Food Allergies and Public Schools ??

[momofjandl]

I thought I would post what it says on the site here...

How Major Food Allergens Are Listed
The law requires that food labels identify the food source of all major food allergens. Unless the food source of a major food allergen is part of the ingredient's common or usual name (or is already identified in the ingredient list), it must be included in one of two ways.

The name of the food source of a major food allergen must appear:

In parentheses following the name of the ingredient.
Examples: "lecithin (soy)," "flour (wheat)," and "whey (milk)"
– OR –

Immediately after or next to the list of ingredients in a "contains" statement.
Example: "Contains Wheat, Milk, and Soy."


Regardless of whether it is listed in ( ) or a contains statement, I want people to be aware that it is still easy to glance at the ingredients list to see if something is safe. I would still encourage others to read more thoroughly, however it is a start.

[momofjandl]

I'll be short here. It's prek 9-11:30. Lunch is not served.

My son has reactions from ingesting and from touch. Plus there is no guarantee that in a public school setting a substitute teacher might not forget and give my child an unsafe cupcake.

So the point, as I've stated before, is that the school provides snacks. The only food parents would bring in would be for bdays and holiday.

Again, as other people have also posted..reactions can be from ingesting, touching, and even smelling.

Sorry if I'm being short. I'm tiring of explaining myself over and over again.

[ilovetivo]

I'll respond to each point to help those that may still be confused. Many many people have issues with understanding FALCPA so i'm not patronizing

>As far as only having to list the ingredients, are you sure
>you are correct?

Yes :) you wrote the info below - there's 2 ways they can list it, within the ingredient list or in a "contains" statement.

>It is my understanding that may contain and contains are two
>different statements.

correct

>May contain is not required,

correct

>but contains is and must be seperate from the ingredeints list.

yes and no. what it contains only needs to be stated in 1 of 2 ways (as above)

>. So if a product definitely contains egg, peanuts, and the top 8 it must say Contains as
>well as be listed in the ingredient list.

One or the other, not both


>I want to thank you personally for all of your posts and
>wealth of information. You defifnitely have been more than
>helpful and supportive. Any chance you are in MA or nearby?? I
>could use an allergy buddy.

You're welcome!! If it wasn't for kidwithfoodallergies.org, i wouldn't be able to help on BBB at all about food allergies. I'm not in MA, I'm in Chicago. But come on over to kidswithfoodallergies.com too! I promise you'll be so glad you did.

>As a side note, the dir of the preschool is making an appt for us to see the principal to discuss where things are at. So we will see where that leads.

Good luck!


>On another side note, we had a playdate with a neighbor down
>the street...just met..who's son is also in the preschool. I
>mentioned my son being the one with the allergies. She got all
>flustered and changed the subject. She seemed very
>uncomfortable. I've also noticed a bit of a cold shoulder at
>pick up and drop off from other moms I had just met recently.
>So while I shouldn't care, I'm really upset about it. We live
>in a very, very small town. And I want to reach out to these
>parents to explain things but we all know how well my email
>went last time. So I feel like I can't even communicate with
>the parents which stinks. I'm also now worried as to how DS is
>going to be treated by other parents and the kids in turn.

I'm really sorry. Let yourself regroup for a while and maybe you can talk to them individually to explain where you were coming from. Email is hard. Tone and intent is hard to communicate the way one means it. Maybe the director & principal will be able to help.

[schums]

I understand that you're tired of rehashing some of this information over again. But some of this information you haven't provided before. You didn't say that your son has reactions from ingesting and touch. Saying "severe allergy" to someone without a FA child doesn't necessarily translate to "can't touch". To me, it means, anaphalaxtic shock if they eat the food product. Also, some pre-k programs are all day, so asking about lunch is a legitimate question.

Thanks for the additional info. It cleared up a few things I was wondering about.

Sarah
Mom to Alex (3/2002) and Catherine (8/2003)

[momofjandl]

My quoted phrase was not meant for all people, and I believe the people it was meant for probably know who they are. I'm not sure if you read all of the posts in this thread, but it was meant for the people who think that a child's life threatening allergy shouldn't dictate whether food is allowed in school for the entire class.

Honestly at this point I don't think it really matters whether it is lunch, snack, or not. If a child could die than accomodations need to be made. Again section 504 states that my child has a right to be in public school and should not be discriminated against.

