allergies are becoming more and more common, and we don't know why. It's really not about children being medically delicate. It's about the grownups having altered nature to such an extent that our kids are developing these problems. It is our responsibility as a society to protect these children, who certainly did not ask to have a life-threatening allergy, and to find a cure for this pervasive problem. I'm struggling, too, with how to do snacks and lunches, because we get a lot of protein from nuts in our house. I've gotten a lot of help from my friends with allergic kids. They know all the good stores, brands, ideas. On this board there's a lot of good help. If you don't want to shell out the dough for sun butter, there are other sandwiches and lunch ideas besides PB&J.
Actually you are kind of making my point for me. There is no way to keep kids THAT fragile completely safe. By putting the onus on everyone else it is creating a false sense of security for them and their families. I will try but even the most vigilant allergy parent has the occasional mix up so for me, as a parent without these specific allergies to be concerned about in my home, it increases the chances there will be a mix up resulting in an injury. I don't want that on me- I have enough on my plate to deal with my OWN family and keeping their issues straight without the stress and worry of my innocent mistake of missing something on a label causing an injury! Just because you ban everything with any trace of nuts, dairy, eggs or whatever from coming to school doesn't mean there isn't going to be some stray smear of it somewhere. My 3 year old hugs his sister every day when we drop her off, usually after having had a glass of milk, or scrambled eggs, or PB with his breakfast shortly before leaving. If I miss a stray bit of something when I wipe his hands and face, then he hugs his sister and inadvertently transfers it to her face or clothes or backpack, then she touches some piece of shared equipment in the classroom the risk of exposure is there. I'm purposely being a little facetious and over-dramatic in my example but if these kids are truly that sensitive I still question whether a public school classroom can ever be safe and appropriate? I agree it's unfortunate and they didn't ask for it, but you simply can't rely on everyone else to be vigilant enough to keep them safe *IF* they are truly *THAT* fragile.

I'm not trying to be a b*^ch about peanut butter. As annoying as the nut thing is when it's a main staple, that is not my main issue here and I could fairly easily work around it. When you ban ALL traces of peanuts AND tree nuts AND dairy AND eggs you've just eliminated most of the major sources of protein for a kiddo. My daughter doesn't eat much meat, definitely not without cheese or mayo or something to accompany. She is super skinny and genuinely needs decent calories offered in things she will *actually* eat. How do to get fat and protein into a kid when you have banned 3 of the 4 major sources of them? Sure, I can pack her lunch full of empty calories and short-lived fuel via carbs but even the healthy ones don't last long in a belly without protein or fat. I'm sure there are other kids like my DD who will be in a similar situation. True it is not the daily horror of a life-threatening allergy but these kids' well being is also at risk.

[citymama]

I think it's legitimate and understandable to say no nuts in the classroom and have a nut-free table in the lunch room. So far, so good. But disallowing "made Ina facility that might contain" seems excessive, and I say this as the parent of a nut-allergic child. That makes things so much harder for all parents.

I find that most parents respect "nut-free" requests, but every now and then DD1 comes home with an Almond Joy or Reeses or some other candy that a kid in her class gave in a bday goody bag in the classroom.

[petesgirl]

My DS is allergic to milk, eggs, and peanuts and I have no problem finding bread. Some have milk and a very few eggs, but I've rarely, if ever, seen a nut warning. Hopefully, your child will like Sunbutter and it's an easy replacement for you. If not, try Wow Butter. My personal fave is Don't Go Nuts Chocolate Soy Butter. YUM! I have to order it from Amazon though. Granola bars will be tough. Cereal bars are usually safe though. What specific things would you send that you can't now. I may be able to offer alternatives. Thanks for making the effort. Personally, I think it's excessive to prevent OTHER kids from eating things that MIGHT contain TRACE amounts of nuts. And that's coming from a mother who does not allow her child to eat foods with such warnings. Many nut allergic children are allowed to eat those things.

Where have you found safe sunbutter? All the stores near me carry the 'processed in a facility' warning.

[nfceagles]

Sunbutter brand does not have a warning. I've seen it in Target and my local Stop & Shop, but I usually order mine from Amazon.

[ett]

I think it's legitimate and understandable to say no nuts in the classroom and have a nut-free table in the lunch room. So far, so good. But disallowing "made Ina facility that might contain" seems excessive, and I say this as the parent of a nut-allergic child. That makes things so much harder for all parents.



