On Valentine's Day, Parents And Schools Cope With Student Food Allergies

Sweet treats and snacks are a standard for Valentine's Day. Everyone enjoys the mystery of what’s inside the chocolates in a heart-shaped box. However, exploring unknown treats can be a dangerous and even life-threatening game for children with severe food allergies.

At , the district's only "nut-free'' grade school, there's a lengthy list of food that is not allowed to be brought into the building including cake, cupcakes, cookies, Dunkin' Donuts, Munchkins, M&Ms and granola bars. 

Food that is manufactured with machinery that is used on nuts is also banned from the school.

Other schools have less restrictive policies and the responsibility of steering clear of foods that could trigger allergic reactions lies mostly with the parents and teachers.

"The teacher will provide, whenever possible, advance notice of the classroom experience, field trip, or celebration in order for the pupil to bring a food or beverage product from their home so they may participate in the activity,'' according to the district policy on food allergies.

Regina Geiger, who has two children at has a daughter with tree nut allergies and her son is allergic to peanuts, tree nuts, sesame seed, eggs and wheat. 

She said both children are educated about what’s safe and not safe for them to eat and if they aren’t sure, they just don’t have it. 

Their classroom teachers and the school nurse are all aware of the children’s allergies. Geiger, who is president of the PTA, makes sure that both teachers have “safe snacks” in the classroom for her children.

“It's funny, sometimes my kids will break out their ‘safe snacks’ and the other kids will want what they have instead,'' she said.

According to the Food Allergy Intiative, a non-profit organization whose mission is to find a cure for life-threatening food allergies, some 12 million people in the United States suffer from food allergies of varying degrees of severity—nearly 4 percent of all children under age 18.

Food allergies can cause anaphylaxis—a sudden, severe and potentially fatal allergic reaction. The only way to prevent an allergic reaction is strict avoidance of the food that causes the allergy.

Although any food can cause an allergy, eight foods cause 90 percent of all reactions: peanut, tree nuts (almonds, walnuts, cashews, pistachios, pecans, etc.), egg, milk, fish, shellfish, soy and wheat.

Kids with Food Allergies (KFA) is a national organization offering support and education for parents of children with food allergies. They have more than 10,000 fans on their Facebook page where parents pose questions and share ideas. 

If you are looking for ways to celebrate Valentine's Day safely with kids with allergies you can find ideas and recipes in this KFA created booklet.  If you don’t want to read the whole booklet, check out their  top-10 list.