Each year it seems an increasing number of food items are banned at primary schools around the country.
As part of a national standard all Australian primary school implement a nut ban, and then each school uses their own discretion to ban other foods students are allergic to such as egg and fish.
Every year when the notes are handed out about food bans at school I hear parents – particularly new parents – complaining.
“But little Johnny only every eats peanut butter sandwiches. Why should he miss out because some other kid is allergic?”
“Jenny always eats boiled eggs. I should be able to pack them in her school lunch.”
Listen to Jo Abi talk about school lunch bans on This Glorious Mess.
I’m an allergy mum and most of the time I bite my tongue when I overhear these conversations, hoping once the parents stop complaining they just following the rules of the school. I know that most parents do, I also know that some parent’s don’t.
Let me ask you this…
How would you feel if a lunch you packed for your child killed my son who is allergic to egg and nuts? How would your child feel?
Could you live with yourself, knowing you deliberately disobeyed the rules of the school and now an innocent child is dead?
I didn’t think so.
Top Comments
your statement that all primary schools has a nut ban is incorrect. The advise now is for schools to implement a food ban per class as kids eat in the classroom. Much more realistic
If a child is anaphylactic to something, of course ban the food item. Unfortunately I feel the blanket ban on nuts has lessened its effect. If there's no child at school with anaphylaxis to nuts why is the ban there? I dutifully follow the ban, however know many parents who don't as they don't see the point. It would make a far greater impact if, at the start of the school year, parents were advised there were children at the school (without identifying them by name or year) who had life threatening allergies to whatever food item it was, and therefore a ban was in place. There was a child at my son's school who had anaphylaxis to bananas...makes sense to ban bananas rather than nuts. As someone with a mild peanut allergy I have no problems being around people who are eating them. When I was in primary school I'd occasionally get a rash if I got too close to someone who'd had a peanut butter sandwich, hardly a reason to ban them!