Peanut Allergies: always tread with caution!
As a parent of a child with severe nut allergies, I was interested to read this article from yesterday's Observer. Perhaps a glimmer of hope, and some practical advice for new parents, but the wisest course still seems to be to educate our nut-allergic children, so that they have the knowledge and understanding of how to navigate the wider nuttier world. As it's impossible to monitor everything they eat, they need to understand the seriousness of their (thoroughly unfair!) situation and always act with caution. Primary school lunchtimes can be a hard challenge when other lunch-boxes hold things that look more enticing. Who doesnt want to nibble someone elses museli bar, especially when you're 5! My son learnt the hard way on a couple of occasions, but he difinitely learnt! When the school decided to go entirely "Nut Free", I was actually against it. The wider world isn't nut free and I didn't think it was doing my son any favours creating a bubble where he didnt need to keep his wits about him. It also deprived the majority of the other children with an excellent source of nutrition in their lunches. My son is now 14 and although thoroughly ditsy in many walks of his daily life, he is completely savvy when it comes to food ingredients and allergen labelling, and if he's ever in doubt, he passes, however delicious something looks!
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