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I'm not going to give you a break, either. Not only is it not possible to enforce it constantly, but a ban doesn't fix anything. Your kid needs to be responsible for knowing what he puts in his mouth; it's not the job of every other child in the school. I knew a girl once who was deathly allergic to tomatoes. Should we ban all tomato products from schools, to protect her? People have deadly latex allergies, and bananas and avocados can trigger those; should we ban those? It's possible for people to have deadly allergies to just about anything. Soon, there will be long lists of things banned, and the bans will get more and more difficult to enforce.
It gets absurd.
Look, of course you're worried about your kid. But the world is not going to go nut-free to protect the small number of people who have deadly allergies to nuts, and your child should be prepared for that world.

as a food professional who has had several customers with nut allergies, i sympathize with your plight. one can never be too diligent when it comes to food allergies like that of nuts, or shellfish...etc.

however, there are so many products that are prepared in facilities that also process nuts. how does one safeguard against this situation? how can anyone guarantee anything at this point?

i think one has to also consider that if a child is diabetic, one cannot ban sugar or carbs from the school..... unfortunately that child has to deal with that condition.

peanut butter (when it's not contaminated) is a cheap and nutritious food source -- i think it would be a shame to deny people access to this food because of a miniscule percentage of people who are allergic.

it's not a perfect world.....

Some people have such extreme sensitivities to peanuts that inhaling the dust or fumes from a peanut-butter sandwich will cause a reaction. It does not seem unreasonable to me to ban any foodstuff that can cause such a serious and potentially fatal response in a child without the child having to eat the food. I have been on several airplane flights where all passengers have not been allowed to open any food containing nuts due to a passenger having this allergy. I understand that an airplane's recirculated air aggravates the likelihood of exposure, but so might the air on a muggy day in an inadequately-ventilated classroom.

Though @pooch, I also don't think it's a bad idea to ban sweets in school, even without considering the health aspect! Kids who are amped up on candy and/or soda behave in ways that make it tougher for teachers to maintain order in classrooms - and make it more difficult for all students to learn. This school in Georgia has been sugar-free for ten years, and the results they've had in terms of higher test scores and fewer behavioral problems are hard to argue with. We don't let kids smoke; we don't let them drink alcohol - why not refuse them refined sugar, another addictive substance with clearly negative effects on human health?

I think nut allergies and many food sensitivities are directly related to the food habits of the past few generations, and I believe that it's everyone's responsibility to protect their own health and the health of their families (and future generations) by changing our highly processed, sugar/refined carb-heavy, and fresh food-barren national diet. But in the meantime, we have to recognize that children with these food sensitivities can be extremely vulnerable, and I can't believe it's worth risking a single child's life so that even 10,000 children can have the convenience of a peanut butter sandwich.

I agree with all the folks who said that people with allergies need to be responsible for themselves. I think it is extremely rude for people to impose their allergies/sensitivities on others, and dangerous for the ones with the allergies, if they expect everyone else to take care of the problem and not be prepared themselves.

I have mentioned this before, in a much older post, though...I have a coworker with a mild allergy to walnuts (she gets sores in her mouth). This is one of many ways in which she thrusts her sensitivities and other psychological issues on all of us--when we have a potluck and someone brings, say, banana-nut bread, she huffs and stomps around as though that person did it on purpose as an affront to her. Just like her reaction when someone parks in "her" space or uses "her" lead apron, or wears a fragrance she doesn't like. So, naturally, when something so minor gets such a spectacular reaction, people do things like that on purpose all the time, including myself.

I'm super conscientious about allergies. When I bake for allergies everything I use comes out of the dishwasher. Super clean and nut (egg, wheat or whatever) free, and yet even I make mistakes. Last year I sent my daughter to school with a bar that contained peanuts. I didn't read the package because in my mind granola never contains peanuts. One of the other mom's pointed it out. It was an honest mistake and proof that a ban cannot work.

