School district bans peanuts and nut products at elementary school

[The Straight Story]

School district bans peanuts and nut products at elementary school


PARK CITY -- The Park City school district has banned peanuts and tree nuts from one of its schools, saying a student with a severe allergic reaction to them could die.

Signs are now taped on the doors of Trailside Elementary School to let parents know about the new rule. The decision came during a Park City schools board meeting Monday night.

"We found that we have a student that has a severe allergy towards peanuts and nut products. And based upon that information, we just felt like we had to take the precautions necessary to ensure the safety of that young student," explained Park City School District Superintendent Ray Timothy.

But a group of parents disagree with the ban. They say it's not because they don't care about the student, but because research shows peanut bans do not work.

"It gives parents a false sense of security, and they're absolutely impossible to monitor," Kim Deimling, a member of the school's Parent Teacher Association. "We have over 500 kids, and how can you monitor their backpacks and lunchboxes and pockets and coat pockets every day?"

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=7784233

[Chemisse]

1. Well I guess they'd better get started!

If it is such a monumental task.

I think it is great the school did that. That's like gathering up a community to care for the child.

I would be annoyed if nuts were banned somewhere where there was no specific need, but 'just in case'.

I think these parents just don't want to be bothered. I bet they would be singing a different tune if it was their little boy or girl whose life was in danger.

[Pangolin2]

4. Why not have a citywide ban? I mean who knows where that kid might go?

I sure hope it wasn't a Democrat who dreamed up this idiocy.
:grr:

[Liberal_in_LA]

16. agreed

[proud2BlibKansan]

22. Yes keeping a kid from DYING is pure idiocy!

:sarcasm:

[Libertas1776]

2. Look out!

That kid is packing a PB&J. Take him down! I repeat, take him down!

I really want to know why kids are becoming severely allergic to peanut products seemingly now more than ever. I am not saying kids have never been allergic to peanuts in the past, but now this is getting ridiculous. Anything big chemical wants to tell us?

[TreasonousBastard]

7. Relax. One study links infant feeding of soy milk to...

the allergy.

http://www.cincinnatichildrens.org/svc/alpha/e/eosinophilic/doctors_comment1.htm

[Nay]

11. I'm an old fart--soy milk was given to infants way back when--and

I never saw anything like this peanut allergy thing that's been happening the past few years. It's got to be something else.

I will throw in my 2 cents -- I don't think schools should ban peanuts because one (or 10) kids are allergic, even if they are deathly allergic. I think the child must learn not to eat other people's food no matter what. And yes, I would feel this way if it were my own child. I think it's unrealistic to deny hundreds of other children a nutritious food because one has an allergy.

[Emit]

20. As a mother of a child who is allergic to nuts and peanuts, I agree. However, teachers and parents

need to be educated on the severity of the situation if they have kids in their class with these severe food allergies. Little kids do not always know how to monitor their own diet. Heck, most of the times my kid has been exposed to nuts, it's been when adults have given things to him, like baked goods that they 'thought' had no nuts or nut oils but did!

Last year, in my son's 2nd grade class, he was in a class with 32 children, team taught by two teachers. At the beginning of the school year, we discussed his allergy with the teachers and thought we had an understanding that they would not give him any food that did not have a label to ensure that he was not exposed to nuts.

Initially, what happened was that the parents brought in baked goods, so the first time, my son was the only child who could not have a treat - they fed the goodies to all the other kids and he just sat there and had to watch them enjoy their goodies. He was in tears when I picked him up from school that day. I brought in a bag of cookies for the teachers to put away for him in the event that this occurred again. Never once despite my repeated suggestions did the teachers ask the other parents that they bring in goodies and treats that were labeled. Instead, each time Sally and Johnny got the homemade cake with all the frosting, my son got the Oreo. Now, mind you, he loves Oreos, but any 7 year old gets a little jealous when he doesn't get to have what all the other kids have, especially when there are 31 other kids eating what you don't get!

The straw that broke the camel's back for me was when his own teachers bought ice cream for their science project - a taste test thingy (I posted about it below, so sorry for the dupe). They didn't even check the label and bought ice cream with nuts in it and one that was manufactured in a factory that processed nuts. They did not even tell me ahead of time that they were doing this project, or else I would have bought ALL the ice cream the class needed. He was the one to ask them to check the labels.

