Is That Food Safe? ^Featured

Is that Food Safe?
By Vicky Bergem, San Diego, California


Kids love Snacks! Our kids classes are only a couple of hours long but we find that the kids love to stop for a fellowship break and eat a snack. It is a great time to get to know each other, and share about the class and the week. Sometimes snacks can be tied into the lesson and reinforce the message, but sometimes they are just a snack!

However, with food allergies abounding these days, we have to ask ourselves, “Is the snack I am serving safe for all the children? Will anyone feel left out if I serve this snack?”

It is not always easy to find a snack that everyone can eat. Some kids are even allergic to certain fruits. If you have a child with severe allergies, it may be best to ask the parents to provide a personal snack, so their child can eat with everyone and not worry about reactions.

Some other recommendations to keep allergic reactions at bay: At sign in, let parents know what the snack will be for the day. Encourage, or even insist, that all children wash their hands with soap and water before coming to class. (They should be going to the bathroom and washing their hands before class anyway). At the very least have hand sanitizer in the class. Finally, be sure to have everyone wash their hands before and after eating.

I was recently talking to the mother of a child with allergies. She fed someone else’s baby a bottle and the baby coughed and splattered milk on her hands and clothes. She did not hug her own child until she was able to go home and change. It may sound drastic, but it kept her child safe and free from reactions.

Allergies can be serious and we need to protect our children by taking snack time seriously. A local school put out the following information that may help you make safe snack choices:

Some Helpful Tips

1) Avoid snacks that contain milk, casein, cheese, eggs, peanuts, peanut flour, peanut oil, or peanut butter or other nuts. This includes snacks with almonds, coconuts, filberts, Brazil nuts, cashews, hazelnuts, macadamia nut, pecans, pine nuts, pistachios, and walnuts.

2) Read labels carefully. Food companies are getting better about labeling the ingredients. Basically, if the food item says: Contains Wheat or Soy (which is usually in bold under the ingredient list) it's safe as long as it was NOT manufactured in the same facility or on the same equipment containing the allergens listed above (due to cross contamination).

3) Include the packaging of your treat when you send it to the classroom, so that the label may be rechecked if there are any questions.

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Here is a list of some common snack foods that are free of dairy, eggs, peanuts and tree nuts. The major brands are much better at labeling and manufacturing than store brands, such as Great Value. Great Value (Walmart) usually processes their products on the same equipment as peanuts, tree nuts, egg, and milk. This is only a small list of the possible safe snacks. Please remember that carefully reading the labels is the only way to know for sure if something is safe.

HEALTHY CHOICES

Fresh fruit

Fresh vegetables

Applesauce

Sun Maid raisins




CEREAL, CRACKERS, and CHIPS

Original or Chocolate Cheerios (NOT the Honey Nut variety!)

Nabisco Ritz crackers (original – NOT Ritz Bits)

Nabisco Wheat Thins crackers

Keebler Club crackers

Rold Gold Classic Style Pretzels – Tiny Twists or Sticks (NOT Snyder’s)

Pringles (original or BBQ)

Tostitos Tortilla Chips

Fritos Corn Chips

Lays Original Potato Chips

COOKIES and TREATS

Nabisco Honey Maid Graham Crackers or sticks (Original)

Nabisco Teddy Grahams (honey, chocolate or cinnamon)

Nabisco Barnum's Animal crackers (this brand only!)

Nabisco Oreo Cookies (original or golden only)

Jolly Time Healthy Pop (Kettle Corn Popcorn)

Pop Tarts (strawberry, cherry & blueberry)




CANDY

Jolly Rancher

Jolly Rancher Gummies

Lifesavers

Lifesaver Gummies

Lifesaver Jelly Beans (NOT BRACHS!)

Nerds

Sweet Tarts

Smarties

Skittles

Starburst

Dum-Dum lollipops

Twizzlers (strawberry)

Fun Dip