I worked in a kind-12k school that had a separate table for those who had allergies. No kids except those that had allergies could sit there. When I first started working there I thought oh those poor kids, eating away from their friends. Not so, their friends would make a point to sit at the next table to be with them. What considerate little friends they had. But I don't believe in banning a whole school of a food product because of a few that have allergies. The school nurses should have the shots ready like bee shots. I had allergies when I was young and still have some, but do I expect that the whole school, office building ban something that I am allergic to? Hell no!! I think that if I was a kid and I was the cause of a school food ban all because of me, would have effected me in a bad way. What about when you go travelling, what then, you expect a country to ban things when your kid enters the country? I think not. Take responsibilty and teach your kid on what is good to eat and not. I am sick of listening to bitchy, whining people that expect to have the world revolve around their needs and expectations.

Evolution is working in reverse, because of great medical care. The nut-allergic and diabetics and such used to die out early. Now they live long, prosper, and reproduce, thanks to medical science and nut-free schools.

Everyone on the planet will soon be so sensitive to various "toxins" that a sniff of this or that will kill them. That's how the human experiment will end. Nut free schools, latex-free hospitals, and such are needed now, and I don't begrudge it or offer any solutions -- because I want them if I am allergic -- but the end is near. [Note to morons: This is sarcasm.]

The only thing worse than kids with allergies are the parents of kids with allergies. Oh, please, continue to make a federal case out of your little ones dietary restrictions; in the schools, in the supermarket. Continue to rail against casual dining establishments and torture the college-aged server by explaining that not knowing what, exactly, is in your Chicken Tenders makes them completely unqualified for their job, and that for $3/hr, they should be aware that LIFE and DEATH are on their hands.

Its cute and protective now, but when Timmy is still a bachelor at 35, living in your basement, well...

Nuts! Would it have been so hard to have a topic line stating: "In praise of nut bans in school" or something like that? Nuts indeed!

Jerzee! My soul sister! I have the same problem with cats, and it makes me so mad when I turn down an invitation because someone has cats, and then they go on to get huffy with me and say something like "well, can't you just take a Claritin or something?"

On the plus side, it's kept us from accepting invitations to places we didn't want to go. ;-)

To the OP, when I was in school, I had a classmate who was deathly allergic to bee stings. We found this out in second grade when he got stung at recess, and went down to the pavement hard. We all watched in horror as the nurse worked on him, the ambulance showed up, and it took two weeks before he could come back to school. After that, the school did what it could as far as making sure there were no bee nests on school grounds. Now, how to prevent future bee stings? Well, the obvious solution would be no more recess for this child- the way to make him feel less embarassed would have been no more recess for any child. Do either of these make any sense? No, he was back out playing kickball the second he was well enough to do so, and was much more vigilant about watching out for bees. And as his friends, we were vigilant with him, we helped him watch out for bees.

This kid took ownership of his allergy, and as his friends and classmates, we helped when we could. A little education goes a long way.

I am so embarrassed by everyone who is leaving you negative comments. They are being incredibly immature. I don't know where THEIR children go to school, but as some one who went to a public school-I completely advocate that school's choice to go nut-free. They are doing this both as a safety precaution AND as a liability in case some one were to become sick from eating. No one seems to understand that it is not the school's job to feed your child, they simply have to because of government regulation. A school's job is to educate your child, so if the "feeding part" bothers you that much, pull the stick out of your ass and pack your kid foie gras and salmon. Babsrose, people ARE totally missing the point. Don't read any of their ridiculous comments (im not).

@fins, AMEN!

I have had allergies all of my life. I've learned to ask questions when I think there's something in the food or if I have a chance of coming into contact with an allergen. My mother raised me to learn to take care of myself. I think shielding your child from any and all possibility of danger is silly and impossible. If you're going to be a nutcase about it, then homeschool and leave the rest of the mature world alone.

@cickert - it is precisely because we're talking about 4-year olds, the ban may not work after all if it's not supported by education. If her son can't read, then neither can his friends. The ban alone won't stop his friends from taking a piece of chocolate from home, putting it in their pockets and perhaps even sharing it with the said allergic child. And who's to blame then?