It's frustrating, because a lot of people do not understand the severity of this allergy. We have to read all labels and unfortunately, the teachers who are responsible for him when he is at school should be held to the same standard - they need to read labels.

The only teacher that he has had that was sensible about this was his Kindergarten teacher, who required of parents that all shared food brought in to the classroom be labeled so that she could monitor what the kids were eating (she had two with nut allergies and one with a wheat allergy). I never had any problems in that classroom and I never worried about him being exposed to nuts.

[Mariana]

24. I think most of those kids probably died before school age

until relatively recently. Or perhaps they were kept home because school was considered too dangerous for them.

I may be wrong and it really is a new thing, though. I wonder if anyone is working on finding out what the story is with this. I'd think it would be a fascinating study.

[PearliePoo2]

8. I was wondering the same thing!

Hey...I'm a "Boomer" so I'm old, but I never, ever remember kids having deadly nut allergies when I was growing up.
Same with the high prevalence of autism we're seeing now, for example.
:shrug:

[Chemisse]

9. That is my experience too

I'm wondering if there is fungi or pesticides in peanuts that are provoking the allergies.

As far as autism, that is quite a mystery - and I can't wait to find out what the culprit is.

[XemaSab]

29. I grew up in the 80's

and I was the allergic kid in the class.

Rabbit fur.

AFAIK, there was nobody else in the class or the school with allergies outside the typical pollen/dog/cat allergies. Nut allergies were unheard of. :shrug:

[kestrel91316]

3. Next step: parents of allergic kids will demand that all members of

the community be banned from eating or possessing nuts at any time.

[The Straight Story]

5. Especially at city parks and pools, or sporting events (nt)

[donheld]

14. Then how will they teabag?

:D

[Luminous Animal]

23. I do believe that children

are absent parental supervision when in school. I clearly remember sharing lunches and snacks with my friends when I was school and I do doubt that any parent can take the time off to make sure that their child is not inadvertently eating a peanut product.

Out in the community, on the other hand, is an entirely different situation. Usually a parent or a close friend or babysitter is present and is aware of the peanut allergy beforehand and plans are made and precautions are taken.

For instance. I watched a kid 3 days a week who was allergic to peanuts. We did not feed her peanuts. Several times a month, we hung out with other kids where food would be shared, and I would email or call and ahead of time and say, "Don't forget, Emily is allergic to peanuts." Sometimes, Emily and my daughter would hang out with these kids at their homes or go on outings and I would remind them, "Don't forget, Emily is allergic to peanuts." Pretty much all the ADULTS were invested in making sure that Emily did not die.

There is a lot less control in a school situation. Unless you expect a parent to email or call every adult every morning... ""Don't forget, Emily is allergic to peanuts."

I think it is fantastic they way that this school is doing their best to ensure that one little being in their care is not put at risk of a life threatening situation.

[vadawg]

6. i understand the kids parents concerns, problem is how can it be enforced

my kid has a habit of putting stuff in his satchel and pockets when he goes off to school, im sure other kids do the same thing and im not going to be able strip search his butt every time he leaves the house.

[Canuckistanian]

10. Is this unusual in America?

My son's schools have banned peanuts for as long as I can remember.

Some kids HAVE DIED merely becuase of minute exposures to peanuts by other kid's lunches.

Is this controversial in American school boards?

[ProgressiveProfessor]

13. Yes, as is your claim of students having died due to the content of another kids lunch

Have any credible citations (scare sites don't count)

[Emit]

17. Is Johns Hopkins credible?

Fatal and near-fatal anaphylactic reactions to food in children and adolescents
HA Sampson, L Mendelson, and JP Rosen

