<p>Peanut-free tables work well at our school and everyone is fine with that. What’s the problem?</p>
<p>Agree that it is a scary, life threatening problem. Just not sure how the schools can guarantee safety of every student with a severe allergy. For instance I personally know people with severe allergies to tomatoes, strawberries, other nuts, and shellfish (okay, most schools don’t have shrimp being served).</p>
<p>When I was growing up and in elementary school, I didn’t know a single child who was fatally allergic to anything other than bee stings. I think, as both a current student and a young adult, that it isn’t fair to other students to ban a food from the hands of every child because of the needs of one. In the past, children with fatal peanut allergies have survived without this kind of special accomodation. I find it difficult to believe that the reactions are getting more fatal. Peanut butter is a great food for young kids- most kids like it, it needs no refridgeration, it’s not that messy, and it’s even something they can prepare themselves. It’s also a pretty good source of protein. You can’t possibly remove or even restrict any potential allergen.</p>
<p>Before people jump on me saying that obviously the peanut allergy is more important, let me point out that I am violently allergic to chocolate. I can smell it, but I can’t touch it or eat it. Think briefly in your head about how many things you see and touch every day contain chocolate. Yet when I was in school, kids had M&Ms, candy bars, cupcakes, ring dings, dunkaroos, you name it. chocolate was everywhere, including on my friends and the things they touched. Instead of restricting treats from other, “normal” kids, we asked for other things- that the kids in my class be neat when eating candy and chocolate, that they wash their hands after eating it, and that parents send vanilla treats to class with their kids for special occasions. This worked out really well. We made it a routine when I was in elementary school to wipe our desks down with cleaning solution at the end of each day, and I never handled anyone else’s lunchbox or things like that.</p>
<p>It’s up to the parent to educate the child when they’re old enough, and it’s up to the child to take the precautions. Usually no other child will maliciously try to foil the best laid plans to keep a kid safe. Usually one reaction is scary enough to ensure that the child not want to experience it again if at all possible.</p>
<p>I pretty much outgrew my chocolate allergy (never learned to like it, because I couldn’t eat it, and it still makes me ill) and can touch it and things like that now. But eventually these kids will have to move on into the real, adult world, and they’ll be responsible for minimizing their risk- and school is a great place to start learning how to do that. Kids before have done it, and there’s no reason kids now cannot do the same thing.</p>
<p>Schools can offer an accommodation so that a child with an allergy has access to an education in their local school. This does not mean that the school can dictate what others will and will not bring, nor can they check everyone’s lunch each day for ingredients and ensure safety for the child with the known allergy. To ask this is unreasonable, but there are reasonable alternatives, and they might include, but would not be limited to the following:</p>
<p>Peanut free section in the lunchroom
seperate Peanut free classroom for lunch
Peanut free lunch table
allergic child opts to go home during lunch hour
medication is always on hand in case of emergency</p>
<p>The accommodations that can be offered by the school, should be discussed with the parents and medical experts. If the parents ask for the unreasonable, then there is an impass.</p>
<p>UVMLauen, We cross posted, but we apparently are both on the same page with regard to this issue.</p>
<p>“Peanut free section in the lunchroom
seperate Peanut free classroom for lunch
Peanut free lunch table
allergic child opts to go home during lunch hour
medication is always on hand in case of emergency”</p>
<p>BINGO!! That’s it! A reasonable measure of caution. Thank you. Offering this reduces the incidence of exposure. It’s reasonable and hurts no one. The child feels safer knowing it’s not by accident that he will be alive by bed time again today.</p>
<p>Our Son’s new school says, "tough luck, it’s a shame, but it’s your problem. " Some children survive on peanut butter. We understand that, and realize there will be a high frequency of it at school. Because peanut butter IS messy it is reasonabble to ask that it not be eaten in the classroom or on school bus outings when emergency medical care is far away. </p>
<p>I’ve learned a lot from reading this thread. It’s been helpful to hear both sides.</p>
<p>Your welcome, and the “Reasonable measure of caution” is what I think should done if possible. I thought other good accommodation suggestions would be washing hands and wiping down tables after eating. I am sure that there are more. I am sure that there are children that absolutely cannot be around the product, but then sadly, they should not be in a school lunchroom b/c there is no way that a school can police what each child brings in from home. I guess accommodations need to be made to meet each child’s individual needs. </p>
