Our first encounter with food allergies happened when Zach was 18 months old and started a gym class at the YMCA. The YMCA has declared itself a nut-free zone. At the time I knew only a little about nut allergies and had just started seeing my Nutritionist who recommended nuts for a snack. I hadn't seen the signs posted at the Y yet but did make sure to wash my hands after having my unsalted cashews and didn't let them touch anything but the snack bag they came in and my hands.
When an Employee pointed the sign out to me, my Nutritionist recommended sunflower seeds. I didn't like them that much but started taking food allergies more seriously. I read a story by Curtis Sittenfeld who talked about the playground at the park. He mentioned living in fear over seeing open snack packets laying on the ground and kids not washing their hands right after eating before going back to playing. It made me ask myself "what's reasonable to ask other parents to do because of your kid's food allergy?"
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/23/kids-and-food-allergies_n_3140889.html
That's when snacks outside the house became grapes and regular cheerios. It was a start. This way, if Zach touched something after a quick snack, a kid with a nut allergy would be okay. I also agree that we need to make sure to throw out trash as soon as you can making sure it lands in the garbage can.
But kids like to move while they eat and if a child has grown out of diapers, it's not reasonable to expect their parents to carry wipes around. Sometimes there isn't an unlocked bathroom nearby so there is no where TO wash your hands. Hand sanitizer is fine but germs build up a tolerance and it's been recommended to not overuse it. You can't expect every other parent to have hand sanitizer with them.
My outside-the - house snack plan is a good one. But it's not always obvious if something has nuts in it and it is unreasonable to expect ALL parents to read ALL food labels for nut products first. After learning that the cheerios might contain nuts, I decided to stick with just the grapes. The question still lingers..............what IS reasonable to ask of other parents?
This came up at Zach's birthday party last year. Zach had a back yard BBQ and we planned a traditional menu. Burgers, hot dogs, grilled chicken legs, veggies and sour cream dip, fruit cups with watermelon and grapes, tortilla chips and hummus, pretzels and plain chips. I found out that a friend of mine from High School has a son with a gluten allergy. Our kids are friends. Luckily, there was still plenty of food for him to eat.
Then a classmate came late. She had already eaten and had a special cup cake with her for dessert. Her Dad told me something I didn't know............she's allergic to nuts. When I thought about it, I thought she should still be able to eat some of what we had. Nothing had come in contact with nuts. I told him "while I don't know the specific ingredients of things like the ketchup, I know there was nothing with nuts on the grill or in the fruit cups or on the veggies platter." Since she already ate,
everything was fine. I had asked the mother of an Indian friend about their dietary restrictions (he can have chicken) and my High School friend but it hadn't occurred to me to consider a possible nut allergy. Her birthday party was at the Y this year. I would have done that too. This year I'll put in the invitation to let me know about dietary restrictions so the menu can be planned accordingly.
If you are hosting a party or even just having a friend over it's the right thing to do. Opinions differ about what is okay to ask of another parent in the park. Lines blur when it comes to if it's okay for another kid to have a peanut butter sandwich at lunch. But I think there is one thing that would help with some of those answers. One question I have that I'm sure other parents have too ............................ how deep into the ingredients does it go?
If something has the word "nut" in the name we all know kids with nut allergies can't have it. It would be so much easier to ask other parents to respect the allergy if there was a requirement for all products containing enough of a nut product to cause a reaction to be labeled. An easy to see label might lead to more parents avoiding those products, more companies making nut free products, and an easier time for parents to find food their kids can eat.
This website can help:
http://www.kidswithfoodallergies.org/resourcespre.php?id=62
Contain Peanut:
| Arachic oil Arachis Arachis hypogaea Artificial nuts Beer nuts Boiled peanuts
Cold pressed, extruded, or expelled peanut oil
Crushed nuts, crushed peanuts Dry roasted peanuts Earth nuts Goober peas Goobers Ground nuts, ground peanuts Hydrolyzed peanut protein | Hypogaeic acid Mandelonas Mixed nuts Monkey nuts Nu nuts flavored nuts Nut pieces Nutmeat
Peanuts, peanut butter, peanut butter chips, peanut butter morsels
Peanut flour Peanut paste Peanuts sauce, peanut syrup Spanish peanuts Virginia peanuts |
May Contain Peanuts:
Artificial flavoring
Baked goods
Candy
Chili
Chocolate
Crumb toppings
Flavoring
Graham cracker crust
Hydrolyzed plant protein
Hydrolyzed vegetable protein
Marzipan
Mole sauce
Natural flavoring
Nougat
Baked goods
Candy
Chili
Chocolate
Crumb toppings
Ethnic foods: African, Asian, Chinese, Indian, Indonesian, Thai, Vietnamese, Mexican
Fried foods Flavoring
Graham cracker crust
Hydrolyzed plant protein
Hydrolyzed vegetable protein
Marzipan
Mole sauce
Natural flavoring
Nougat
May Not Be Safe:
Lupine is a legume that cross-reacts with peanut at a high rate and should be avoided by peanut allergic patients. It does not fall under the labeling requirements of FALCPA. Lupine is also known as lupinus albus and can be found in seed or flour form.Some allergy experts advise those allergic to peanuts to avoid all tree nuts. Ask your allergist what is best for your child.