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND METHODS. Reports of fatal or near-fatal anaphylactic reactions to foods in children and adolescents are rare. We identified six children and adolescents who died of anaphylactic reactions to foods and seven others who nearly died and required intubation. All the cases but one occurred in one of three metropolitan areas over a period of 14 months. Our investigations included a review of emergency medical care reports, medical records, and depositions by witnesses to the events, as well as interviews with parents (and some patients). RESULTS. Of the 13 children and adolescents (age range, 2 to 17 years), 12 had asthma that was well controlled. All had known food allergies, but had unknowingly ingested the foods responsible for the reactions. The reactions were to peanuts (four patients), nuts (six patients), eggs (one patient), and milk (two patients), all of which were contained in foods such as candy, cookies, and pastry. The six patients who died had symptoms within 3 to 30 minutes of the ingestion of the allergen, but only two received epinephrine in the first hour. All the patients who survived had symptoms within 5 minutes of allergen ingestion, and all but one received epinephrine within 30 minutes. The course of anaphylaxis was rapidly progressive and uniphasic in seven patients; biphasic, with a relatively symptom-free interval in three; and protracted in three, requiring intubation for 3 to 21 days. CONCLUSIONS. Dangerous anaphylactic reactions to food occur in children and adolescents. The failure to recognize the severity of these reactions and to administer epinephrine promptly increases the risk of a fatal outcome.


Source Information

Division of Pediatric Allergy and Immunology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD.

http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/abstract/327/6/380

[XemaSab]

30. That's after having eaten the food

not after being exposed to whiffs of nuts from other kids' lunches.

[Emit]

38. The poster referred to "minute exposures"

And minute exposures ingested in any manner can cause a reaction in some cases.

"Some kids HAVE DIED merely becuase (sic) of minute exposures to peanuts by other kid's lunches."

Kids in elementary school are notorious for sharing food, even when they are told not to. Very small amounts of nuts and peanuts can be deadly to these people who are allergic - and we have discovered that preventing exposure has been quite a challenge - not as easy as we had thought.

My son's first reaction to nuts occurred when he was 1. He saw me eating pistachios and wanted a bite. I chewed some up and gave him a very small taste, no more than a few sand-sized pieces (weird, but mothers do that). His reaction was immediate - he jumped around the kitchen yelling, "Spicy, Spicy" then he looked at me and projectile vomited all over, repeatedly. This was all within seconds of exposure. He then broke out in hives, head to toe.

His second exposure occurred at the Aquarium in Monterey Bay. He was about 2 1/2. He grabbed a muffin off my husband's food tray in the cafe, and took one bite off the top before we were even done paying. The top was sprinkled with ground nuts and wheat flakes - my husband had not even known that it contained nuts. Again, his reaction was the same - immediate and severe.

His most recent exposure occurred when he was 6 or so. A neighbor gave him a cookie. He had asked her, do these have nuts? She assumed they didn't but didn't read the label - she knows he has this allergy, we have tried to educate people. They were assorted Danish Christmas cookies made with ground almonds and almond oils. One bite was all it took.

We serve peanut butter in our house, but the girls are trained that they do not use the same knife they used for the peanut butter to dip into the jelly jar (which is gross anyway, but in our case, it's to avoid even the smallest amount of peanut butter mixing with the jelly that their brother may ingest at some later date.) No one eats nuts when we are traveling in the car - my son can smell them and gets sick to his stomach. Kids at school have teased him by shoving their peanut butter sandwiches in his face, laughing at him because of his reaction.

We have been told by his allergy doc that repeated exposure to nuts can actually make each subsequent exposure more severe. In his case, that is why he now MUST avoid all exposure and he needs an epi pen injection at each exposure and a trip to the ER if it happens.

Minute exposures can kill in these cases, meaning a very small piece of nut or peanut - including the oils and residues.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

41. Still it requires ingestion and the answer is to teach the child. They are trainable.

[Emit]

44. Ahh, But are adults trainable?

The majority of exposure to nuts that my son has endured has been at the hands of adults caring for him when he was too young to read or too young to grasp the concept that a nut could kill him.

As to the lunchroom scenario, young kids may not be able to read the label, or the product may not even have a label. Kids are tempted by sweet treats that often contain nuts. Kids share food. It's hard for teachers and parents to control this.

I don't support banning nuts - we have worked hard to train my son not to share food and that has worked quite well for us. Heck, if he smells nuts or peanuts, he walks the opposite direction. Ironically, it's the adults whom he trusted that have more often failed to understand the severity of his allergy by neglecting to read labels. It's been far harder to train the ADULTS to understand his allergy than it has been to train my son.