<p>BTW, is your child’s school a public school? If they are, I would investigate further, b/c this may fall under the ADA laws (Americans with Disabilities Act). Public schools get federal money and they need to comply with these laws.</p>
<p>Then, in additon to the “peanut free zones and recomendations” we must also add the milk-free, wheat-free, egg-free, fish-free, etc. </p>
<p>And, don’t forget, duplications the milk and peanut free, the milk and soy free, the milk and wheat.</p>
<p>It’s not fair to single out one allergy as being worthy of restrictions and ignore the others. </p>
<p>If we don’t allow the serving of peanuts, then we must also disallow serving milk or cheese in the lunchroom.</p>
<p>Good points, UVMLauren.</p>
<p>Interesting to read this thread in conjunction with the “catered generation” thread. Considering that allergies could be on the rise because of increased use of antibacterials and parents want completely peanut-free schools for their kids (something that would never have flown even 10 years ago), I think we can see a bit of the “catered generation” thing going on here.</p>
<p>Ultimately, the kid has to figure out what they can and cannot eat. It is more difficult for 100 families to avoid any traces of allergens in the foods they pack for their kids than it is for the kids with allergies to learn to be careful. </p>
<p>While you can say that no one has to eat peanuts, I would like to point out that in some cases, the child’s diet may be restricted enough already without forbidding him peanuts as well. Some kids have other allergies (wheat, soy, eggs, milk); some are vegetarians for spiritual reasons; and some are just so plain picky that they won’t eat anything else. Not sure why those students should be denied a relatively healthy food from K-12 - a healthy food that their bodies need. Protein is good. As a poster mentioned above, if there is no refrigeration, why give your kid something that can go bad (esp. if you live in a hot, humid area or it’s the summer)? </p>
<p>Imagine a school that banned all of the basic allergens. No nuts, no soy, no milk, no wheat. What the heck are the kids supposed to do… eat the grass on the lawn during recess? Oh, wait, hay fever!</p>
<p>We would be quite pleased if the peanut butter just stayed in the lunch room. Of course everyone needs to eat. Reasonable? </p>
<p>Would you insist that elementary age students be allowed to eat it at their desk in the classroom before lunch? Is that necessary? </p>
<p>If any number of students are going to eat peanut butter sandwiches on the school bus on a field trip we would like to know so we can skip the outing. Reasonable?</p>
<p>Please don’t be nasty. We’ve yet to encounter a student with allergies to other foods requesting help. If they asked, you better believe we’d be first in line to support their safety, even if it was inconvenient. We’re endlessly grateful for all the kindness and consideration freinds, teachers and classmates have shown over the years.</p>
<p>I dont believe you can put peanut allergies in the same category as most other food allergies and I say this as someone whose child just had a true anaphylactic reaction to a food other than peanuts. That is because: 1)The large majority of all food allergy deaths are due to peanuts - fatal reactions to other types of foods are rare. 2) Peanut butter, unlike other foods is sticky and can be smeared on a table, a water fountain or transferred to a classroom or by the hands. While kids can have an anaphylactic response to other food products, it is rare for this to result from the mere touch or smell as can happen with peanuts- it generally has to be ingested and even then a fatal reaction is extremely rare. For these reasons, as well as the increasing prevalence of peanut allergies, I do think that peanuts are in a unique category and can’t be compared to other food allergies. </p>
<p>If knew there were a child with a serious issue of this kind in my kid’s school, or class I’d want to make the effort to cooperate if there were no pressing reason not to. I used to send an insulated lunchbag with a coldpack and frozen water bottle to day camp in the summer when my kids were small, so that’s always an option in warmer climates. </p>
<p>I do think that sensible precautions are necessary, including separate tables, no peanut products at school functions or parties, the washing of hands and lunch tables, as well as the training of all school personnel in the event of an emergency as others have mentioned. Of course, the main precaution is to teach the child to be an advocate for him or herself and teach them to avoid any food they are not sure about, but this does not at all preclude the hope that the rest of the community would be proactive in this matter, as well. The key here is to raise awareness in the community as well as to teach our kids to be considerate of others, a worthy thing in and of itself. </p>
<p>This has also become a big issue at the camps in the last few years, and has been a major topic at the annual meetings of camp directors and administrators. Most camps have responded by revamping their food menus as well as by sending letters home to parents requesting that peanut containing candies and snacks not be brought or sent.</p>
