Back to School with Food Allergies
If you read my post last week about what it’s like to be an allergy mom, you might (hopefully) have a better understanding of food allergies and the challenges we face in keeping our kids safe. Now that we are finally getting into the swing of the school year, you may be struggling with similar challenges and questions that food allergy parents contend with almost every day—what food can I safely send to school without risking another child’s safety?
It’s especially challenging for those of us who have picky eaters. Yes, believe me, I get that too. The list of foods my son can and WILL eat seems to grow shorter all the time. Since my son’s classroom is nut-free and sesame-free (to minimize the risk of exposure to those allergens), I know that other parents in the class are struggling to figure out how to send a nutritious meal their kids will eat without breaking the classroom allergy rules—or breaking the bank. (Unfortunately, many of the specialized “allergy-friendly” products tend to be pretty expensive.) And honestly, I don’t always have a good answer.
I know how hard it is for those of you who are dealing with other kids’ food allergies for the first time in a classroom. Suddenly you have to learn how to avoid allergens and incorporate these limitations into your kid’s food choices immediately—or else you could endanger another kid’s life. It’s a lot of pressure and there’s no clear road map, but I’ll try to help you navigate the confusing and risky (but also very necessary) path of keeping the food allergy classroom safe.
The Food Allergy Classroom
If you have any kids in school, you need to know if other kids in the class have allergies and—if necessary/severe enough—how to avoid those allergens in the food you send to school. According to FARE, the research shows “up to 15 million Americans have food allergies, including 5.9 million children under age 18. That’s 1 in 13 children, or roughly two in every classroom.” So as a parent of a school-age child, you will at some point send your child to an allergy classroom, and you may be asked to take some important and necessary precautions.
The teacher should let you know if there are any allergies in the classroom and what to avoid, but if you have doubts or questions, please talk to the teacher or the parent of the allergic child directly. It could be a question of life and death for those kids, so please don’t take this lightly. Sincerely, from one parent to another, I can’t stress this enough: This is not a dietary preference or choice. This is about the life and death of our children.
If you know what the allergies are but aren’t sure what to do next, I would recommend taking the following steps:
- Take a moment to do a little research and familiarize yourself with the allergen(s) and any other names or forms it can take. Otherwise you may come across the allergen on an ingredient list and not even realize it (especially if it is not a top eight allergen and not clearly labeled)—for example, I didn’t know that tahini was concentrated sesame seed paste until I gave it to my son and he had an anaphylactic reaction. (Of course that was before I knew he had a sesame allergy.)
- Take a look at your go-to lunch and snack options and read the labels to figure out if any of them contain those allergens. If they contain the allergen, you should not bring them to school. (And depending on the severity of the allergy, you might need to make sure your kid washes his/her hands after eating it if they are on their way to school or an event with allergy kids.)
- If it’s unclear whether or not one of your kid’s favorite foods have an allergen in them, you have a few options—1) Don’t take the risk and don’t send it to school; 2) Ask the allergy parent or teacher what they think; 3) Contact the manufacturer and ask them. (Please remember that there can be hidden allergens in vague ingredients like “spices” or “natural flavors.”)
In the dreaded event that your child’s favorite food (maybe even one of the few things he/she eats!) includes an allergen that you can’t send to school, then it’s time to consider adapting the recipe and/or finding alternative ingredients that will allow them to continue eating something very similar if not virtually the same.
For example, if your kid only eats peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and the classroom is nut-free (as many are these days), you should try peanut butter alternatives Wow Butter or Sun Butter. Hopefully your child won’t even notice the difference… and if they do, maybe explain that it’s necessary make the change at school for safety reasons, and encourage them to keep trying it with an open mind. Who knows—soon they might like it better than the real thing!
If all else fails… maybe it’s time to try something new that is allergy-friendly?