A four-year old child may or may not be able to read, but he or she can and should be taught not to eat anything that doesn't come from home (something I knew very well when I was 4, even without allergies).

I don't believe it's a slippery slope argument - people are deathly allergic to different foods, why stop at nuts? Unlike "marrying a horse", allergies to other foods, from melons to tomatoes, are very real.

I'm all for making reasonable accommodations for kids with special needs, but you can't bubble-wrap the whole world.

In some schools, a peanut ban might be reasonable and possible. In other schools, for instance where many parents are poor or don't speak the language or are too self-important to care about other people's kids, it would be just about impossible. It's much more likely that a small school in a close-knit community could have a voluntary ban that would work flawlessly. But in a large school, I can imagine that there would be a number of parents who wouldn't care and wouldn't bother reading labels to make sure that the granola bars are peanut free.

Fer cripes sakes, parents can't keep their kids from having sex and doing drugs -- you really think they can stop them from going to the store and sneaking nut-filled snacks into their backpacks?

And what do you do if there are kids whose parents work in the food industry and come home with peanut dust on them? Hose the kid down before he enters the building? Put him in a hazmat suit? Deny him access to the school to protect the kid with allergies?

Obviously, a 4-year-old kid can't read food labels. But you can teach the kid that he/she can't eat any food that hasn't come from his.her own home. Later, the kid can learn to be more discriminating and make informed decisions as to what is safe and what isn't.

It can't solely be the responsibility of the 4-year-old to safeguard himself, but the burden can't be put completely on the school to make sure the kid is safe, because the school can't control every parent and every kid and every visitor that comes into the school.

Think about it. Schools have metal detectors to keep kids from sneaking guns and knives and other weapons into the school. They don't make nut detectors. Kids who are thinking about bringing a gun to school aren't going to be reading food labels.

Yes, obviously the guns are being brought in by older kids and not 4-year-olds. But there are schools with a wide range of ages in the same building.

Again, I'm not saying that the school and the community shouldn't attempt to make reasonable accommodations. But I wouldn't trust every parent in a school to be careful enough to the point where I'd feel comfortable telling the kid "The schools is peanut-free. It's safe. Run amok and eat whatever you want there."

Because as soon as you do that, you run into the kids of an overindulgent parent who decides it's okay to sneak in chocolate-covered peanut butter cookies because little precious loves the cookies, and little precious is the most important thing in the world. Or you run into a parent that's just too stupid or busy, or who relies on the illiterate housekeeper to pack the lunch. There are any number of reasons a ban isn't a foolproof solution.

Do I think it would be nice if everyone went out of their way to safeguard other people's children at school? Sure. Would I trust those people completely in a life-or-death situation? Heck no.

And FYI, I don't think I'm whining. And honesly, if you (the OP) have seen a lot of people whining about nut bans on this site, I think you've been very selective in your reading.

Is it me, or do parents today make more of a federal case about the whole thing? I had a friend who was allergic to nuts when I was in school and, guess what, he didn't eat them! I remember eating a brownie with nuts next to him once and when I offered him a piece he calmly explained to me that he can't eat nuts because he's allergic (we were in grade school at the time).

I also feel like more kids have allergies now because parents are so concerned about keeping them completely clean and germ free. The kids don't have the natural defenses against allergens....just sayin'

@ Buffy....P-Mac has a touch of stomach flu. Im sure she will arrive shortly!

@ myself, I suppose, I notice the OP has not made another comment since her original post. WTF? Now I am just angry at myself for taking the bait on an obviously bored human being that just wanted to throw a rift somewhere. Sigh.

@Chelley, at least it was a real issue and not just a shill for a product. Or maybe the post was aimed at some peanut-butter-lovers website instead of SE.

I dunno, though, it seems like odd timing. With the salmonella scare, I'd bet that most schools are becoming peanut-free just because of all the recalls. Or maybe that's the point. Pull it all out and keep it out.

@fuuchan - nope, not just you. That's exactly why I earlier asked the OP to post a link to any such posts...but we haven't heard from her, which makes me wonder.

She probably realized that the majority did not jump on her bandwagon and therefore didn't want to campaign anymore.

