4 ms·

I'm allergic (not deathly so) to legumes, cranberries and have trouble with wheat as well. Most of the time, I just try to minimize my exposure and live with no

I'm allergic (not deathly so) to legumes, cranberries and have trouble with wheat as well. Most of the time, I just try to minimize my exposure and live with not feeling well when I get wammied. Cranberries are my worst reaction, the only time I tend to get really nosy is actually BBQ sauce, because many tangy sauces will contain them. In the end, I don't (and imho, shouldn't) expect the world to put padding on the sidewalk to protect my from myself. I would be happy if labelling laws included a "Manufacturing facility handles (allergen list). This product may contain trace amounts." as a statement for what there might be trace amounts of in terms of allergens not intentionally part of the product. It bugs me a bit that if a kid wants a PBJ they no longer are allowed to at school.

gedy 4y ago
Wait, there are schools that don't allow non-allergic kids to eat peanut butter, etc?
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- MattGaiser 4y ago
  Here is a sample requirement: https://www.stjohnsschool.org/uploaded/Files/Nut_Sensitive_FAQs_aug2017.pdf https://www.stjohnsschool.org/uploaded/Files/Nut_Sensitive_F...
  - gedy 4y ago
    Thanks. I'd seriously take my kids out of schools like that. They shouldn't be scared about their sandwich is breaking "the rules", seems like it would breed low-grade paranoia in kids.
    - LesZedCB 4y ago
      Children are remarkably adaptable, it's usually the parents who are stuck in their ways
    - YeGoblynQueenne 4y ago
      Adults have trouble enough to grasp the concept of a deathly allergy to a common foodstuff, let alone kids. I think that's the reasoning behind this kind of ban. Not "breaking the rules" but causing harm to other kids because they don't understand the dangers. For instance, the following is a news item about a kid in a London school with a dairy allergy who died because his classmates flicked a bit of cheese at him as a joke: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/may/02/boy-with-allergy-died-cheese-flicked-at-him-london-inquest-told https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/may/02/boy-with-all... A schoolboy with a dairy allergy was left gasping for breath and shouted “I’m going to die” minutes after a fellow pupil flicked cheese at him, an inquest has heard. Karanbir Singh Cheema, 13, known as Karan, went from “absolutely fine” to unconscious in under 10 minutes after the incident at William Perkin Church of England high school in Greenford, west London, on 28 June 2017. Karan, described as “so bright he could have been anything he wanted”, died 10 days later at Great Ormond Street hospital.
  - atdrummond 4y ago
    I can’t believe they unironically recommend replacing peanut butter on sandwiches with Biscoff cookie spread. And as the first option!
- jvvw 4y ago
  All the schools round here in the UK where I live are 'nut-free'.
moregrist 4y ago
I’m pretty sure that allowing companies to slip legal liability with a “might contain” which just result in boilerplate for all allergies which isn’t helpful to anyone. I’m glad your allergies aren’t so severe. But minimizing contact isn’t enough for people who are deathly allergic to peanuts or sesame, where the best case for exposure is an epi-pen shot and a trip to the ER. It’s not so much asking for padded walls as enough information to allow people to live without fear of dying because of something they ate. Every kid deserves an education without fear of being killed by some other kid’s snack. I don’t think it’s too much to ask for people to just eat their PB&J at home.
- tracker1 4y ago
  I didn't say boilerplate for all allergies... I specifically stated, that the mfg should list allergens the facility handles, but aren't ingredients. That warning should be sufficient to state that it may not be safe for the allergens in question. I'm sure actually adding allergens to food and labeling them is a much better solution after-all. Why, because nobody is going to make 10 mfg facilities each avoiding a different singular ingredient.
- rhino369 4y ago
  Why should they have legal liability in the first place for small amount of cross-contaminated ingredients? Regardless, listing ingredients they aren’t willing to affirm aren’t in their products is helpful. It identifies products that aren’t for sure safe which is what you want.
- savingsPossible 4y ago
  > I don’t think it’s too much to ask for people to just eat their PB&J at home. What's the cost benefit analysis here? That the kid does not get to share the food? Would touching someone that ate a PBJ be enough to trigger an episode? In what percentage of people? How can you just say something like that without also stating a model? Without percentages and numbers?
- gameman144 4y ago
  > I don’t think it’s too much to ask for people to just eat their PB&J at home. Totally get that. Others do think that's too much to ask though, and I'm sure there are cases where you'd disagree with their "not too much to ask" in return.
rhino369 4y ago
Kids need extra protection since they can’t weigh risk and don’t understand how the world works. So I understand if my daughters can’t have peanuts in elementary school if their classmate has a real allergy. But policies go above and beyond that now. They bar peanuts even if nobody has an allergy. Other places bar peanuts for self identified allergies (which cannot be confirmed 90% of the time by a doctor). That’s just bad policy driven by litigation fear.

gedy 4y ago

Wait, there are schools that don't allow non-allergic kids to eat peanut butter, etc?