:yeahthat: And I have a nut-allergic child who does actually eat things that are made in a nut facility. I honestly don't know how many parents would fully follow that rule. That would require reading the ingredient list of every single item you send to school with your child. Reading labels of everything I buy is second nature for me but it could be difficult for parents that don't do this normally.

[DualvansMommy]

Actually you are kind of making my point for me. There is no way to keep kids THAT fragile completely safe. By putting the onus on everyone else it is creating a false sense of security for them and their families. I will try but even the most vigilant allergy parent has the occasional mix up so for me, as a parent without these specific allergies to be concerned about in my home, it increases the chances there will be a mix up resulting in an injury. I don't want that on me- I have enough on my plate to deal with my OWN family and keeping their issues straight without the stress and worry of my innocent mistake of missing something on a label causing an injury! Just because you ban everything with any trace of nuts, dairy, eggs or whatever from coming to school doesn't mean there isn't going to be some stray smear of it somewhere. My 3 year old hugs his sister every day when we drop her off, usually after having had a glass of milk, or scrambled eggs, or PB with his breakfast shortly before leaving. If I miss a stray bit of something when I wipe his hands and face, then he hugs his sister and inadvertently transfers it to her face or clothes or backpack, then she touches some piece of shared equipment in the classroom the risk of exposure is there. I'm purposely being a little facetious and over-dramatic in my example but if these kids are truly that sensitive I still question whether a public school classroom can ever be safe and appropriate? I agree it's unfortunate and they didn't ask for it, but you simply can't rely on everyone else to be vigilant enough to keep them safe *IF* they are truly *THAT* fragile.

I'm not trying to be a b*^ch about peanut butter. As annoying as the nut thing is when it's a main staple, that is not my main issue here and I could fairly easily work around it. When you ban ALL traces of peanuts AND tree nuts AND dairy AND eggs you've just eliminated most of the major sources of protein for a kiddo. My daughter doesn't eat much meat, definitely not without cheese or mayo or something to accompany. She is super skinny and genuinely needs decent calories offered in things she will *actually* eat. How do to get fat and protein into a kid when you have banned 3 of the 4 major sources of them? Sure, I can pack her lunch full of empty calories and short-lived fuel via carbs but even the healthy ones don't last long in a belly without protein or fat. I'm sure there are other kids like my DD who will be in a similar situation. True it is not the daily horror of a life-threatening allergy but these kids' well being is also at risk.

I'm with op. There was a case in Ireland recently on a nut allergy girl who died after eating a Chinese dish in a restaurant. Even though the girl was highly allergic to nuts, the parents nor the girl didn't design to carry epi on them. The mom said something to the effect that we told our waiter upon ordering, that our daughter is allergic. However there's always the chance of cross contamination which is what happened in this case. It seemed to me the parents and girl had put the onus onto restaurants, schools and such to be on the lookout.

Taking away 3 major sources of protein is really tough! And until recently I didn't realize just how few facilities that process/ make food in a completely nut free environment. That rule would make it very very hard for me to procure snacks, healthy food and the like for my boys! I don't mind nut free/free etc classrooms, nut free table in cafeterias, but nut free facility. Not so sure how I'd feel about that and FA moms do have my utmost respect and sympathies!! Talk about a struggle.

[Kindra178]