I don't even know why you are arguing this point. The poster you responded to never mentioned that ingestion wasn't required. Small amounts kill. Period.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

40. Quality source but does not address the issue

The deaths and injuries were from their own ingestion, not what was in anothers lunchbox

[Emit]

43. Their own ingestion, but of who's food?

See, that's the conundrum with young kids, they share food and are messy. Why are you so intent to disprove that small exposures of nuts cause severe reactions even death? It happens. Does that mean, as a mother of a son with anaphylactic reaction to nuts thinks his school should ban nuts? No. But, the staff, teachers and parents of other kids who share my son's classroom need to learn to respect that these kids with severe nut allergies can be at risk from very small amounts.

[Lyric]

47. I think you're misunderstanding.

There's a meme out there that even the whiff of a peanut or nut from across the room (without any contact or ingestion) can somehow kill an allergic child. I'm pretty sure that's what the other poster was talking about.

I'm not saying that such a thing is 100% impossible, but it *is* incredibly rare. You talk about how your son walks away if he smells nuts--well, there are people who would claim that THEIR child would die if they were close enough to a nut to smell it. Honestly, a child with an allergy THAT severe probably shouldn't be in a public school anyway. I can't see much of a difference between a kid who'd die if they smelled a nut from across the room and the "bubble boy" from years back. That level of disability is not compatible to public life spent in the company of children who make mistakes and might accidentally breathe on a classmate after eating PB graham crackers in the car on the way to school, you know?

[Emit]

48. Perhaps and I see your point, but the poster referred to 'minute exposures'

which is broad and does not necessarily mean a whiff from across the room. To me, exposure means the kids somehow ingested nuts or peanuts.

[ctaylors6]

50. I also think reference to "minute exposure" meant ingestion. Example:

My child (severe peanut allergy) ate 2-3 potato chips at a friend's house. The mom checked the bag (I checked it too when I got there), and it was safe for her to eat. Within minutes, my child was violently ill. Ended up that the mom had served the potato chips in a bowl that she'd previously had something that probably had peanuts. She'd emptied the bowl but had not washed it. That was enough for my child to be sick.

The other problem when little kids have food allergies is that it's hard for them to understand that something they eat at home might not be safe out of their house. For example, I make chocolate chip cookies at home and my daughter can eat them safely. Some chocolate chip cookies (even those without any kind of nut) may be baked in a kitchen or in a manufacturing facility that has peanuts. That cookie might not be safe for my daughter to eat. We teach my daughter that, but until she was about 5-6 years old, she didn't really understand it completely. Certainly not reliably.

Kids are definitely trainable, but are not reliably trained until they're of a certain age. IMHO that age is older than most elementary school age children.

Thankfully, that John Hopkins study shows the effectiveness of the epipen.

[Canuckistanian]

36. Here's one I remember

Peanut allergy isn't kid stuff.
Of the countless frightening scenarios that have swirled through Greta and Randy Sangder's minds since they learned their daughter had a life-threatening allergy to peanuts, a deadly kiss wasn't among them.

They knew a kiss could cause harm: Once, after eating peanuts on an airline flight home to Eugene, Randy greeted Emily with a kiss, and a rash erupted around her mouth.

Even so, recent news that a 15-year-old Quebec girl died after kissing her boyfriend "blew us away," Greta said. The boyfriend had eaten toast with peanut butter nine hours earlier.
http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Peanut+allergy+isn%27t+kid+stuff-a0140597094

But there was a specific case that I can't find of a kid that took a bite of someone else's lunch (completely non-peanut related) and died (or almost died).

The point is, severe peanut allegies can kill. And schools are perfectly within their rights to ban peanut products.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

42. That story was later shown to be untrue

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060303/peanut_allergy_060303/20060303?hub=TopStories
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2006/05/11/asthma-death.html

[Pangolin2]

12. Peanuts aren't nuts at all, they're legumes. Like beans.

Whoever dreamed up this nonsense is a dumfuk.

