Kindy food restrictions - would you be annoyed?

[Bloom]

My kindy has a "nude food" (no rubbish) policy, which I think is great and we don't eat much processed food so that is fine with us. It also has a no sweets rule - nothing other than fruit, not even home baked muffins etc. Again, that suits our style of eating well.

Then there are the allergy restrictions: no peanuts (fairly used to that), no tree nuts (again, common), no eggs (that made it hard to do savoury muffins and meant mini quiche were off the menu). But this year, they have added no dairy. All the allergy restrictions are because there are children with severe allergies attending the kindy.

What do you think of having a no peanuts, no tree nuts, no eggs and no dairy policy?

I'd like to see what a vegetarian or vegan family packed for their kids!

I really do feel for families with allergies (my DS2 had a dairy allergy until 21 months) and I of course will follow the guidelines, but I can't help feel annoyed. Would you?

[Mum2SweetCs]

Im already feeling empathy for the childcare for when my dd2 attends childcare because she is very highly allergic to diary eggs peanuts so i am not sure how they will cater for her as they provide food.

Dd1 is allergic to egg but not anaphylactic and she knows not to eat eggs and her kindy has a strictly no sharing food policy.

Sorry no advice.

I guess i would be annoyed too but if my child is anaphylactic to any of those food i would be really worried so maybe someone in your childs kindy is?

[HotI]

that would be incredibly difficult to accommodate.

[Frangipani Lou]

Bloom, I'm a kinder teacher and that amount of restrictions annoys me too!
Yes, it's realistic to request no nuts of a child has anaphylaxis but its ridiculous if any of the foods you've listed are just allergies.
If they are just allergies then the centre should be putting in place risk minimization plans. Eg the child with allergies has a tray they use at the table to eat their food, everyone is educated in not sharing food etc.

There are some great resources on the allergy facts website as well as the ascia website. If you'd like further clarification on what is ok for the centre to implement you could call the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development.

For childcare:

http://www.education.vic.gov.au/chil.../concerns.aspx

For kindergarten:

http://www.education.vic.gov.au/chil.../concerns.aspx

Eta- I've just seen you're in Queensland so will try to find a number for you.

Eta 2- http://deta.qld.gov.au/earlychildhood/

[Frangipani Lou]

I'll also ask my Australia wide teaching clan on fb to see there experiences and come back with more info ASAP.

[Ladylove]

It would very hard to accommodate, especially the dairy. That said peanuts/tree nuts are not the only allergen that can cause anaphylaxis or extreme reactions. My DD is severely allergic to peanuts and eggs and the egg is just as dangerous for her as the peanuts. I would feel more comfortable sending her to a carer that was completely allergen free because little kids share everything and it is so hard to monitor. But I do thank the universe dairy isn't an issue for us as that would be so hard to accommodate on top of egg and peanut.

Incidentally in many western cultures egg is a relatively new addition to widespread baking (as in post war) so most old-school recipes don't even have eggs.

[Bloom]

Thanks F.L. - I'll do some research from the links you've provided - a great help!

It is just such a wide range of protein foods that are ruled out!

It suddenly occurred to me that even butter is off the list too - and I'm wondering what I can use to "stick" a sandwich together - no cream cheese, no peanut butter, no butter or marg, no jam/honey (kindy policy).

[meow]

We have similar restrictions at my children's preschool. Nothing containing, or even processed in the same facility, nuts, eggs, dairy or chick peas. Given that we are also on a grain free and vegetable oil free diet that leaves very little my children can eat at school. Most of the things everyone else brings along or wants to make at school cooking projects don't work for our children. Fortunately they are only there in the mornings. They have fresh fruit and some coconut & honey biscuits I make.

[Ladylove]

Nuttalex is a vegan margarine type spread.

[Rowellen]

I honestly don't think I would be able to continue to send my children to that kindy if it were me. I do feel for those with allergies. It must be very difficult. We were asked not to send egg or nuts with DD and when we asked more about it, we discovered that the child with the egg allergy would only be attending on one day that my DD went and only had to be egg free on that day.

For "sticking" sandwiches - what about avocado?

[Bloom]

Avocado is a good idea (though expensive!). In fact this whole thing could be expensive if I'm sending meat every day as his protein! He can have a peanut butter sandwich and a glass of milk for dinner instead of meat on kindy days. LOL.

I'm not keen on the vegetable oils and additives in Nuttlex.

[Bloom]

Meow - that must be really hard for you! Not even processed at the same facilities would rule out our regular bread and crackers too. So your kids come home for lunch?

[meow]

Yes- our preschool finishes at midday. They just go 9-12. I couldn't have considered the school otherwise. We liked it for the teaching philosophy but the food restrictions are hard core!

[meow]

Sunbutter can be a good peanut butter alternative.

[~clover~]

You can buy butter/marg that is dairy free. My sister is dairy free. You can use rice/almond/soy (I'd check on the soy) milk as an alternative in baking I think? And vegetable oil can replace eggs in cakes etc. I use about a half a table spoon for each egg.

Just check that the dairy free child can have soy. That is the usual alternative for people who are dairy intolerant/allergic. If not, rice milk & almond milk should be an option

Good old vegemite should be ok on sandwiches? Or are there nut traces in vegemite?

[Bloom]

Thanks for the ideas Clover. Vegemite sounds like a good sandwich option though!

I've got to say that if we weren't already involved in the kindy, (he went last year), this would totally turn me off going there!

[Artechim]

That would totally stop me using a centre.

[Tinks]

I would be annoyed and would look for a new Kinder to send the kids to.