I was just coming here to look for info on this topic. We got a letter that all 100 kids in DDs 4th grade aren't allowed to bring into the classrooms any foods containing peanuts, tree nuts, made in a nut facility, and also no dairy or eggs! Lunches are eaten in the cafeteria but are brought into the classrooms, and snacks are eaten in the classroom, so this means my child cannot bring to school cheese, yogurt, cheese crackers, pirate booty, pretty much any granola bar and a host of other things. Luckily we don't eat near as many processed foods as most families but this still cuts out about 70% of what she would normally bring in her lunch. And the teacher supposedly told the kids to try not to eat those things for breakfast in case they get some on their clothes and bring it into class. I'm really sorry but wtf?!? Makes no sense because the cafeteria certainly serves those things and other kids in other grades will have them and eat in the same cafeteria. I understand nut free tables and such but banning huge categories of food from 100+ kids because of 1 or 2 allergies? Hopefully there won't be a kid with a citrus allergy coming into our school because then the only allowed foods will be apples, bananas and water! I'm starting to think someone needs to manufacture an hermitic ally-sealed glass bubble we can all buy and send out kids to school inside! I have food sensitivity issues myself so I understand cross contamination but seriously, if a child is so allergic that they can't even be in a room with the allergen food - or someone who has recently eaten the allergen OUTSIDE OF SCHOOL then perhaps they are too medically fragile to be accommodated in a traditional class setting? If these kids are genuinely this sensitive then how do they go anywhere? Kids have snacks at the playground, while shopping, at the swimming pool, etc. Do you just have your kid at home, transfer them to school whilst avoiding breathing near any lunchbox carrying kid on the sidewalk, then back home? The world is not going to automatically modify itself to insulate your kid from every single allergen. Sorry but I am really ticked right now and feel like this is all going way too far. I'm wincing at the thought of paying the $6 a jar for sun butter. What about the single mom on a strict budget who feeds her kids cheese sandwiches and PBJ out of financial necessity?

While I appreciate you are upset and it will be frustrating for you to deal with this 180 days of the school year, this may be a good time to exercise compasssion and teach it to your children too. Think of the families that have to deal with this 365 days of the year. I also appreciate your outsized concern for the single mom on a budget who feeds her kids cheese sandwiches or pb&j.

Alll that said, I do agree that the policy is somewhat draconian and frankly bizarre. It doesn't comport with research or recommendations by major allergy associations. May I suggest you discuss the specifics of this policy with the administration? With the way the US supports the dairy industry and pushes milk at school, I am surprised this specific policy is even allowed.

[HannaAddict]

While I appreciate you are upset and it will be frustrating for you to deal with this 180 days of the school year, this may be a good time to exercise compasssion and teach it to your children too. Think of the families that have to deal with this 365 days of the year. I also appreciate your outsized concern for the single mom on a budget who feeds her kids cheese sandwiches or pb&j.

Alll that said, I do agree that the policy is somewhat draconian and frankly bizarre. It doesn't comport with research or recommendations by major allergy associations. May I suggest you discuss the specifics of this policy with the administration? With the way the US supports the dairy industry and pushes milk at school, I am surprised this specific policy is even allowed.

Our pediatrician says the nut hysteria (ETA not saying people here are hysterical but the reaction of some institutions) is worse than the allergies warrant. Peanut allergies and others can be fatal but her opinion (and she is a highly respected ped who runs the residency program) is that parents and not science has escalated the debate to an untenable position. Parents should not be forced to read every label for every day products to give their non-allergic children. The allergy deaths are not because a kid in a school had a product made in a facility that may or may not have used nuts. I personally have no problem with a nut ban but would be upset at a knee jerk policy when lesser measures could protect allergic students.

This is really a US phenomenon too. We have a student at school who has serious allergies to nuts and yet there was no ban in his class at his parents request. He is from Columbia and they have a totally different attitude. I've been the keeper of his epi-pens on field trips and the school washes hands and is aware. But the entire parental attitude is cautious but not completely restrictive. We were just in England with my SIL and her kids and talking about this and their schools do not have the level of hysteria over allergies while still having allergic kids and precautions in place. It is very scary and I understand the fear, but think sometimes the bans (having to be made in a Nut free facility) go too far and don't really provide any statistically greater protection but maybe even a false sense of security.

[BunnyBee]

They can eat the allergens in the cafeteria but not at home for breakfast? That doesn't even make sense. You couldn't bring in anything homemade because your kitchen processes all those items! Why don't they have a bin outside the classroom that gets picked up and taken to the cafeteria (which apparently has magical powers)?

[Kindra178]

Our pediatrician says the nut hysteria (ETA not saying people here are hysterical but the reaction of some institutions) is worse than the allergies warrant. Peanut allergies and others can be fatal but her opinion (and she is a highly respected ped who runs the residency program) is that parents and not science has escalated the debate to an untenable position. Parents should not be forced to read every label for every day products to give their non-allergic children. The allergy deaths are not because a kid in a school had a product made in a facility that may or may not have used nuts. I personally have no problem with a nut ban but would be upset at a knee jerk policy when lesser measures could protect allergic students.