WOW I can't imagine how limited a diet this becomes. Labels to look out for are:
http://kidshealth.org/kid/nutrition/diets/nut_allergy.html#
After checking the ingredients list, look on the label for phrases like these:
- "may contain nuts"
- "produced on shared equipment with nuts or peanuts"
- "produced in a facility that also processes nuts"
Edit:
Other food allergies are easier to deal with but certainly not easy. They make gluten free flour and other ingredients as well as gluten free cake mixes. Gluten is wheat based so they can't have wheat.
As a parent of a kid without a food allergy the best I can do is ask the other parent before offering their kid food if what I plan to offer would be okay. I just do it out of their child's earshot. For things like dairy and gluten allergies that's the best we can do but nut allergies are harder. From what I can tell, if a residue from a nut touches the skin of someone who is allergic, they have a reaction.
I think most of us other parents try to be sensitive to kids with allergies but don't know what their parents know. I never would have thought that REGULAR cheerios might contain nuts. Little kids LOVE cheerios. How can a parent of a kid with an allergy expect other parents to not let their kids eat cheerios in public? We have made a personal choice to stick to grapes for a travel snack for the family but that can't be the expectation for everyone.
Serious allergic reactions can lead to death so it IS important for other parents to be sensitive to that. But what is reasonable for parents of kids with food allergies to expect of other parents? If Zach's friend's parents had told me when they RSVPed about her allergy,I would have asked about what to look out for and avoided any foods that would leave a nut residue. Just like I asked of his Indian friend's parents and my High School friend about the gluten allergy. If she came for a play date, I would ask her for food recommendations.
But what can a parent of a kid with an allergy expect me to do?
1. Expect a fellow parent inviting your kid over to provide proper food but this is only reasonable if the parent of the allergic kid is clear and detailed about what would be okay
2. Expect parents to keep obvious nut products at home. But the parent of the allergic kid should carry wipes and/or hand sanitizer to offer other kids and parents.
3. Expect parents to throw out their trash instead of littering
4. Expect other parents to check with you before offering your child something to eat.
It's NOT okay to expect me to:
1. Expect me to know that a cracker with cheese might have a nut product in it. We don't all share your knowledge of what causes reactions.
2. Expect a kid to sit still while eating.
3. Expect other parents to have wipes and/or hand sanitizer with them at all times (but carry your own and offer some of you want)
The key to a safer playground is labeling regulations. You can't require all public play areas to become nut free zones but it would become a safer environment if it became easier to know if something would cause a reaction. A lot of people think "so what if my kid is eating a nut, I'm not offering a nut to their kid". Some public education is needed about what kind of contact causes allergic reactions. The Mayo Clinic can help:
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/peanut-allergy/basics/causes/con-20027898
Exposure to peanuts can occur in different ways:
- Direct contact. The most common cause of peanut allergy is eating peanuts or peanut-containing foods. Sometimes direct skin contact with peanuts can trigger an allergic reaction.
- Cross-contact. This is the unintended introduction of peanuts into a product. It's generally the result of a food being exposed to peanuts during processing or handling.
- Inhalation. An allergic reaction may occur if you inhale dust or aerosols containing peanuts, such as that of peanut flour or peanut oil cooking spray.
This is a great web page on various food allergies. Some are easier to avoid triggers then others. What really could make a difference is better labeling. If a product might in the slightest contain something that could trigger an allergic reaction to any food, that should be required to be clearly labeled on the package. That requires food companies to be accountable for their products and mindful when making them. Chefs need to be better educated about exposures so restaurants become a safer environment for those with allergies.
http://www.foodallergy.org/
At Halloween we offer non-food items like play-doh, stickers, pencils, and other individually wrapped little toys. More and more are being featured every year. The non-food option is great for kids with allergies. They also give the parents a small break from having to worry about what is in the food their kid is given.
For birthdays at Zach's school we are asked to bring in the Betty Crocker "just add water" muffin mixes. We bring a mix of Blueberries and Chocolate Chip so the kids with allergies can have the Blueberry muffins without feeling left out. It's a good way to celebrate birthdays.
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