I have a one year old son and another on the way. If it turns out that either of my boys are allergic to peanuts then they will be informed not to trade lunches or to take anything offered to them, albeit in a nice way. I respect that some people have allergies but it is just inconsiderate to expect everyone to bow to those allergies.

I can understand the school cafeteria being nut-free but you can't presume to dictate what individuals bring for themselves to eat.

Methinks someone got this site mixed up with another, or else she's been harboring her frustrations from an ancient comment.

I don't have kids, and I only know one with a nut allergy. He's three. He knows about his allergy and knows not to eat anything given to him by anyone other than his parents or grandparents. At preschool, they have a special nut-free table (similar to above) and it's regarded positively, like a fun lunch club or something. Parents are reminded when sending food in for birthdays and stuff, but he usually follows the no-food-from-others rule - on those days, him mom packs a special snack for him, or guess what, he deals with it! He's a sweet, well-adjusted kid, and his parents have used this opportunity for an excellent lesson in everything not always being easy or fair.

On a side note, one of my greatest fears is having a kid with a nut allergy, as I believe I was born swathed in a layer of crunchy peanut butter. So to that extent, even if these parents are getting a little extreme with their militant demands, you have to at least acknowledge the anxiety they have over the allergy in general and the risks it poses. Not that it's logical to expect everyone to care and comply, but still.

I didn't have any allergies when I was a kid (that I was aware of) but my mother made it clear that I wasn't supposed to take food from anyone without her permission. She had a weird fear of razor blades in apples and things like that, so if we were at someone's house and someone offered me something, I'd run to her with it and get permission. Every. Single. Time.

I don't recall ever trading lunches with anyone at school, and to be honest I don't know if it was that my mother's paranoia sunk in, or if was just that no one else's lunch was appealing. And after a while, I bought the hot lunch every day, so there was nothing to trade since it was all the same glop.

A four-year-old isn't going to be reading food labels, but he can learn not to take food from anyone else. It's a simple yes-no issue. If it came from home, you can have it. If it didn't come from home, you can't have it. With a little teacher supervision, that's about as safe as it gets. And of course, teachers and other responsible adults have epi-pens handy.

If the kid has the kind of allergies that make it fatal to touch or breath a molecule of peanut residue, then I can't see how the kid could be safe in any public place. And that includes playgrounds, grocery stores, buses, sporting events, other people's houses...and banning nuts from school isn't going to be enough either, because kids who are traveling to school in the back of a car where peanut butter got smeared yesterday are going to be going to school with peanut residue on hands and clothes.

If the school wants to ban peanuts from its own menu, that's one thing. I can't see how they can ban all peanut residue. It's just not possible unless it's a tiny school and all the parents are on the same bandwagon.

Is it just me or is the fact we're not sure if this was a shill, a troll, or whatever an argument for making subject headers a bit more clear, as in "regarding all of the (nonexistant) pro-peanut butter in school posts"?

*sigh*
No. It's not that we don't get it. It's that the responsibility for what your child eats is between you and your child. A four year old can be taught what to eat and what not to eat. A four year old can read, too.

I work at a high school that does not ban nuts (it does ban latex). A 16 year old kid purposefully ate an ice cream dessert with peanuts out of the vending machine knowing she would have to be hospitalized so she could get out of a geometry test. Seriously. Fortunately, the girl's parent realized that the fault in the matter was entirely the girl's but I'm sure that we could have just as easily had someone else turn around and try to sue.

wow, i've been away & just read these. seems my post caused a bit of an uproar- i did post on wrong site & it was out of frustration that i chose my words poorly. my apologies for both. that said, my son does know to avoid nuts. i respectfully disagree w/ those who don't support schools limiting nut products (they cannot be banned completely b/c nut oils, etc. are in so many foods). if your child was proven to be allergic to something FATAL (not just causes a couple hives or makes your eyes water), i would be more than happy to help limit that exposure. my feeling is why not take an extra step for your neighbor & it does take a village. no more posts from me. i know that'll make many happy : ) again, sorry for making everyone upset. best.