Do you let your child purchase lunch from the school cafeteria?

I am still interested to hear anyone's thoughts on this subject. I know my daughter's school is not peanut free and they do serve peanut butter sandwiches on a couple of days a week as an alternate to the entree. But I was wondering about others thoughts on this. As of now, my daughter brings her lunch everyday and has for years.

Our school serves peanut and tree nut safe lunches. I don't know about warning labels though so we rarely buy lunch except for one or two lunches a year that I know are safe and go in and read the ingredients.

My son would love to buy, but it's just too much work to constantly read labels and not worth the risk for us, even though peanut and tree nut products are not served.

He is 7 and in 2nd grade. As he gets older - we may change our mind and lighten up a bit.

Hope that helps!
Ruth

Thank you for your comment. I really appreciate it. I never let my daughter eat school lunch, but now that she is in 7th grade, I've been wondering if we should try it. For the most part, the school lunches are fairly safe, except for PBJ and days. It isn't everyday they serve it and she does have a 504 plan that specifies if she were to eat school lunch, what precautions would need to be taken. She eats at restaurants such as McDonalds, Dominos, Applebees, and so forth. If I let her eat there, I sometimes wonder why I then will not let her eat at school. I think it is just the thought of not being able to look at the "allergen warnings" like the restaurants have on their websites. Also, I think it is the fact that they do make PBJ sandwiches there. McDonalds and the other restaurants do not offer them even on their kid menus.

Our school also has safe lunches. I believe all New York State lunches and provided from a same source.The only unsafe item is PB&J and it is kept high on a shelf out of the way of the regular lunch items. Even their desserts are said to be safe and many of the PA students eat all of them. I still limit her to what is in my comfort zone.

My daughter has an allergy to peanuts and yellow 5 dye. She has been taking her lunch since she started school and will be in 10th grade this coming fall. The school she attends has peanut free lunches, but we choose to pack a lunch because they are not always dye free. Plus, other kids will take food that has peanuts. She has to be careful and has learned that being very vocal helps to avoid the issue of exposure. The school system will work with the student and parents to ensure a safe area is found. Wish that was true of the rest of the world!