For those of you not dealing with food allergies..I've put myself in your shoes...if we weren't dealing with it we would still be compassionate towards others. I ask you to really think about your child.

Think about her accidently touching a surface with peanut butter smeared on it, think of her rubbing her eyes or nose or mouth. Immediately her eyes start to itch, they get swollen and red. She starts coughing and sneezing, mucus comes up her throat. Now her face and throat are swollen. She can't breathe and is gasping for breath. She might even drop to the floor in convulsions. She didn't eat the peanut butter. She didn't know it was on the table. The epi pen may or may not work. She might die. This happens.

Put yourself in my shoes and understand where I am coming from.

No, I did not give all the details..I should have but didn't think I needed to. I believe my original question was what other peoples schools do. Again, I did not want this to be a debate on allergy vs. no allergy. I did ask if I over reacted to the mom saying she didn't think her kids should be deprived b/c of other allergies. I should have known better than to ask, b/c the people I said should educate themselves are the people who feel the exact same way.

I have no problem with people explaining why they might be perplexed and annoyed that I sent out an email. Not all of us communicate in the same way and some don't communicate at all. Hence the problems with allergies and school in the firsst place. I don't regret emailing, but can see how some would be annoyed.

However, I do have a problem with people annoyed that their child can't bring cupcakes with egg to school b/c of my child. I have a problem with people not thinking beyond themselves. I didn't choose this life for my son or our family. Yeah, it might put someone out. But it truly amazes me that being put out is valued over a child's life.

[ilovetivo]

> is there any research out there on why kids are having so many
>life threatening allergies these days?

That's the scary thing, researchers don't know why, but they're trying. ** Be apart of the solution ** For those that want to help figure out why FA's are becoming more prevalent and more dangerous and/or those that want to help find a cure, please go join in the Chicago Children's Memorial Food Allergy Study. They need FA and non-food allergic families.

http://www.childrensmrc.org/docs/Foo...ies_UPDATE.pdf

There are some theories/hypothesis as to why:
- Hygiene Theory - our society is much cleaner now and we have more antibiotics etc. So our bodies don't have all the same invaders to fight off anymore...so it fights another invader: food
- Genetics - you only need to have a family history of allergies...any allergy
- Genetically Modified Foods
- Additives to all foods - like pp's have said, soy is in everything. So is peanuts, nuts, milk etc. Exposure to these items happen much earlier in kids lives
- i think there's 1 more, i can't remember

>It's not like kids were dropping dead of food allergies in the
>seventies when I went to elementary school, so obviously
>something has changed.

I wish that was stated more PC, but to your point, my thought also is that there may have been a lot off allergies, but either people were dying before they got old enough to be in school with us etc, or they did grow up with us, but we didn't know why they died (or that it was FA related).


For anyone reading this thread that wants more info:

There's some great organizations and information sites on this links page:
http://www.kidswithfoodallergies.org/interlink.html (i hope it works for non-site members)

Here's some basic facts:
- One out of every 25 Americans has a food allergy.
- Approximately 12 million Americans suffer from food allergy.
- One in every 17 children under the age of 3 has food allergy.
- Approximately 2.2 million school-aged children have food allergy.
- Eight foods account for 90% of all reactions in the United States: milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts (walnuts, almonds, cashews, pistachios, pecans, etc.), wheat, soy, fish, and shellfish.
- Severe reactions result in over 30,000 emergency room visits each year.
- It’s estimated that 150-200 people die each year from severe food allergy reactions.
- Most individuals who have had a reaction ate a food they thought was safe.
- There is no cure for food allergy. Strict avoidance of the allergy-causing food is the only way to prevent a reaction.

Food Allergies for Dummies is an excellent book for anyone -
http://www.amazon.com/Food-Allergies...0775190&sr=8-1

as is Understanding and Managing Your Child's Food Allergies http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-...0775319&sr=8-2

The Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network also raises funds for FA research, does education, awareness and advocacy. (www.foodallergy.org) I just did a Walk for a Cure with my family and raised about $800 http://www.foodallergywalk.org/site/...043&px=1053381

Here's some insight to what it's like for me as a parent:
At 2 1/2 years old, Zoey is currently allergic to dairy, peanuts, tree nuts (almonds, cashews etc), fish and shellfish. We also avoid seeds. Thankfully, she has outgrown her egg allergy.