<p>I find this topic fascinating and yet worrisome, because I don’t remember hearing about peanut allergies when I was a kid (admittedly in the Dark Ages). My nephew in Australia was diagnosed with multiple allergies (inc. peanut)about a year ago so my parents are going crazy trying to get their house ready when the Down Under relatives visit.</p>
<p>I just asked my 6th grader who just “graduated” from elementary school this past June if he knew what his school did. They have a table for the peanut-free lunches and kids with non peanut lunches (ham and cheese) are encouraged to sit there. Nobody in his grade (150ish students) was allergic to peanuts although there was apparently someone in kindergarten who had very severe reactions.</p>
<p>In the spirit of community service (we start young in our district), kids from all grades are assigned to wipe tables after their lunch. Each child gets assigned a couple of times a year. I would assume the kids w/ food allergies would be exempt from duty.</p>
<p>I would say that peanut allergies can and should be put in the same category as other allergies with anaphylactic potential. My H’s partner arrested in a restaurant (even with Epipen) while eating a non seafood meal. After investigation, it was determined that a cooking utensil had been used to stir a shrimp dish and then used in the dish he was served. Another friend had a severe reaction on a plane, required epinephrine, 02 and emergency landing after being served food that had been “contaminated” with apple by a flight attendant.</p>
<p>This is utterly without data or foundation, but I also don’t remember peanut allergies when I was a child, and find myself wondering if some of the SIDS deaths–which I do remember and which have decreased dramatically in recent years–might have been peanut allergies? And I did know people whose siblings died young of beestings, which seems to be less common these days.</p>
<p>Wow, I haven’t been on the board for a while, but I was just dealing with this peanut allergy thing at school today. I am the nurse for a balanced-calendar school (we start tomorrow) and I’ve been preparing my clinic for the past couple of days. This year, I have two new kindergartners coming in with severe peanut allergies. Although I have four other students with peanut allergies, they are older and are very good about avoiding things that contain peanuts, peanut butter, etc. I had my DD make a cute sign for one of our cafeteria tables, marking it as a “peanut-free zone”. The teachers will work with the parents of fellow students so that the child may ask a different student to eat lunch with them each day. The “friend of the day” will bring a peanut-free lunch to avoid exposing the affected child to anything that could be harmful. </p>
<p>Last year, one of my students who is allergic to peanuts came to the clinic complaining of his tongue and throat itching, and hives were developing on his face. He had eaten one bite of a cookie that another child had brought for a party. He had been assured by the student (who had helped make the cookies) that peanuts were not in the ingredients. Unfortunately, the child was not in the kitchen the entire time and didn’t realize that her mother had used peanut butter. Luckily, a strong dose of Benadryl prevented his reaction from worsening, but it was scary for him (and me!). </p>
<p>In addition to having EpiPens in the clinic (provided by the parents and with the physician’s authorization), I think the most responsible thing any of us can do is to ensure that children with allergies to any food or substance avoid those things at school. Younger children are much more susceptible to food allergies (immune systems not yet fully developed). The pediatricians I used to work for suggested that children with family history of food allergies avoid certain foods until they reached their third birthdays. Although there are many food allergies, my understanding is that peanut allergies lead in food-related deaths. I remember hearing in the news last year that a girl who was allergic to peanuts died after kissing her boyfriend who had just eaten something with peanut butter. Scary … very, very scary.</p>
<p>“SAGUENAY, Quebec Mar 3, 2006 (AP) A 15-year-old girl with a peanut allergy did not die from kissing her boyfriend following his snack of peanut butter, a Quebec coroner said Friday, countering a report that drew international attention late last year.”</p>
<p>Not meant to discount the potential severity of food allergies.</p>
<p>Even if this girl did not die from the peanutbutter kiss, it could definitely happen. I have had reactions from eating jelly after somebody dipped the PBJ knife in the jelly after the peanutbutter, from the ice cream scoop having been in a nut ice cream before mine, from the fudge knife touching my fudge after a nut variety, etc. Many prepared foods that don’t contain nuts but were made near the production of nut-containing products cause a reaction. My hands will even swell from handling nuts. Anaphylaxis is very scary and serious (been there and done that…several times).</p>
<p>Because the tendency to develop allergies is inherited, I did not allow my kids potentially allergenic foods for many years. I also sent safe snacks to school for party times. In the early years, I just told them that they were allergic because it was the easiest thing to do. Happily, they did not inherit my life-threatening allergies.</p>
