Anonymous wrote:Jeez people. Seriously, how many children die from nut allergies every year? Children for in car accidents and from falling out of windows, yet we still drive and have windows in our homes. Those are far greater risks than the kid at the next table eating a PBJ. If your child is so fragile, keep them home and stop procreating with your crappy ass genes.

We may still drive and have windows in our homes, but we wear seat belts and have screens on our windows. Similarly, we need to be careful about exposing kids to certain allergens. I wish those of you complaining could live with a child w/ severe food allergies for a little while. It is a daily struggle, not only for the parents, but for the kids. Do you know how hard it is to watch your 9-year old desperately reading labels, being extremely nervous about eating in restaurants or at birthday parties, etc. because of possible cross contamination, etc.?

Nut allergies (along w/ seafood allergies, sesame allergies, etc.) are real and life-threatening. Here's one recent story PP if you need proof: http://www.sacbee.com/2014/04/18/6335644/family-of-girl-who-died-from-peanut.html.

Jeez people. Seriously, how many children die from nut allergies every year? Children for in car accidents and from falling out of windows, yet we still drive and have windows in our homes. Those are far greater risks than the kid at the next table eating a PBJ. If your child is so fragile, keep them home and stop procreating with your crappy ass genes.

We got to a peanut free and meat free kosher school and camp. If you sit down and map it out I'm sure you could figure out safe foods to send.

OP here. Wow, I drafted this comment and left to put my kids to bed and returned to 55+ responses! Sorry my initial post was not empathetic to parents of children with severe allergies. I certainly appreciate how difficult it must be for those kids and I would never risk their lives over a PB&J lunch. The funny thing is that we went to a kosher preschool, so for a year I had few options to pack EXCEPT PB&J and cheese-based sandwiches, so we got used to that. Thank you to all of you who offered suggestions for good options.

Anonymous wrote:We have to figure out what is causing this so that we're not tiptoeing around every flipping ingredient. This was not going on NEAR to this extent until recent years.

There has been documented evidence that the number of people with food-based allergies has risen significantly over the last 2-3 decades. The reason peanuts are so noteworthy is that roughly 50-60% of the documented cases of deaths from food allergies annually are from peanuts. Why is still under debate. One common theory holds that our over-sanitized culture and over dependence on cleanliness means that we have decreased the number of contaminants (dirt, germs, bacteria, etc) that we are exposed to and over the last few generations this has caused our immune systems to essentially atrophy and so more people are reacting to allergens than in the past. For more details, Google "Hygiene Theory Allergies" and you'll get a lot of studies, and discussion around this theory. Another less-common theory is almost the exact opposite. It holds that we have so over-chemicalized our society that we are poisoning our immune system. So, air pollution, coal/factory pollution, water pollution, pesticides, long-term excessive smoking (and second hand smoke), etc all contribute to overwhelming our immune systems. Some of these are the same people who believe that we need to avoid pesticides, GMOs, etc. Either way, many scientists agree that in general our immune systems are weaker than they were 20-30 years ago.

Anonymous wrote:This is such a lame thing to complain about. It's a health issue and the consequences for kids with allergies could be death. Is that worth moaning and groaning because you can't feed your child fatty and sugary PBJs? Like there's nothing else in the world to feed them.

+1

Cream cheese or cream cheese & jam rolled up on a wrap.
Scrambled eggs and cheese on a wrap. (Sounded gross to me but my kids love it, especially with ketchup.)

Anonymous wrote:
I'm European, and never saw a peanut butter sandwich there in Germany, France or northern UK. A PB&J sounds really unpalatable to me! Ugh.

Besides my son has a severe peanut allergy.

We do a bento lunch box, with steamed broccoli, small pasta, ham or chicken strips, a few grapes or mini cookies.
Or leftover sushi (not raw fish) or leftover quiche, or whatever we ate the night before. He's not a fan of sandwiches, but I do make them for him occasionally - lettuce and cheese and cucumber, etc.

I don't understand how one option closes and suddenly you're at a loss? Look online or get a book about lunchboxes. There is a ton of inspiration out there!

I don't understand it either. First, the high fat in PBJ, is just gross. Jelly? 5 times a week? And these are the same parents who will put you in mommy jail for apple juice...I don't understand.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hate this nut free nonsense. What did all the allergic kids do when we were young and the schools and camp lunch rooms were basically peanut butter slicks. In any case, tuna sandwiches, ham sandwiches, quesadillas, cheese sandwiches etc. Your kid may not like cold cuts, but she won't starve herself either. Put enough mayo on the bread and nearly anything is palatable. Also, you don't have to buy cold cuts, you can cook a chicken on Sunday and use that, bake a ham and slice that, make homemade hot pockets with roll dough, pizza etc.

I will tell you what they did, because my brother was one. Went to the hospital. A lot.

Many near death experiences and one coma.

Even in nut free schools kids with allergies are not safe, because there are bitches like you who just don't care. You literally would rather a kid die then give up a peanut butter sandwich. Insane.

Yes. Some still do.

Dd goes to a nut free daycare and we do sunbutter/jelly sandwiches. Also hummus with crackers. Tomorrow she is taking Turkey rolled up.
,cheese,crackers,and some raisins.

Anonymous wrote:I hate this nut free nonsense. What did all the allergic kids do when we were young and the schools and camp lunch rooms were basically peanut butter slicks. In any case, tuna sandwiches, ham sandwiches, quesadillas, cheese sandwiches etc. Your kid may not like cold cuts, but she won't starve herself either. Put enough mayo on the bread and nearly anything is palatable. Also, you don't have to buy cold cuts, you can cook a chicken on Sunday and use that, bake a ham and slice that, make homemade hot pockets with roll dough, pizza etc.

I will tell you what they did, because my brother was one. Went to the hospital. A lot.

Many near death experiences and one coma.

Even in nut free schools kids with allergies are not safe, because there are bitches like you who just don't care. You literally would rather a kid die then give up a peanut butter sandwich. Insane.

What my kids take instead of a pb&j or cold cuts

1. Sandwiches
Chicken salad
Tuna salad
Cheese sandwich
mozzarella and tomato
mozzarella and red pepper
bacon and mayo

2. Cold pasta salad

3. corn salsa and chips

4. veggies and ranch dip

Cheese roll-ups (rolled tortillas filled with cheese), homemade pizza, pasta salad (not bitter and disgusting but a flavorful nice pasta salad), Tuna sandwiches or chicken salad!

My kid can't have gluten or dairy, and goes to a nut-free school. I really think you'll manage for camp.

Anonymous wrote:

We just don't do any nut-free camps or schools. My son lives on peanut butter sandwiches.

Do tell, where are these nut-friendly camps and schools?