Peanut allergy???

[Charliee]

My son is in grade one this year, and a child starting prep has anaphalaxis??? (severe peanut allergy). The school has banned all kids bringing nut based foods and also those with even traces of nuts. I am going mental trying to vary his lunch box each day, does anyone have any ideas on what I could pack??? Thanks.

[Sarah]

Our school tried to do this too. I feel for the ones with the allergies, but I certainly don't think it is fair to ban all peanut products from the school because of a few kids. My kids school finally got so much resistence from the parents that they made a special table where the allergy kids can sit and anyone who sits there with them must not have anything with peanuts. They also could not serve anything from the cafeteria with peanuts, but the kids were allowed to bring whatever they wanted in their lunch box. There are many other types of allergies, eggs, wheat, etc., that kids have, but you don't see them banning those things! It's ridiculous when they try to keep peanut butter (a staple in our house) out of the schools. Things I can recommend for you are ham and cheese, turkey, applesauce, fruit, yogurt, carrots and dip. My son has a small thermos and he takes soup, Raman noodles, spaghetti O's, etc. Good luck!

[Emmy]

There are still tons of things to pack and avoid peanuts.
Any deli meats and cheese. Ham and cheese wraps,
Fluff and Jelly
Lunchables (unlimited varieties, from meats and cheese, to chicken nuggets with ketchup, and mini pizzas, and hot dogs)
Apples, grapes, any fruits
String cheese
Raisins
grahm crackers
if he likes carrots, or celery.
yogurt if he likes it,
Bagel and cream cheese
Different flavors of juice boxes each day.
Hope this gives you a few ideas

[Lissa]

I have a nut allergy also, remember anything made with oats more than likely have a nut trace. So no granola bars etc. I would stick to fruit, fruit snacks, chips, pudding

This website is very helpful.

[dancesportdiva]

My son attends a "nut free" kindergarten. All foods containing nuts like muesli bars, nutella and peanut butter are banned. They are also not allowed to bring any junk food or anything in individual packets except for yoghurt. It's not too hard to come up with ideas. When I was a kid I ate the same thing everyday for years at a time, vegemite, then progressed to vegemite and cheese. What about ham or other cold meat and salad ingredients. Honey or vegemite or other spreads. You can buy nut free peanut butter apparently. Extras can include biscuits, rice crackers, cheese, fruit, dried fruit. My son often takes banana chips, dates, sultanas, sliced cucumber and he adores biscuits with cheese. If he gets sick of sandwiches, wraps with salad and meat are good too.

[momof4]

you can try soy butters if your child likes peanut butter (just check labels, because some brands of soy butter have traces of peanuts. we use the I.M. Healthy brand, which is peanut-free).

most bread that you can get at the grocery store is nut-free, but bakery bread may have traces of nuts from the way they prepare it, and some types of multi-grain have traces of nuts.

my daughter has a life-threatening peanut and nut allergy, so we don't have any products with nuts or traces of nuts in the house. i send for their lunches: pasta or soup in a thermos; soy butter and jam sandwiches; turkey, roast beef, ham, chicken, or salami sandwiches; yogurt w/ cereal and berries (most cereals do not have nut traces but some do -- e.g. regular cheerios is fine but multigrain cheerios is not ... you have to check labels); chicken drumsticks; ravioli; spaghetti or soup. most crackers and some cookies are fine; goldfish are fine; don't send ritz bits because they have traces of nuts.

virtually anything from a bakery is off-limits; so are most candies (hersheys makes some nut-free varieties); and even many foods you wouldn't expect like some salsas, jellybeans, etc. a friend just brought us some tomato soup from a box that it turned out we couldn't eat because it has traces of nuts. since you never can tell, it's best to always read the label, even if it's a food that seems like it would be safe.

as someone who ate pb&j all through my school years, i know it's a huge pain to have to be so careful about reading labels. but as the parent of a kid who could die if she accidentally ingested somebody else's crumbs, i can tell you i'm desperately grateful to parents like you who are being careful even though it's a huge hassle. thanks.