This is really a US phenomenon too. We have a student at school who has serious allergies to nuts and yet there was no ban in his class at his parents request. He is from Columbia and they have a totally different attitude. I've been the keeper of his epi-pens on field trips and the school washes hands and is aware. But the entire parental attitude is cautious but not completely restrictive. We were just in England with my SIL and her kids and talking about this and their schools do not have the level of hysteria over allergies while still having allergic kids and precautions in place. It is very scary and I understand the fear, but think sometimes the bans (having to be made in a Nut free facility) go too far and don't really provide any statistically greater protection but maybe even a false sense of security.

I don't disagree with you. My own Group 5 tree nut and peanut allergic kid eats food with facility warnings daily. Schools who write these type of draconian policies do nothing but piss parents off and then the parents don't do anything.

[MSWR0319]

I may have missed this, but are you sure they aren't allowed to pack those things in their lunches? That would just seem strange if the whole cafeteria isn't "free" of those things. Perhaps if they aren't allowing it because they don't want it in the classroom, they could have a spot to store lunch boxes outside of the classroom. DS's lunch box is kept in a spot separate of the rest. If there's PB in them, they are still allowed in the room because the lunch boxes are closed, even though it's a nut free room.

We don't allow DS to eat anything with a may contain warning due to the allergist's requests and the studies showing that a fair amount of foods labeled that way contain enough protein to cause a reaction in some kids. That being said, we don't restrict "may contain" or such items from his class room. His room is nut free, but they are allowed to bring in things with a warning label for snack. I am totally fine with that and DS is extremely contact reactive. I even discussed it with our allergist and he said there's no reason not to allow it, as long as DS doesn't eat it.

The thing is DS does need some accommodations such as hand washing, nut free rooms, a special table to keep him safe. I've already had people complain about hand washing when they didn't know I was "the allergy kid's mom" and some lady went off about peanut butter this morning even though they were told they could have it in the cafeteria. I'm to going to homeschool him just because he has a peanut allergy. I think schools try to be extra safe because they don't want to deal with a reaction or the aftermath that may follow. So they may go a little overboard to try to "protect" themselves by not having a reaction with all the precautions in place. Not saying that's right, just saying that may be the case.

As far as us allergy parents taking our kids in public, yes we go to public places where there are chances of exposure, but we know to be on guard 100% of the time. I am constantly watching Ds to make sure he's not reacting from some playground equipment or checking the picnic table for splotches of PB. It's hard for schools to watch a kid like that 100% of the time when there are 99 other kids they have to watch. So perhaps it's easier just to eliminate all "possible" causes of reactions. In your case, I do think some of the restrictions are a bit too much as far as may contains, etc.

To the OP: Not sure where you are, but Aunt Millie's Breads are nut free and in a nut free facility.

[Momit]

It does seem over the top to ban eggs, dairy and "May contain traces..." foods for all kids.

Our school's policy memo is titled "Life Threatening Allergies" and it asks that parents do 2 things: tell their kids to never share food and not send snacks with obvious nuts or peanuts. Lunches with nuts are fine because there is a nit free table in the cafeteria (but kindy students eat in their classrooms so we can't do nuts in lunches this year). This seems to be a good balance between keeping food allergy kids safe and not making it too difficult to figure out what to send for lunch.

[calebsmama03]

It does seem over the top to ban eggs, dairy and "May contain traces..." foods for all kids.

Our school's policy memo is titled "Life Threatening Allergies" and it asks that parents do 2 things: tell their kids to never share food and not send snacks with obvious nuts or peanuts. Lunches with nuts are fine because there is a nit free table in the cafeteria (but kindy students eat in their classrooms so we can't do nuts in lunches this year). This seems to be a good balance between keeping food allergy kids safe and not making it too difficult to figure out what to send for lunch.

This is entirely reasonable. As is requesting no nuts for in class snacks, IMO. But banning 3 major protein sources from all kids in a grade level is not. As of right now, yes, it is banned from lunchboxes because contamination might occur onto binders and other supplies if these thing were made at home and a stray smidge got onto the outside of the lunchbox or if a yogurt or milk leaked. :/ Teacher was going to talk to some one and see whether there was any leeway in this because as of now it's pretty ridiculous. We've tried sunbutter and DD thought it was disgusting. Not sure what wow butter is but if it's soy that's going to be a no for me. DDs lunch today is plain pasta with olive oil, grapes and pretzels. Nothing like carb loading your 9 year old for school success!!!!