Hands, Mouth, toes?

Hi, and welcome to the board!

I'm an adult with pa and sesame allergy. Some people are touch/smell sensitive. There is a wealth of information in the schools forum on this board.

Some people have peanut bans at the school, bans in the classroom, some have very stringent cleaning rules enforced at their child's school.

I don't really know a lot about the risks of contact reactions. I know the more of an allergen you eat over time, the worse reactions tend to get. I would [i]assume[/i] that is true of someone who is touch/smell sensitive.

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Your son is already in kindergarten? Have you educated his school and teacher about pa? Does he have an epi-pen? (There are sooo many questions. I think I better stop here before I scare you off. [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/wink.gif[/img] )

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Again, welcome to the board.

Thanks for answering. Yes, I have epi-pens everywhere. What I'm having problems with is that his preschool was peanut free (United Services...EXCELENT)and his new school isn't. I thought I had gotten my message across, when I received a note asking parents to send in various candies for the Halloween party...M&Ms, Candy corn, and "any candy of your choice in amounts of 30" WHAT IF SOMEONE BRINGS IN PEANUT BUTTER CUPS?! AAUGH! O.K. just had to get that out. Anyway, we are supposed to be meeting as soon as the school nurse comes back (possibly Friday)to set up a classroom plan. Until then the room mom has been asked not to buy anything for the party. I tried to get the room mom possision specifically for this reason, but someone else beat me out.

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Safety before popularity,
PAnut

Hopefully things will go well with your meeting with the nurse.

Do you know who the room mom is? Does she know about your son's allergy? and does she seem to *get it*?

Maybe offering to help her - or even just sitting down with a cup of coffe and discussing it calmly might get her on your side. Honestly, I think most people don't want to harm another person's child. But, when ordered to do something they sometimes just get their hackles up.

I'm assuming that you want no actual peanuts and peanut butter because of the risk of peanut residue being all over his class. But, you child wouldn't actually be eating treats that others send in? Since your son was diagnosed four years ago, you realize the no warning on the label doesn't always mean no risk of cross contamination.

[i]I hope that doesn't sound patronizing. I just know how many mistakes I've made over the years and I just want to keep everyone safe.[/i] [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img]

Hello Again,
I wondered about that. The labels not mentioning peanuts, I mean. All of the companies that I have bothered to contact have said that if the product doesn't STATE that it was processed in a factory that produces peanuts, that it is safe. In fact two of them even told me that it was law! They had to print it on the label if it could be dangerous. Are you telling me that this isn't so? I know the bakery told me that the ingredients on their packages are strickly what the dough is made out of...and doesn't give any references to where it was processed, or what else was on the line...but I thought this was because it was the "bakery". For example, I called Chips Ahoy when they started processing their "peanut butter chip" cookies...they said that if the package didn't say anything about peanuts, then there weren't any. However, in reading some of the postings on this site, someone mentioned that Chips Ahoy aren't safe...Why is that?

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Safety before popularity,
PAnut

PAnut - I'm in Canada, and this does make a big difference. Labelling laws are a bit different, and what companies choose to do above what is required is different. So, I can't say specifically what companies label safely.

As far as I can see, neither of our countries demand that food manufactured in a facility with peanuts label it as such. In Canada if it is an actual ingredient (no matter how small the amount) it must be listed clearly on the ingredient list. (This means they can no longer just list peanut oil under some name like vegetable oil. If peanut oil is used it must say that.)

Some companies don't use any peanuts, some have separate areas of their companies with solid walls and air travelling only one way so no peanut dust can get into the peanut free area. Some companies do thorough cleaning between lines.

But, if a company chooses to not take any precautions, there is no law obligating them to print "may contain trace amounts of" (any allergen).

Look through the forums especially "PeanutFree Businesses" and "Manufacturers (Food) Safe & Unsafe". You will probably also find some info in "Main" and "Living With". If you want to know about a specific company or product, ask a question.

Make sure the information you are reading is specific to your country. If you aren't sure - ask within that thread. (For example, if you see information that XXXX labels well, but you don't know where the person who posted lives - just ask if it is US specific.)

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I hope all this is making sense. I'm short a cup of coffee. [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/eek.gif[/img]

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