I'll never forget Zoey's first allergic reaction. At ten months old, I gave her dairy for the first time. After four hours of straight vomiting, she was too weak to hold her head up, open her eyes or even cry. I didn't know she was having an allergic reaction...only that I was alone, terrified and my heart ached for her suffering. Looking back, we were actually very lucky that day, because any food allergy reaction can end up in tragedy, regardless of previous minor or non reactions. Only through constant vigilance do we keep Zoey safe on a daily basis.

My greatest wish, other than a cure, is that people "Get It". That they don't think of us parents of food allergic children as being overprotective. We're just trying to keep our kids safe and happy...and alive. It's a 24 hour a day, 7 day a week job. Our vigilance keeps them safe. Everywhere we go, everything we do, every event, every time out of the house has to be planned and watched over with her food allergies in mind. Zoey can only eat the food we bring for her...it has to be free of allergens in the ingredients, as well as the productions lines it was produced on or the facility it was produced in. I call every manufacturer. Then I call back later to make sure they didn't change their practices.

Food allergies in this day and age, are NOT the food allergies of our past. Any food can cause potentially life threatening reactions. Food allergies aren't outgrown the way they used to be. Only 50% of kids outgrow dairy, and 15-20% peanut, for example. One bite, one crumb, an invisible trace in the food, or even grease on your hands or lips before hugging or kissing the food allergic person, can be deadly. It can take minutes from ingestion to death.

Until there's a cure, all we can do is get the word out and protect our kids as much as we can. All the while doing our best to make our kids feel safe, normal and important in the world, just like any other parent.

My dream is that someday we can experience a carefree life just like non-food allergic families: without watching out for everyone and everything in our vicinity, and eating what we want, when we want and where we want, and without making any phone calls.

[ilovetivo]

In the contact reaction scenario - it doesn't even need to be PB smeared on something. It can be a teany tiny oil residue smudge that you can't see with your eye. It can be a peanut particle speck that also can't be seen. The FA kid doesn't need to touch it. Anyone can touch it, then touch a toy. The FA Kid touches the toy, then his mouth/eyes/nose...and thus ingestion and reaction

Ruth, do you have a 504 plan? If not, I'd get one. I'm not very informed on 504's so I don't know for sure if they can be done in preschool or prek, but i think they can. Again, there's a LOT of help on the kidswithfoodallergies site. There's 9500+ parents on there and the message boards are very very active. They've saved my sanity and helped in soooo many ways.

[lisams]

DD's preschool has a "no nut" rule for snacks, pot lucks, bake sales, etc. It's not because of one child, it's a rule that is in place every year.

It doesn't deprive any child. Please. This mom needs to get over it.

[cdlamis]

My daughter's preschool last year was completely nut free- her class was part of a private K-8th school. Even though my own DD did not have an allergy, I thought the rule was wonderful and SO indicative of how caring and respectful the school was to every child! Julia is now in Kindergarten this year and I was actually disappointed that her public school is NOT peanut free. IMO, it just says so much about a school when they go against the popular decision and actually decide to be "extreme" and protect all their students.

Yes, having a nut free school does make it slightly hard to be able to provide lunch and snacks for your own child, but I just see it as part of growing up in the world we live in. For some reason, there are many more life threatening allergies and we as parents and as a community need to deal with it and rally around those dear parents and kids who live with it every day.

To the original poster: I can understand your pain and frustration. For a short time, we thought that DD#2 had a nut allergy. I spent to much time on all the "food allergies" boards. I witnessed what many parents go through and the inability (sorry, that's what it is) of others to "get it".

Daniella
Mom to Julia 6/02
and Bella 12/04
"http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_sapphire_24m.gif"

[elaineandmichaelsmommy]

DD's preschool is nut free, period. She can still have a butter sandwich made with either soybutter or sunflower seed butter. Because it is a private school the children are allowed to have homemade treats for birthdays but all the parents are excellent about observing the rules.
She's non the wiser about the sandwich and would rather have that than a bologna or turkey sandwich any day of the week. With the number or alternative products that are available today I'm really suprised somtimes that people are so ridgid and unwilling to give even a little bit for such an important thing as allergies.