Sweethearts Candy Blog's

I know, I know, it's early for some of us to think about school, but I've already started getting many questions and hearing concerns from parents who are about to send kids to school for the first time. Plus, there is so much to do, it helps the stress level to start early and avoid the mad rush right before school begins.

It can be scary to contemplate dropping your young child off at school with the knowledge that they will be around food and situations beyond your control, sometimes for the first time. However, if you keep open communication with the school and stay on top of things like parties, you will be one step closer to ensuring a safe and enjoyable school year for you, your child, the teacher and everyone in the class.

July is a good time to get started. If your school office is currently closed, try setting up meetings via e-mail for later in the summer. The important thing is to make contact early so that you can iron out details before the first day of school.

Here are a few things to do this month:

•Schedule any doctor's appointments and have your allergist complete important paperwork such as Food Allergy Action Plans, notes and other medical documents that you need for the school nurse or a 504 Plan if you have one. Make sure to include recent photo of your child (such as a school portrait) that can be glued/taped onto their emergency plan. FAAN has Food Allergy Action Plans on their website.

•Schedule a meeting with the principal and district nurse. If they are on vacation, send them an e-mail or leave a phone message with the distrtict asking for a meeting before school begins. Many schools offer these meetings for parents to discuss everything at one time. This meeting would also be a time to discuss things like peanut-free tables.

• Review your current EpiPen prescriptions and renew them if necessary. Have at least 2 EpiPens for school--one for the health office and one for your child's classroom. Make sure your prescription is current and that you sign up for the new EpiPen registery (there is also a form is included in your prescription.) It lets you know when your Epis are about to expire.

•Invest in an EpiPen carrier for your child -- great designs and colors can be found at Kozy Epi and Activeaide.

•Make sure your child has a Medical ID bracelt (or other medical ID jewelry)such as you'll find at Lauren's Hope (I just interviewed them for this blog) and Hope Paige medical ID jewelery. If your child feels fashionable, her or she will be more excited about wearing this important item.

•Stock up on lunch gear for all those packed lunches you'll be making. Green to Go, offers handy, reusable lunch containers for back-to-school with the added bonus of being eco-friendly.

Full disclosure: Green to Go, Lauren's Hope and Hope Paige, mentioned above, are advertisers on this blog. Click their logos if you'd like more info about any of these companies.

I had another post planned for today but the tsunami in Japan got me thinking about so many things. My heart goes out to everyone who has been touched by this tragedy, including those in the affected U.S. regions who must now wait out the oncoming storm. I hope they are all safe.

This incident reminded me of a post I did when we were hit with severe weather that caused lengthy power outages here in Chicago. Luckily, this was nothing like what they are facing in Japan or in other places where earthquakes have occured, thank goodness. However, when you've got food allergies in your family, more common weather emergencies like hurricanes, flooding, blizzards and tornadoes require a bit more preparation.

Weather disasters and other emergencies aren't pleasant to think about but since they don't happen when you expect them, it's best to be ready.

Here's a few tips for keeping on top of food allergies in an emergency:

1. Have a good stock of "safe," non-perishable food items that can be eaten by the entire family. Soy milk (if you can have it) doesn't require refrigeration and bottled water is always good to have on hand in case you can't use your tap water for any reason. I like to have cereal, crackers, pretzels and slow-spoiling fruits like apples and bananas on hand in case of a blackout. SunButter, if you can eat it, is also good to have as is non-refrigerated cheese and crackers (if you aren't allergic to dairy). Anything from Enjoy Life like trail mix and granola is safe for the Top 8 food allergens, gluten and sesame. These foods will keep well and give you much-needed energy if you are low on food and stressed.

2. Make sure all your prescriptions are up-to-date and well-stocked. Check to make sure that you have several EpiPens, a bottle of Benadryl and whatever asthma or seasonal allergies your child needs well before a crisis hits. In the event of extreme bad weather, you may not be able to renew these prescriptions in a timely manner, so get them now. Keep them in a plastic resealable bag so they don't get wet.

3. Keep a nice supply of Clorox wipes and antibacterial hand wipes. If the worst happens and you have to leave your home for any reason, you'll be able to remove allergenic residue from surfaces. In addition, hand and face wipes will come in handy for personal use.

4. Get the "Go Bag" ready. At a FAAN Conference I attended a couple of years ago (sign up now for the 2011 FAAN conferences coming up soon!), a dad who used to work with NYC on Emergency Preparedness discussed the need for a "Go Bag" that you have ready for your child in a convenient area of your home. This bag would contain up-to-date medications like EpiPens, inhalers and Benaydryl in addition to safe, unperishable foods and drinks.

Everybody has been talking about this story today and I really need to chime in. I first heard of it on The Food Allergy Mama's Facebook page. Then, today, I read the story in the Chicago Tribune and also got flooded with e-mails.

I feel sick about this. This did not need to happen. This poor girl's tragic death could have been prevented. Why did this happen?

The entire facts of the case aren't yet clear and I'm only discussing what I read in the news story. More may be revealed later. Mention was made of Chinese food served in the classroom which the girl apparently ate. EpiPens, or lack of them, were also mentioned. It's not clear if this student had a food allergy emergency plan or not.

The news story tells how the school ordered in Chinese food after being assured, allegedly, by the restaurant, that the food would be peanut-free. OK, let's just stop right there. Chinese restaurant food can NEVER be safe for a peanut-allergic person. Who was naive or ill-informed enough to even attempt this?? If you know anything about how Chinese food is prepared or its key ingredients, you know that it is off-limits to peanut-allergic people for good reason. Cross-contact will present problems even if actual ingredients do not. In fact, on the list our allergist gave us, Chinese and Asian foods are at the top of the "do not eat" list.


Food allergy education can save lives. For example: "peanut-free" does NOT mean "safe for life-threateningly allergic to peanuts." To many, many people, "peanut-free" means, simply, that the recipe does not contain actual peanuts. Maybe a restaurant, in good faith, says "peanut-free" when they don't understand that what the customer was really asking for was "safe for peanut allergy" or "no risk of cross-contact." Being clear is key. Please, please, be clear.

I've learned never to assume that restaurant staff understand what you mean. That's why you ask for the chef or manager about the meal and present your food allergy cards to the wait staff. Check out FAAN for these downloadable cards.

This story just makes me so fed up. It's not only schools or restaurants that need education, it's the general public. Parents of the school where this child died are now talking "peanut ban." But what good is a peanut ban if people are ordering in supposedly "peanut-free" Chinese food and then serving it to a peanut-allergic girl??? No good at all. Education is key. Education will save lives.

This could have been your child. This could have been my daughter. For all of you heading out to holiday celebrations, please take something positive from this horrific incident and stand firm about your child's food restrictions. Food allergies can be fatal, and it's tragic. Even more tragic is that a fatal reaction could have been prevented with simple knowledge.

My heart goes out to this family in their loss.