« Reply #2 on: September 18, 2011, 09:11:02 PM »
More Follow Ons
notnutty
I also noticed on the list #41 "Sandwich, Uncrustables Cheese by Smucker’s"
No mention of x-contamination.
notnutty
One more thing...I think that to even get the SD to put together such a list is amazing. Even if I would not be willing to rely on such a list, I think that for some it may be helpful.
We do not have any accountability from our food service. To see such a list would be a major victory here.
Unknown
Ok, I'm in the minority here. Ds buys hot lunch about 8-10x per month.
I usually go to the district foodservice office and read through all of the labels on the first day of school. They have all of them in a binder for parents to access and will give me the contact info for the mfgrs/ordering companies if I need it.
They do not serve foods with nuts in them except for prepackaged uncrustables at any school, so I'm flagging the ingredient lists for dairy and egg. Ds can tolerate them in certain amounts.
The person in charge of D's cafeteria is awesome. I trust her and she feels that there is absolutely no reason why ds can't eat from the cafeteria like the other students. It is important to HER that he is included. Not because I want him included, but because SHE wants him included. That makes a world of difference.
She is really up on xcont issues, and has trained her staff well. With her I can have an intelligent conversation about food, ingredients, etc, just as we would here. They have one designated area for the uncrustables and handling procedures for them (changing gloves before & after touching them, etc).
Because we are trying to add dairy and egg into D's diet, she saves food for us to try at home. For example, the meatballs have Romano cheese in them. D hasn't tried them yet, but this Monday they will have meatballs and she will put a few aside in the fridge for me. Tuesday morning I will drop ds off at school, pick up the meatballs in my little cooler bag & put them in the ofc fridge. We will then try them at home Tues night rather than trying new foods at school.
This works really well for us. Ds has the list of standard foods he can eat from the cafeteria, and we've been able to add to the list with this method.
Are the foods the healthiest options? Not always. He will be having hot dogs for lunch tomorrow that he's buying at the cafeteria. Buying lunch is a life skill that we can't teach him at home, and socially it makes it just easier for him any time he can do the same things as his friends do. If that means he eats a hot dog for lunch, then so be it.
Ajas, the only baked goods they have are bagels with cream cheese. They make most foods on site, but don't have baked goods or peanut items other than the uncrustables.
My $.02 is to have a discussion with the cafeteria manager at the school to assess their understanding and awareness of xcont, etc for THAT specific cafeteria. If you feel the person is competent, then look into the labels.
Oh I read the labels at the beginning of the year only. If they change suppliers for any reason, the woman at the cafeteria will send home the label from the box for me to read. If that happens on a day that ds is buying lunch, she will make him a salad or a turkey sandwich.
ETA- the school cafeteria manager will let me into the walk-in to read labels in there also whenever I ask. She has no problem giving me access to her fridge.
CMdeux
The person in charge of D's cafeteria is awesome
I think that says it all, really--
if that is true, then of course it is an entirely different ballgame.
We had one daycare/preschool teacher that I trusted to feed DD, as well.
Unknown
We had a daycare person like that also- that's what got my head around other people feeding ds originally.
I also think that I have to teach him these life skills before he goes to college. If I don't let ds learn how to navigate a cafeteria and buy food, how is he going to do so as a young adult living in a dorm? He doesn't know all of the background legwork I do, but as he gets older I plan on including him in the whole process.
ETA- we give the cafeteria staff flowers every June as a thank you. They know we appreciate what they do more than most anyone in the school.
notnutty
D-mom...if I had such a person in the cafeteria it may be a whole different situation.
We are just not there yet, nor am I holding my breath that we will ever be.
You are right about the nutrition...that would probably not be such a big issue if my DS could safely eat with his peers a few times a month.
Stinky6
my guy doesn't eat cafe food
but when I have asked for info on labels for a particular event...ie bbq...I have been given pdf's of labels, with hand written notes...saying called on x date - spoke with X person to verify no peanuts in the facility
although last year (new principal) when I asked I was told..."Yummy hambergers with all the fixings and it's all peanut free" - he did not eat at the bbq and I didn't have time to push back - but I honestly suspect that the due dilligence was done by the food people - I just couldn't verify it in time - so no eats.
chemchick22
Once my son outgrew the egg allergy I felt more confident about him eating the cafeteria lunches.
The lunchroom had 2/3 workers and one supervisor. I met with the supervisor and we physically looked at all the packages and I read the ingredients. Sometimes I could check the food for a whole month in one swoop. The lunch program did have fruits and veggies which I didn't inspect as they came in fresh as needed. Not a worry for our situation.
The supervisor was more than willing to substitute an item--usually a dessert. This worked well because I told my son what he would be having each day, the computer system flagged him to remind the lunch ladies of his allergies, and they erred on the side of caution. If they or my son questioned an item they substituted one they knew I had checked and let my son check labels as he grew older over the 4 years he ate hot lunch.
For us it was a positive experience. He loved the lunches--he felt included even with some substitutions. It helped him with his confidence in handling food situations as he grew. For me it was an investment of my time and over the years I'd like to think that the cafe supervisors and workers learned how to help other children with food allergies.
lakeswimr
I think it is great that this works for some. I do not think it can work for all or at least not easily. I can't even tell if a food is OK or not by looking at a label and often times I can't get companies to tell me what is in something. I would not be OK with reading labels once a year. I read every label every time. We all know things can and do change. That would be a prohibitive amount of work on my part and not worth it.
Mfamom
Well, I did allow my ds to eat in the school ccafeteria last year. One of my close friends is the cafeteria manager.
She reviews the labels of all foods she orders. They actually cook a lot of things from scratch. There are no nuts/peanuts at all in the cafeteria kitchen.
She orders particular brand of bread for my ds as rolls, sandwich/hamburger bread/buns come from a bakery.
There are some items that aren't labeled for xcontamination: David's and Otis Spunkmeyer. My ds already knew not to eat those things.
My ds is very smart about his food choices and I know there is no pb or nuts there, so I'm okay with him eating there.
The food is apparently delicious.
and, my ds is "flagged" meaning that if he wants a hamburger, they know that they need to get him a bun from the stash of 'safe bread" etc.
CMdeux
I think it is great that this works for some. I do not think it can work for all or at least not easily. I can't even tell if a food is OK or not by looking at a label and often times I can't get companies to tell me what is in something. I would not be OK with reading labels once a year. I read every label every time. We all know things can and do change. That would be a prohibitive amount of work on my part and not worth it.
True-- it was an enormous amount of work on my part-- and we were extremely selective. We generally did NOT allow 'processed' foods at all because of the additional time involved. I did allow fresh fruit and veggies, however, once I was able to evaluate the preparation method and verify safe handling to prevent XC there.
« Last Edit: March 12, 2013, 06:29:27 AM by ajasfolks2 »
Logged
Is this where I blame iPhone and cuss like an old fighter pilot's wife?
**(&%@@&%$^%$#^%$#$*& LOL!!