[Emit]

18. My son is allergic to both, peanuts and tree nuts

His nut allergy is severe, requiring constant monitoring of the food he eats, as well as an epi pen at hand at school and at home and any where he travels. His peanut allergy is less severe, but we avoid them anyway.

Some people are allergic to only peanuts and not tree nuts. Some people are only allergic to tree nuts and not peanuts. My son has a varied allergic reaction to various nuts, with pistachios and walnuts and hazel nuts causing greater problems for him.

My son cannot have anything that has peanut or tree nut oil in it, including baked goods, lip balms, lotions, shampoos, etc. He can smell nuts when you are ten feet away and has an averse reaction.

You think this is nonsense?

Last year, his 2nd grade teachers, who were fully informed of the severity of his allergy, purchased ice cream for his class taste testing science experiment. Of the three brands they purchased, one was manufactured in a factory with nuts and the other actually had pistachios in it. Had HE not asked them, the adults in the room, to check the label, he could have died because of their oversight.

This is not a laughing matter.

That being said, I do not necessarily agree that a ban on nuts and peanuts in schools is the solution. But, I can say that it has been extremely difficult educating people to my son's allergy and to the fact that HE COULD DIE from this allergy because some adult caring for him assumes there are no nuts in the food they give him or thinks it's nonsense.

[JCMach1]

33. I agree with what you are saying... I am also allergic to Black Walnuts

and no other kind of nut... it works like Ipecac for me...

Half the time you end up asking the question walnut or black walnut and you will just get a blank stare... eventually you just say fark it and don't have whatever it was on the menu...

I agree education, not overreaction is the best solution.

[Trillo]

15. I'm pretty sure milk is the most common food allergy

Dairy lobby stronger ($$$) than peanut lobby?

[tblue37]

19. A 5-year-old did die of a peanut reaction in our town about 15 or

20 years ago. It happens.

[proud2BlibKansan]

21. Not at all uncommon

I know several schools that have done this.

[JCMach1]

25. I could have died from bee sting, but did my parents demand constant spraying?

or removal of landscaping?

ummmmmm no... :eyes:

Was I bitten there (more than once)? YES!

Seems like there ought to be some middle-ground here somewhere.

[ContinentalOp]

27. And here come the pea-NUTS. You can pry my reeses from my COLD DEAD HANDS! -nt-

[JCMach1]

31. There really should be a middle ground here

that's all I'm saying...

For example, how do these kids ordinarily deal with going out into the world (that trip to Walmart for example)?

[ContinentalOp]

26. This has been standard operating procedure in schools for years. What's the big deal?

At least in California I'm pretty sure that all schools ban peanuts when one of the children is allergic.

[laughingliberal]

28. For whatever reason

the allergies to peanuts and other tree nuts seem to be particularly severe. The reactions are swift and, often, deadly. I believe this is the reason airlines quit serving them. There was a case of a woman who reacted on a flight just from breathing the peanut dust out of a package that was opened next to her. I think it is totally appropriate in school where you can not monitor your children.

[XemaSab]

32. I'm worried about how these kids are going to navigate the real world

Should a high school with a thousand kids ban nuts?

What about the university?

Or the workplace?

Or eating in a restaurant?

It seems like there should be something that can be done. :shrug:

[laughingliberal]

34. I believe the article is about an elementary school

I'm not sure most people are aware of how many products contain nuts. I have seen them listed in foods I didn't know had them. I think, by high school, they are likely able to read labels for themselves but an elementary school kid at lunch with his/her friends? Is that really the first thing on his/her mind?

[Raineyb]

46. Which can be a nightmare for other parents

My nephew was very picky. Peanut butter was one of the few things we didn't have to fight him to get him to eat. Are we supposed to allow the boy to go hungry all day? A complete ban seems a bit much.

[ctaylors6]

49. It's reasonable that guidelines are different for elementary school age children

My daughter (now 2nd grade) has a severe peanut allergy. She's 7 years old. I can already see a huge difference in how she and other children around her are able to understand her allergy, now that they're 7 and 8 years old. She's able to read most labels herself, but some are still a little tricky (we can't rely on that yet but we teach her). Kids that age still don't wipe their hands very well on their own. They may have a big glop of peanut butter on their hands from their sandwich at lunch then share something with my daughter, who's still young enough to put objects like pencils or markers or even her own fingers in her mouth.

