Schools and day cares are increasingly strict about keeping allergens out, and for good reason: The prevalence of food allergies has been on the rise for decades, and 8% of American children have at least one food allergy.
Many can have a severe or life-threatening reaction if exposed. So suddenly the treats parents might have dug out of their own childhood backpacks years ago aren’t allowed, or aren’t advisable, given the likelihood at least two kids in every classroom have some kind of food allergy.
The “big nine” allergens, which food companies have to declare on labels, are: eggs, fish, milk, peanuts, sesame, shellfish, soybeans, tree nuts and wheat.
So Reese’s peanut butter cups are a no go, but just packing carrot sticks doesn’t seem like a very kid-friendly option.
“I want something that fills them up and something they want to eat,” said Krista Arnold of Minnetonka. “You can put cucumbers or different things in the lunchbox you as a parent think are healthy, but they don’t touch them, and it doesn’t fill them up either.”
Arnold’s go-to lunchbox extra for her kids are mini meat sticks called Snack Mates, which makes sense because she’s the vice president of marketing for the New Primal, the company that makes the low-sugar, allergy-free snacks.
“There are lots of [allergen-free] bars, but they have a lot of sugar and not much protein,” Arnold said. “You’ve gotten rid of allergens, but you’re filling them up with carbs and sugar.”