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
MattGaiser 4y ago
Here is a sample requirement: https://www.stjohnsschool.org/uploaded/Files/Nut_Sensitive_FAQs_aug2017.pdf https://www.stjohnsschool.org/uploaded/Files/Nut_Sensitive_F...
- gedy 4y ago
  Thanks. I'd seriously take my kids out of schools like that. They shouldn't be scared about their sandwich is breaking "the rules", seems like it would breed low-grade paranoia in kids.
  - LesZedCB 4y ago
    Children are remarkably adaptable, it's usually the parents who are stuck in their ways
  - YeGoblynQueenne 4y ago
    Adults have trouble enough to grasp the concept of a deathly allergy to a common foodstuff, let alone kids. I think that's the reasoning behind this kind of ban. Not "breaking the rules" but causing harm to other kids because they don't understand the dangers. For instance, the following is a news item about a kid in a London school with a dairy allergy who died because his classmates flicked a bit of cheese at him as a joke: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/may/02/boy-with-allergy-died-cheese-flicked-at-him-london-inquest-told https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/may/02/boy-with-all... A schoolboy with a dairy allergy was left gasping for breath and shouted “I’m going to die” minutes after a fellow pupil flicked cheese at him, an inquest has heard. Karanbir Singh Cheema, 13, known as Karan, went from “absolutely fine” to unconscious in under 10 minutes after the incident at William Perkin Church of England high school in Greenford, west London, on 28 June 2017. Karan, described as “so bright he could have been anything he wanted”, died 10 days later at Great Ormond Street hospital.
- atdrummond 4y ago
  I can’t believe they unironically recommend replacing peanut butter on sandwiches with Biscoff cookie spread. And as the first option!
jvvw 4y ago
All the schools round here in the UK where I live are 'nut-free'.

moregrist 4y ago

I’m pretty sure that allowing companies to slip legal liability with a “might contain” which just result in boilerplate for all allergies which isn’t helpful to anyone. I’m glad your allergies aren’t so severe. But minimizing contact isn’t enough for people who are deathly allergic to peanuts or sesame, where the best case for exposure is an epi-pen shot and a trip to the ER. It’s not so much asking for padded walls as enough information to allow people to live without fear of dying because of something they ate. Every kid deserves an education without fear of being killed by some other kid’s snack. I don’t think it’s too much to ask for people to just eat their PB&J at home.

tracker1 4y ago
I didn't say boilerplate for all allergies... I specifically stated, that the mfg should list allergens the facility handles, but aren't ingredients. That warning should be sufficient to state that it may not be safe for the allergens in question. I'm sure actually adding allergens to food and labeling them is a much better solution after-all. Why, because nobody is going to make 10 mfg facilities each avoiding a different singular ingredient.
rhino369 4y ago
Why should they have legal liability in the first place for small amount of cross-contaminated ingredients? Regardless, listing ingredients they aren’t willing to affirm aren’t in their products is helpful. It identifies products that aren’t for sure safe which is what you want.
savingsPossible 4y ago
> I don’t think it’s too much to ask for people to just eat their PB&J at home. What's the cost benefit analysis here? That the kid does not get to share the food? Would touching someone that ate a PBJ be enough to trigger an episode? In what percentage of people? How can you just say something like that without also stating a model? Without percentages and numbers?
gameman144 4y ago
> I don’t think it’s too much to ask for people to just eat their PB&J at home. Totally get that. Others do think that's too much to ask though, and I'm sure there are cases where you'd disagree with their "not too much to ask" in return.

rhino369 4y ago

Kids need extra protection since they can’t weigh risk and don’t understand how the world works. So I understand if my daughters can’t have peanuts in elementary school if their classmate has a real allergy. But policies go above and beyond that now. They bar peanuts even if nobody has an allergy. Other places bar peanuts for self identified allergies (which cannot be confirmed 90% of the time by a doctor). That’s just bad policy driven by litigation fear.