Allergy Friendly Products
If you need to send “allergy friendly” food to school (or provide “safe” food to other kids at a play date or party), PLEASE check with the teacher and/or parents to make sure you are aware of all allergies and how severe they are, then check all ingredient lists and allergen statements—even on products that claim to be “allergy-friendly.” This term is in quotes for a reason: it implies that the food is free of all allergens, which isn’t possible. As I mentioned last week, ANY food can be an allergen. For that reason, some consider it to be misleading and possibly even dangerous to call anything “allergy friendly.”
When a product claims to be “allergy friendly,” it just means that it is free of many of the most common allergens—usually the top eight most common allergens—but not all of them. So it’s always important to double-check the label and the allergies that you’re dealing with to make sure a product is safe. That said, allergy-friendly products can be amazing for people who have the most common allergies, and I’ve found in general those brands can have better allergy awareness and processes in place for avoiding cross-contact and other common problems.
Here are just a few “allergy-friendly” products/brands that we LOVE and are free of many of the common allergens (though not all—please check the all labels and allergies to make sure it’s safe!):
Enjoy Life – One of the most popular brands for cookies, chocolate chips, granola bars, and all kinds of treats that are free of MANY common allergens.
MadeGood – My son loves these granola bars. They also have granola minis and “vanilla crispy squares” which are like a healthier rice crispy treat.
Earth Balance – The go-to non-dairy butter alternative made from vegetable oils. If you’re baking, their buttery sticks are quite helpful. (They also make good popcorn!)
Abe’s Vegan Muffins – My son loves these muffins and they are surprisingly good. The sugar content is pretty high though, so they can be used as treats.
Bitsy’s Brainfood Smart Crackers – Crackers in fun geometric shapes. We can only get one of the flavors (cinnamon sweet potato graham), but it looks like they recently expanded their offerings to include more flavors and cookies.
Yum Earth Candy – Great organic lollipops and gummy candies (perfect for an allergy-friendly Halloween!)
Chloe’s Pops Frozen Fruit Bars –In addition to the fruit varieties, they have a dark chocolate popsicle that became our favorite non-dairy ice cream option last summer.
Tofutti Cuties – Vegan ice cream sandwiches that are delicious and cute.
Lundberg Rice Cakes – My son prefers the cinnamon toast flavor, but I am a fan of the simplicity of their organic brown rice cakes.
Sun Butter and Wow Butter – We have not actually tried these yet because fortunately my son is not allergic to peanut, but will be sending one or both to school as a peanut butter alternative.
Cherrybrook Kitchen – I have tried the cookie and brownie mix and they are both delicious. I plan to try the cake mix for my son’s birthday soon.
Better Bites Bakery – This is our favorite “safe” store-bought treat to bring to birthday celebrations. They have a mini hostess cupcake that is really good.
If you need more ideas, check out this Safe Snack Guide. It has so many suggestions for allergy-friendly products. Of course, there are plenty of regular products not branded as “allergy-friendly” that might be perfectly safe and allergen-free depending on the allergy. Just check labels and ask questions about the allergies to make sure.
If in the end the allergy parent rejects an “allergy safe” option that you have gone through the trouble to provide, please don’t be offended. Trying new things is ALWAYS a risk for allergy kids, and even if the food appears to be safe we may decide that it’s not worth the risk—especially if we are not there to monitor them while they are eating it. If you are considering providing an allergy-friendly alternative snack/treat for someone, I highly recommend checking with them first to make sure they aren’t already planning to bring their own (as so many of us do automatically) and to make sure they can actually eat it before you go through the trouble of providing a “safe” alternative. We don’t want you to waste your time or money!
If in doubt, please don’t be afraid to ask allergy parents questions—this is the best thing you can do. Believe me, we don’t mind. We have to spend so much time “educating” people on food allergies when we know they don’t want to hear it, so if you actually ask, I am more than happy to talk about it.
And no matter what, we always appreciate any effort you make to give us options and to take our kid’s allergies into consideration. Just knowing that you are thinking about us—and our kids—means everything to us.
Any questions? Please just ask.
—
Margel Nusbaumer is a local writer and mom in Brooklyn. Thoughts? Reach out to margel@achildgrows.com.
Related Post:
https://www.achildgrows.com/2018/09/18/what-its-like-as-the-allergy-mom/