For me - my biggest fear is that someone will attempt to feed this to my child because they read it on a "safe list".  Worse, being seriously confrontational about it. 

I don't know how many times my older son was told, it's okay because it doesn't have peanuts in it - problem being that he isn't allergic to peanuts, his allergies are to wheat, rye, barley and egg. 

It's really hard to teach kids, for lack of a better phrase, have the balls to stand up to an authority figure, especially one that is under the impression "they have your best interest at heart".  And sadly yes, I have to teach my kids to keep repeating firmer and louder No's (even to the point of being nasty) in the same way they would in the case of a stranger danger situation.

So yes, I do see the benefit of the list as a starting off point for an allergic parent's research and I do see the benefit of safe lists to have in the classroom.  But my biggest concern is someone using that power to feed my child.

Dave, your very thorough explanation is deeply appreciated.  Thank you VERY much for taking the time to explain. 

First of all, let me say that I appreciate the opportunity to join this discussion.

As a point of reference, my wife Debra and I started SnackSafely.com at a time when there were few resources and policies regarding food in the classroom. Our daughter is allergic to peanuts and eggs, and though we were concerned about her accidentally ingesting an allergen, we were much more concerned with her suffering a contact reaction to another child's food.

Debra worked with our school district to develop policies regarding food in the classroom, many of which can be found in our article "A Mom's Perspective: A Guide to Registering Your Food Allergic Child for Kindergarten." (http://snacksafely.com/register-kindergarten)  Amazingly, she experienced more resistance from the other parents than she did from the school administration. She took it upon herself to research and compile a list of peanut, tree nut and egg-free snacks that could be used in our daughter's classroom. We kept that list up to date and posted updates to a website so that parents of my daughter's schoolmates could download it easily. Not long afterward we began receiving inquiries from parents and schools across the country and SnackSafely.com was born.

Some more information about the Safe Snack Guide (http://snacksafely.com/snack-guide):

• We spell out the limitations on the very first page and make it clear that it's a guide, not an authoritative source. We understand that once we publish the information it may already be out of date, so we urge parents of children with food allergies to check out items with their respective manufacturers before giving their child anything from the list.


• We feel the Guide in its entirety is a great way to keep these allergens out of the classroom. We are firm believers that NO ONE other than the parent (not even a school nurse) should be called upon to determine whether a snack is safe for a child with food allergies... that responsibility lies with the parent. We advocate the use of a dedicated, parent stocked "Goody Box" for for each allergic child. NO FOOD, OTHER THAN THAT SUPPLIED BY THE PARENTS SHOULD EVER BE GIVEN TO A CHILD WITH FOOD ALLERGIES.


• The Guide provides a list of snacks organized into categories. We list two classes of snacks: those that are marketed by their manufacturers as free of the above allergens (designated with a green check mark), and others which we have researched (designated with a black circle.) Research includes consulting the product's label for ingredients and warnings, consulting the manufacturer's website, consulting the manufacturers consumer service, et al. Clearly this information may change at any time, hence the warning above.


• When you download a copy of the Guide from our site it is stamped with three dates:
  
  
  
  • The date the contents of the Guide was last updated;
  • The date the copy was downloaded;
  • An expiration date 14 days after the download date. In this way we assure that users of our guide always maintain a current copy even if they are not subscribed to our site for updates.
• Last month we had over 15,900 downloads of the Safe Snack Guide, so in addition to our own research we benefit from the vigilance of our subscribers who graciously provide us with feedback, tips and warnings. We follow up on all credible reports and issue advisories any time issues arise.
  
• 
  We understand product manufacturing lines and make it a point to discern how and where varieties are produced. We're as paranoid as they come, so we do our best to make sure the peanut/tree nut/egg varieties are not produced on the same lines as the varieties we list in the Guide. That said, we're the first to admit that no matter how deep we research a product we must still rely on the manufacturer's consumer service which may sometimes be unreliable. That's why we encourage all parents of children with food allergies to discuss directly with the manufacturers.
  

In closing, we believe the Guide is an excellent resource for schools, sports leagues, scouting groups, camps, etc. to help keep these allergens away from children who may be at risk. We also believe it is a great resource to help parents engage the manufacturers on behalf of their allergic children.

Your feedback is always appreciated so please keep this thread going. I will endeavor to respond to queries in a timely manner.

