There is such wonderful stuff being done! Joanna G., thank-you for going in and updating the Schools thread. I feel as though I have being doing the minimum amount required on this. I feel really badly but I'm also terribly overwhelmed by it all.
Katiee, well, to-day is the day! I wish I could see the interview! I know I don't live close enough in the province to do so. It's too bad it couldn't be mass video taped or something! This is exciting!
Scott's Mom, welcome! If you're having problems using the actual link, just get out of the PA.com site altogether and go to [url="http://www.nestle.ca"]www.nestle.ca[/url] and e-mail them directly from their site. Now, it may give you the same message from there as well because the link posted here is actually the same link that you'll see in your Location line when you do finally go to e-mail them.
And finally, I did send Nestle an e-mail last week, which I do believe I posted above, telling them that I was not satisfied with their form e-mail, especially because two weeks previous I had not received a form e-mail.
I did have some other concerns I wanted to bring to their attention and so I just sent the following e-mail off right now. I'll see if I get any response at all, and will certainly post it if I do.
The thing I hate most is that this is one manufacturer that I feel the particular need to be descriptive (i.e., long winded) with.
Surprisingly, I am not usually like this when dealing with manufacturers as I know they don't need to know every personal detail of my life (like I post here [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/rolleyes.gif[/img] ) . However, in this case, I truly believe it does boil down to a them knowing a lot of the personal details of my life and how this has really impacted ONE family.
Oh, Joanna G., I also wanted to mention that I still have not received an answer from Jesse's principal re your e-mail and I actually doubt that I will. I sent her the FAAN FAAW package in last week and also the certificates for FAAN's BE A PAL program so I can only assume that she is feeling terribly overwhelmed with this PA "issue".
Vic, thank-you for posting your response from Nestle which was SLIGHTLY different than the form e-mail we received initially. I have to follow-up re this because the CSR I spoke with actually told me that the bottle of Nesquik Chocolate Syrup I have in my 'fridge (which I got the Nestle telephone number from) was not "safe", although not labeled as "may contain" or anything that would suggest it was not safe. He went on to say that it was imported from the U.S. I re-checked the label, through my bi-focals [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/redface.gif[/img] and I cannot find any indication on the bottle that it is imported. So, I do have to follow-up re this, particularly since they did tell you that it was and will continue to be a "safe" product.
I had thought all along that the only peanut/nut free facility in Canada was the one that they are now changing. It's VERY important that you posted the response you got from them because, as I said, it is different from the basic form e-mail that everyone else received SLIGHTLY, and yet, in that slightly different part, it does raise some different concerns.
Here goes:-
Dear Sir/Madam:
I have already written an initial e-mail to you addressing my concerns re Nestle's decision to discontinue the peanut/nut free facility and it's "safe" products thereof.
I also received the form e-mail back from you that every other member of the peanut/tree nut allergy community received that had contacted you initially.
My first e-mail itself was fairly long winded and I then recognized that I had still managed to miss a few points that I wanted to bring to your attention.
It is quite obvious from Nestle's decision, that no one making the decision itself has any severe food allergies.
You simply do not realize both the severity of food allergies (such as my son's peanut allergy) or the severe impact of your decision.
My son is five years old and part of the process of him assuming responsibility for his allergy and empowering him regarding it, means that he is now reading food labels. He double checks any label that I have already painstakingly read. Although Nestle has decided to place the "may contain" warning on their products eight months in advance of your products actually not being "safe", I will no longer be able to purchase the products as soon as the "may contain" label shows up on your product.
You might find this odd. Why deny my child Smarties for the eight months that he could continue to eat them safely? Well, aside from joining a massive boycott against ALL Nestle products, I am simply not able to bring any food into my home that has a "may contain" warning label on it. I have discussed with my son how he is ALWAYS "safe" at home and how I NEVER buy anything with the "may contain" warning, even for my husband, myself, and my daughter who is not allergic to peanuts.
There is another case in point. My 3-1/2 year old daughter will no longer be able to eat Smarties because it is against the philosophy that we maintain in our home to keep my peanut allergic son safe and when it comes down to it, alive.
I did write to someone that my son initially took the Nestle news well. However, not a day goes by that he does not ask me if Nestle has changed their mind, if our local grocery store will still have "safe" Smarties, etc.
I did receive the Nestle propaganda that was distributed to schools this week in my son's knapsack. After reading it, I recognized another thing that I know is not paranoid. I live in a very small town, a town that is very reluctant/resistant to the idea of dealing with my son's peanut allergy to begin with. He is the only peanut allergic child in his school.
Although the 40+ sets of parents may have accepted a "peanut free" classroom for the children because it is school board policy that ensures the right of my son to have one, how do you think these same parents are going to feel when they have to tell their children that they can no longer eat their beloved Smarties?
Do you realize the potential seriousness of this when it comes to my child's emotional and physical safety? It is bad enough in this community that people are unable to send their precious peanut butter to school with their children. Can you imagine how they and their children will feel when they cannot send in Smarties?
We have long advised the use of Smarties for baking, treats, etc. as an alternative to the unsafe plain M & M's and this has been welcomed. Now, we have absolutely nothing to substitute.
I am concerned about the taunts and comments that my son will receive on a personal level in this very small community due to your decision. To take it one step further, I am actually afraid that some children may choose to take it out on him physically.
I have read about other children who are resentful of the "peanut free" classrooms and schools that they must attend, and they feel this at a very young age, when guided by parents and other adults who are ignorant, not aware, and not caring.
Can you absolutely guarantee that my son will not be affected by other children who will, no doubt, have a range of not-nice feelings regarding not being able to have their Smarties at school?
I just recognized this very real fear this week after I received your propaganda. You may think that it is very far fetched, but I'm sorry, you are not dealing with the community that I am on a daily basis. Again, it is a very resistant/reluctant community that is not used to dealing wit food allergies and does so with the minimum of acceptance.
I would ask that if you do take the time to answer this e-mail, that I do not receive a form e-mail that will further enanger and sadden me. As I wrote in an e-mail earlier this week, I have always received very concerned, food allergy aware e-mails from Nestle, even if they were to advise that the product I was inquiring about was unsafe.
Please consider the points I have made above.
Thank-you for your time and consideration.
Yours very truly,
Cindy Spowart Cook
Best wishes! [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img]
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[This message has been edited by Cindy Spowart Cook (edited April 30, 2001).]