PB & J question?

[Kat&Dom]

I have been wondering about this for a while so thought I would ask the question. How is Disney able to sell PB & J sandwiches when the peanut allergy is such an issue for so many children? My son loves PB & J but up here in Canada, you can not send anything with peanuts or peanut butter to school due to concern with the peanut allergy. It just seems strange - is the peanut restriction in schools just a Canada thing or are schools in the US the same?

 

[VAfamily1998]

I'm not sure what you mean by "how are they able to sell" pb products. Do you mean why isn't it illegal? Why don't consumers revolt and protest?
They are able to sell them because there are people willing and able to buy them.

I've heard of some schools here in the US banning peanut products. I live in Virginia and some of my kids attend public school, and some attend a private school affiliated with our church. Neither school bans peanut products. I know in my 5 year old's class, there is at least one child with a peanut allergy, so they ask that snacks not contain peanut products (each child brings their own snack to be eaten in the class room about 1/2 way between the start of the day and lunch). At lunch, they have special "peanut free tables" where children with allergies (and other students who do not have peanuts in their lunch) can sit.

 

[Pink Mouse Ears]

No- for the most part, PB is not banned from schools here. If a student has a known allergy, the teacher might make accomodations (request that the class not bring peanut butter or something along those lines,) but PB is pretty much allowed anywhere. My school even serves the PB&J Smuckers Uncrustables every day in the bag lunches that students have the option of getting. I've worked in a private preschool that had a no outside food policy. They also did not provide any food that is a common allergy. But that school is the only one in the area that I am aware of.

I'm not surprised at all that Disney World has PB sandwiches. Unfortunately, nuts are in so many foods...just doing away with the sandwiches wouldn't really keep a child with a PB allergy safe, I wouldn't think.

 

[graceesmom]

DD goes to a "nut free" pre-school. No nuts of any kind. No bakery purchased cupcakes for b-days, etc b/c they could be made with peanuts. However, Disney is a business and demand takes precedent. I suppose it is up to the person with the allergy to take precautions, just like the person with the any food allergy has to take responsibility for their own health. At schools, it's a little different b/c you are leaving your child with someone else -- and other personnel that may not know your child specifically.

At Disney, the child should be accompanied with either a parent or someone intimately familiar with their particular needs.

 

[TDC Nala]

WDW isn't a school. Do parks and restaurants in Canada sell peanut products? I haven't heard of them being banned in other public accommodations there. At WDW, there are proactive procedures in place for parents of allergic children to work with.

In the US individual schools might make that decision but there is no law that says they all must be peanut free.

 

[chartle]

Most of the PB&J sandwiches are Uncrustables so they are in sealed packages.

Just like at McDonald's when I worked there years ago, nuts for the sundaes were in a open container and you just scooped them out. Now they are in sealed little bags and handed to the customer.

As for the places that serve traditional PB&J sandwiches, I think there are few at WDW that sell them, well they are professional restaurants and understand allergy and food contamination issues. At a school things are not as controlled and they can't count on the kids being so careful.

 

[chartle]

In the US individual schools might make that decision but there is no law that says they all must be peanut free.

Most of them just ban them because it's easier. They tried making PB free tables or zones but that just made those students feel like second class students.

 

[hildarumpole]

As the mother of 2 kids with peanut/tree nut allergies, I don't have a problem with Disney making pb & j or any other nut-containing foods available to their guests. It's not reasonable to expect everyone else to be denied a legal product, because a minority can't have it. Disney does a better job at helping people with food restrictions than anywhere else. I do expect my kids' school to make reasonable accomodations in order to keep them safe, but an outright ban would give a false sense of security. Most schools in the US do not ban peanut butter. The few that do have found it's not often easy to enforce, creates hard feelings among parents, and puts teachers in the place of food police. It's my job as a parent to educate my kids in what they can and cannot eat and to be aware of situations that may pose an allergy threat to them. They can't live in a peanut-free bubble.

 

[RMulieri]

Here in my school district they aren't banned either..Peanuts and tree nut oils are used in TONS of US food products that banning them won't help .

 

[warpdarkmatter]

I have been given a small bag of peanuts on my last 3 southwest flights! most chiniese resturants in my area serve peanutbutter chix also frozen peanut butter pie is very popular around here.The point being if you have a allergy its up to YOU to inform the place your dinning at and find out if they can accomidate your needs

 

[koolaidmoms]

I do remember WDW having large vats of PB and Jelly on the kids buffets before but the last time we were there I noticed they had been removed from the ones we went to. Are there still some places that do this? Just curious.

 

[francie57]

I work in a school where we have extremely allergic kids to peanuts but we still cannot ban the kids from bringing peanut items into the school. The cafeteria is peanut free with regarding to the food they make. There is a peanut free room for the kids to eat in and the cold lunchers are in the adjoining room. There was a different system that want to make the school peanut free but were threatened with law suits if they did. Unfortunately as long as kids and bring in their lunch you run the risk of peanuts in items. No school can have their staff taking the time to read every label that comes in the school. The pbjs at Disney are in sealed packages and we have seen and heard several people asking about peanuts in items. Disney doesn everything it can to accomodate food allergies.