My daughter's school has been declared 100% nut-free.  I think Sears says sunflower oil is not so great for us.  What about Sunbutter (sunflower seed butter)?  Would that have the wrong kind of fat in it or am I remembering wrong?

Interesting! I believe it has more omega-6 than a similar serving of peanut butter or almond butter. So, maybe not as healthy in that respect. BTW, almond butter is far superior to peanut butter with regard to Omega-6 content! I would still be leary of the stand that the school has taken. Sunbutter may not be a "nut", but the product may still be produced in a facility that also processes nut products. Cross-contamination is possible, so those with allergies could still react.

You're correct Rachel.  It is not a good fat.  Consume it with great moderation.

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Bummmer about sunbutter . I was hoping I had remembered wrong.

Cran, they haven't started talking about cross contamination, yet. I hope they don't because my house is, in effect, a nut processing factory. Nuts are involved in most every meal I make. The child with the allergies isn't even in my daughter's classroom, and since they eat in the classroom, it seems a bit overboard to ban nuts from the whole school. Last year, the girl who had the allergy was in my daughter's classroom and they were very worried about cross-contamination, but then I saw that same little girl in the bulk food section of the grocery store where peanuts are ground into butter. I said something to the nanny and she said that is wasn't really as big a deal as they make it out to be. She can't eat peanut butter, but she can be around it. That was so frustrating, and makes it hard to keep faith that people aren't exaggerating sometimes.

I'm glad my daughter doesn't have a food allergy, very glad, but she definitely has blood sugar issues and it's hard to get anything more than carbohydrates into her. Nuts are one thing she'll eat consistently.

Rachel,

I was thinking more in terms of the equipment being used for nuts, and that sometimes actual nut product can make it into a non-nut product, if processed in the same facility. 

Well, at least the allergic child isn't in your daughter's class!  But, it does seem quite overboard to ban nut products in the entire school.  However, on the other hand, I guess it could be a concern if someone added peanut butter to an item being served at lunch that would not normally be suspicious for having nuts. 

It is crazy how things are today.  Years ago, if a child went to school with an allergy like that, the child would merely bring her own food and be taught not to eat food that other people bring.  But now the entire school has to change policy!  Hope that does not create a false sense of security for the child.  Mistakes can still happen.

Some sensitive individuals have allergic reactions to nuts by being nearby them, not necessarily even eating them.  Many schools have adopted policies similar to that which Rachel has posted about.

I talked to the Head of School today.  I asked him if he'd consider adopting the policy that our local public school district uses, and he said he would look at the policy and reconsider.  He seemed to have complete amnesia that we went through this last year and that eventually he adopted the more lenient policy because this child is only in one classroom, and the kids eat in their own classrooms. 

Nut residue could easily get into my daughter's lunches because I make it side-by-side with the rest of the family's lunches, and we always have nuts and my husband typically has peanut butter, so I actually think homemade food is more likely to be contaminated than something that was processed in a factory that processes nuts.

I agree totally. Food from someones' home is likely to be more dangerous. That is why I am concerned that the child could get a false sense of security, rather than learning how to deal with the reality of the condition.