I do know many families who have children with severe food allergies. We do teach our children about their allergies and how to handle them in the real world. Just like any parent of a child with a chronic health issue teaches their child how to handle their health issues. She knows about labels. She knows not to eat food unless she knows it's safe. She knows what an epipen is. We've shown her how it works (but of course she's not old enough to use it herself). Interestingly the health form for her school district allows parents to give children 9th grade and above permission to carry and administer epipens. So, age makes a big difference how her allergy is handled. A 7 year-old's "real world" is very different than most of the examples you listed. The goal of every parent I know who has a child with a severe food allergy is to teach them how to handle their allergies in age appropriate ways.

Her school does not ban peanut products school-wide. But the children and her parents are asked to not bring anything with peanuts in the classroom. The children are asked to not sit next to her in the lunch cafeteria if they are eating peanut products. The teacher makes sure the children in her class wash their hands after lunch. (Of course, all the teachers probably have the kids do that now, or should.)

A few of the parents of allergy kids I know have asked for school or district wide bans. When the districts/schools do that, I'm sure some of that has to do with lawsuits/fear of lawsuits. But I know from experience that the less peanuts that are around, the lower the likelihood of an accidental ingestion. I've had many elementary school teachers and even principals tell me that they're a little relieved when there's a ban because there's that much less peanut butter on little tiny hands around their school. I've also never known one of them to rely on such a ban. They still watch what the allergic child eats. They know better than anyone that a ban doesn't mean nothing peanut-related gets in the school.

I would never trust a ban either. Peanut products are clearly banned from my daughter's classroom (notes, emails have been sent, and there's a BIG sign on the classroom door). But parents still forget and bring in food my daughter can't eat. The teacher knows she has to check everything before she lets my daughter eat it. The real world for my daughter means that she sometimes can't eat what other kids eat. We teach her that too, that her health is more important than a denied treat.

I certainly acknowledge that it's a difficult issue. Like with political issues generally, I've seen extreme positions on both sides. Parents who think it's a bother to have to check what they're bringing to a class party in the classroom itself (yes, I've heard a few parents complain about that), and parents who think everything should be banned. Like most things in life I think there's a safe middle ground.

[SidDithers]

35. Good...nt

Sid

[Pharlo]

37. Elementary school? Probably won't work.

I love peanut butter. Took it to school for lunch every day as a kid. Had someone come along and said 'You can't have peanut butter in your school lunches.' I would have ignored them. If my mother had packed a lunch for me WITHOUT the peanut butter sandwich, I would have waited until she had gone to work, fed the 'meat' sandwich to the dogs and packed my own damn peanut butter sandwich.

Unless you expect someone to be standing at EVERY door in the school, strip searching kids, looking for contraband peanut products, this is NOT going to work. It may prevent 98% of the allergic material from penetrating the hallowed halls of the school district, but not 100%.

What it DOES do, is give the school district legal cover if the allergic child comes in contact with that 2% contraband material.

Peanuts don't kill people. Peanut butter sandwich wielding school children do. :sarcasm:

[Emit]

39. Many manufacturers are now relabeling their products to avoid law suits

As we have had to read labels constantly over the years to avoid my son's exposure to nuts and peanuts, we have noticed that many brands are now labeling their products with the disclaimer: "May contain nuts" or "May have been processed in a factory with nuts."

[susanr516]

45. I know a couple of kids with severe peanut allergies

One of them has been in my grandson's class the last couple of years. His teacher always sends home a note at the first of the year, and again before field trips and class parties, reminding us not to send anything that contains peanuts in the sack lunches or treats. However, I don't think they send a warning to the rest of the school, since the child with the allergies eats lunch in his classroom instead of the cafeteria.

[Common Sense Party]

51. Park City. Figures.

They're 20 minutes up the road and a world apart.

This would never have flown for my son. For a few years there, the ONLY think he would eat was PB&J sandwiches or peanut butter on crackers. Here's severely autistic and "picky" doesn't even begin to describe it. If the school would have banned ALL peanut products, what would he have eaten? It's not like he would have been shoving PB down the throats of allergic kids.