Best regards,
Dave Bloom

Quote from: MandCmama on April 25, 2013, 01:57:11 PM
What I LOVE about this list is that it gives OTHER parents a starting point for what's safe to send in with THEIR kiddos. Or for SCHOOLS to purchase for group snack/parties. Mine won't be eating it as I send in their own food, but to know blatent allergens aren't being spread around the classroom is a mighty wonderful feeling!

Good point.

What I LOVE about this list is that it gives OTHER parents a starting point for what's safe to send in with THEIR kiddos. Or for SCHOOLS to purchase for group snack/parties. Mine won't be eating it as I send in their own food, but to know blatent allergens aren't being spread around the classroom is a mighty wonderful feeling!

Quote from: CMdeux on April 24, 2013, 11:09:09 PM
A list like this at least lets you know who to start calling, potentially. 

I'm all for saving time by sharing the info, by all means.   

Definitely. It's a great starting off point. I remember when we first started this journey back in 1996 and I had no clue where to start. And no internet back then either.

A list like this at least lets you know who to start calling, potentially. 

I'm all for saving time by sharing the info, by all means.   

Yep Jessica.

The whole scripted AKA "Parroting" of information tells me I'm so done with a company, typically.

I can make the stupid food myself.

Quote from: lakeswimr on April 24, 2013, 06:51:37 PM

Quote from: Jessica on April 24, 2013, 01:48:40 AM
Wow, that whole list is outdated in 2 weeks. I suppose they put out new ones often. I see some things that we avoid because they also come in a pb flavor (ritz crackerfuls, kraft cheese n crackers, to name a couple). Thanks for the link.

I agree that lists can become outdated very fast.  One that is nice is that even though a product comes in peanut flavor as well, that doesn't always make it unsafe.  Maybe you already know this so if so just ignore but if not I have found from calling companies to ask about xcontam that a there are many cases where the allergy-free one is the main one sold and is made in another facility than the peanut ones.  So, I wouldn't rule something out just because there is a peanut or whatever flavor.

I agree, but the items I'm talking about are kraft and nabisco, both of which do not label for shared lines and don't have dedicated lines. If only I could get the info from them, I could find out if they even are on shared lines or in shared facilities, but when I call they only parrot the same information over and over.

Quote from: Jessica on April 24, 2013, 01:48:40 AM
Wow, that whole list is outdated in 2 weeks. I suppose they put out new ones often. I see some things that we avoid because they also come in a pb flavor (ritz crackerfuls, kraft cheese n crackers, to name a couple). Thanks for the link.

I agree that lists can become outdated very fast.  One that is nice is that even though a product comes in peanut flavor as well, that doesn't always make it unsafe.  Maybe you already know this so if so just ignore but if not I have found from calling companies to ask about xcontam that a there are many cases where the allergy-free one is the main one sold and is made in another facility than the peanut ones.  So, I wouldn't rule something out just because there is a peanut or whatever flavor.

We discussed this website some when we at old boards at Hyperbds, but I did quick search and could not find link . . . concerns with the use of word "Safe" among others too . . . as already discussed above.

I get what you are saying but at the same time, there are brands that most of us do not trust due to past reactions, incomplete info, contact FAAN to see if it's safe and the FDA says we don't have to label for shared ingredients because it promotes lazy cleaning policies.

So while we know this - do I really want someone looking at a safe snack list for my kids and saying well that is okay because it's on there.  Or better yet, arguing that they looked it up on the safe list and it's fine. 

And yes, you want to update often but what happens if an update gets missed and a reaction happens because it's on your safe list - do you share responsibility for the reaction?

There is a big reason why many of us hate these lists.

Quote from: Dave Bloom on April 24, 2013, 08:08:30 AM
We do our best to keep the list up to date and frequently issue product advisories when manufacturers change their processes, labeling, etc. We will soon move to an opt-in model where manufacturers disclose their information directly including ingredients, shared product lines, and more.

That would be really nice. Especially if you could get better info out of some of these companies than what they give most of us.

Thanks for posting, Dave-- I think that sounds like a nice system.  Will users have a way to know which manufacturers have opted in?

We do our best to keep the list up to date and frequently issue product advisories when manufacturers change their processes, labeling, etc. We will soon move to an opt-in model where manufacturers disclose their information directly including ingredients, shared product lines, and more.