<p>It is great to have schools help to keep these allergic kids safe, but ultimately the individuals have to learn to be vigilant. This means both avoiding potentially dangerous situations (homemade cookies, fried foods, etc) and learning to recognize the earliest symptoms of an impending reaction (like “oh no, my mouth feels funny”). If a child has such a severe reaction that breathing the air causes a reaction (and I have seen it happen), I believe the schools must accommodate this. They make accommodations for every other sort of mental and physical disability, so why not food allergies?</p>
<p>LFK,</p>
<p>Homemade ice cream is another one - the nut ice creams (or the egg, or whatever) are made on the same equipment then used to make your basic, unscary vanilla.</p>
<p>I don’t think that accomodating the kids who are allergic means that you can’t also accomodate the picky eaters or the parents who don’t want their kids’ lunch to spoil or whatever. IMO, the schools should figure out a way to ensure one child’s safety without making everyone else jump through hoops. Whether that be to have a “peanut room” in the school where non-allergic kids can eat their Fluffernutters or what have you, fine. </p>
<p>I know how hard it is to avoid peanut products. It’s more than PB and peanuts - it’s trace amounts of it in hot chocolate, in cookies, in M&Ms (not the peanut variety). If you remove all peanut products from the school, you are really removing a significant portion of our foods.</p>
<p>Absolutely true, ariesathena. Our elementary schools had peanut-free tables in the cafeteria, and that worked out fine. Others should be able to eat what they want if it can be done without endangering those who are sensitive…sort of like smoking and non-smoking sections in restaurants. One year there was a kid in nursery school who had to be taken to the hospital because a kid from the previous class dropped a peanutbutter cracker under the table which went undetected. Naturally, after that, everyone was agreeable to having zero nut products at any time in that particular room.</p>
<p>I know how weird it can feel for a kid to stand out…can’t sit with nuts, can’t play sports due to asthma, needs to use insulin, or whatever. Having been that “different” kid, I really am in favor of putting the kids in charge of their allergy/disease. The world won’t adjust for you, so you have to learn how to live in the world as it exists. Maybe this means packing your own lunch or quizzing your waiter or learning to read ingredient labels. It is somehow empowering to have control of the problem rather than to depend on other to look out for you. (Of course, for those very youngest ones, we have to help them as best we can.)</p>
<p>mkm56, Absolutely don’t mean to minimize the fact that for some individuals other allergies can be just as severe and I probably did not express that the way I should have. It really comes down to prevalence. Peanut allergies are at the forefront because they are the most common severe and potentially life threatening allergen in the school aged population. But yes, if a child had a similarly severe issue to contact with any other food I would hope the school would make the accomodations to protect that child. </p>
<p>The concern becomes, then, where do schools draw the line. Many kids are intolerant (stomach gets upset if they eat or drink), and are not truly allergic to milk products for example. It would certainly not do for every parent of an intolerant child to demand no milk products be eaten at their kid’s lunch table. But those who have severe anaphylactic reaction to even a small exposure on the skin would be another story. Fortunately, this is rare. </p>
<p>And you are absolutely correct that there are people who can have severe reaction to many things, including even certain fruits and vegetables, which is something many people are unaware of . These can take awhile to develop (more prevalent in adults or young adults) because they are thought to be caused by a gradual sensitization and cross reaction to some trees, grasses and ragweed. So if someone has bad hayfever and allergies or asthma as a kid, they can develop an allergy to a fruit tor vegetable with a related protein later on in life. Most commonly, this is a mild oral allergy syndrome - the lips and tongue may swell a little bit and not be a big deal. But a few can have an anaphylactic reaction to things like apples (golden delicious and Granny Smith are the most likely species to cause allergy) , pears, kiwi, cherries, nectarines, plum, tomato, carrot, hazelnut, cashew. melon and more. These food items are similar enough in structure to certain pollen producing agents to cause a cross reactivity. The scary thing about these is that reactions can be inconsistent or seemingly out of the blue. One can come off a bad allergy season and have a reaction to something you’ve never had a problem eating before.</p>
<p>In the same way, people who develop an allergy to latex (health care providers or patiients) may develop a cross reaction to peanuts, bananas, avocados, kiwi, figs, potato and tomato.</p>
<p>BTW, another theory I’ve read for explaining the increase in food allergies is the increased use of protein additives in commercially prepared foods.</p>
<p>On a completely different note - - does anyone else here ever experience writing a message, only to have a whole line or several words mysteriously delete on their own as you are typing? What IS that?</p>