iaink

Thats what appears to have happened. Good news for the people that turn soy beans into peanut free peanut butter I suppose. We dont actually know if the kids had further shocks at the school although in one article it was mentioned that she came home with some reaction to the teacher having eaten buttery popcorn. Id be wary of taking this argument that its about the kids social contact alone without a big pinch of salt and a fact check.

I did read this and wondered who at the school had their head up their arse... Id be pretty pissed if I was her.

"Ms. Glovers efforts to reduce dangers to her daughter were thwarted: When she baked 560 cupcakes for Snuggle Up and Read Day, the school served them with dairy-based hot chocolate. When she brought allergen-free pancake mix to school for Shrove Tuesday, the school had purchased buttery syrup with a label that read: “Allergy Warning: Contains Milk.”"
Wheres that facepalm smiley...

dbd33

I would think the school would be on thin ice, serving food created by a parent (especially one they know to be unhinged):

- she's likely not in the caterer's union and is subverting the work of union members

- if her food free cupcakes contain allergens damaging to other pupils they'll have a liability mess on their hands

colchar

Yes, but the instances aren't nearly as prevalent as the peanut allergy crowd would have you believe. Hell, I wash dishes that have peanut butter on them and have never once had a reaction because of it.


One death is too many but that doesn't alter the fact that the rest of society should not be forced to alter their behaviour and diet simply to accommodate 0.6% of the population. Just think about that for a minute - why should 99 out of every 100 people alter their behaviour in order to accommodate that 1 person? Instead, that one person should alter their behaviour.





Yes, and death is extremely rare. According to actual numbers, only 32 people died from food related allergies in Ontario from 1986-2000 and only six of those occurred due to exposure at school.

I cannot find a live link but the actual reference is below...I can access the journal because of academic access to university libraries, but I cannot paste a link that will provide others with access to it without divulging my logon and password.

Mehra S, Salter J, Sussman G, Cairns J, Vadas P. "A study of 32 food-related deaths from anaphylaxis: Ontario; 1986-2000." Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology 2002; 109 (1 Pt 2): S181.


Although I cannot find a live link the study above is referenced at the bottom of the first page of this book preview (unfortunately the following page is not included):

http://books.google.ca/books?id=mMLV...6-2000&f=false



That study is also referenced on the Health Canada website (scroll down to "Case Study: Food Allergen Labelling"):

http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/sr-sr/pubs/hp.../index-eng.php

Oakvillian

My kid sister (now in her 40s) has a severe anaphylactic allergy to peanuts. She has been hospitalized because of it three times in her life, on all three occasions being transported by ambulance and having intramuscular epinephrine injections on site and en route - and on at least two other occasions she has self-administered an Epipen-type autoinjector.

Her view is that it really doesn't help the child to make the kinds of over-the-top accommodations that this mother seeks. She's in the UK, where the accommodation rules are a bit different, but she was staggered to learn that most, if not all, elementary schools in Canada are peanut-free zones.

There is really no need to stop everybody else in this kid's class from eating eggs and dairy if sensible basic hygiene rules are followed. If it were my child who was being prevented from eating a healthy balanced diet containing eggs and dairy products, I think I'd be tempted to get the human rights people on the case - it is an unreasonable expectation that everybody else's diet suffer because of one child's allergy.

Some of the history of this case interests me. I'd love to know the severity of the previous anaphylaxis incidents. I'd love to know what has triggered the transition from the "clean room" accommodation that was OK through kindergarten to the point where that is no longer OK. If the child is living in fear of contamination, then that's a pretty poor reflection on the mother, IMO.

iaink

Me too.

Ive had run ins with a school board in the past and their high and mighty dismissive attitude left me with a very strong desire to make life as difficult and unpleasant for them as possible for a short while. If I had , for example, gone to the trouble to supply alergen free cupcakes for the school but found them served with hot chocolate, then I would have wondered if they were getting the message or taking the allergy seriously. If I found that my kids teacher was exposing my allergic kid to buttery popcorn I would be pretty steamed over it.

I suspect the rather unreasonable demand to ban eggs and dairy entirely was made because these things usually go to mediation so its as well to start with an unreasonable demand in order to then negotiate back to a position that you can live with.

Oink

Are they allowed pistachio or macadamia nuts?

ExKiwilass

I love what you said Oak, but try getting the school or other parents to understand that PEANUTS doesn't mean DEATH is a challenge. I find it very frustrating that a whole, very healthy food group (nuts) is banned cos of children with alleged allergies.

I heard the mum interviewed this morning. It was pretty clear in the interview that the clean room became an issue when her daughter became sad about not being able to eat with her friends. And rather than go, hey, that's life, and re-directing her, she decided to wage a campaign to get all her friends to eat the same food she does

Oakvillian

I missed this morning's interview. May catch it on the re-run this evening or online later. It strikes me, though, from reading the reports, that what the child needs is support and encouragement, not further entrenchment and isolation. Pissing off the school's staff and every other kid's parents is hardly a constructive first step on that path. Get her lunch down her neck quickly and in a "clean" zone, and get her out in the schoolyard playing. Get all the other kids to wash their hands properly when they've finished eating. But don't stop them bringing cheese sandwiches or (as we gather happened) prevent them from signing up to the milk programme - that's no way to win friends and influence people.

bats

i heard most of the interview .. The child has come home from school several times with hives//urticaria from contact with dairy or eggs. She has had a full blown anaphylactic episodes from ingesting the allergen.

The parents must worry every time that child leaves their care and i think the mother should be applauded for trying to make life more normal for her. I bet the little buggers, er other kids at her school,were tormenting the kid because of her isolation. Torment by cheesesticks, you can just see kids trying it on.

Shame none of the girl's friends had parents who thought to send their kids in with an allergy
free lunch occasionally so they coukd keep her company at lunchtimes.

colchar

Since when has there been real butter, or dairy of any kind, in butter flavored popcorn? That flavoring is all oils and artificial flavors.

colchar

Not all hot chocolate contains dairy so why would it be a problem? If the hot chocolate they served was made with cocoa powder and no dairy then there wouldn't be a problem - except in that mother's mind.

colchar

Those parents are too ignorant to understand that peanuts are not nuts, just like tomatoes are not vegetables. We shouldn't be making policies based on people's ignorance and stupidity.



The arrogance that it takes to do that is astounding.

magnumpi

So when the kids with allergies leave school and walk into a mall, or go Tim's, or anywhere in fact, does their mum run ahead of said kid checking, grabbing and throwing nuts and milk away as he walks forward into the real world?

Gozit

I agree with you and Oink. The kid has almost 10 allergies.

My former elementary school had a peanut product ban, and thats it. That is reasonable as around 30% of kids in the school had a fatal peanut allergy. But they werent allergic to 8 other things either.

And peanuts are different from egg and dairy allergies. Egg and dairy allergies are not usually fatal as peanut ones are if dealt with properly. If they ban dairy and egg products, there goes the school milk program, snack program, etc etc... as all those things have eggs+dairy in them. Absolutely ridiculous. What the hell is a parent supposed to pack the kid for lunch if theres that many restrictions...

Now, on the other hand, at my current high (hell) school there is no allergy ban, as the mentality is at this age, kids can recognise what they are or are not allergic to, and choose what they eat accordingly. Which I totally agree with at the high school level.

Jingsamichty

No they didn't.