Scout with potential DEADLY reaction to Peanuts

[BuffaloSE-583]

We have a scout that cannot come into contact with peanuts, or anything that has peanut oil in it, or was used in the manufacturing of any other product.

He hasn't been on many trips, and when he does go, is mother attends with him.

The mother made it known that she wants to BAN ALL peanut products from all troop camping/backpacking trip's, as well as any peanut products in the vehicles used to drive to the trips.

Now while I can sympathize with her and her son, it is going to be difficult to do this.

This means no more peanut butter/jelly sandwiches, no more GORP, no more Peanut M&M's.etc.

I want to know if there are any other troops that have run into this situation?

Is there some sort of BSA policy?

[FrankJ]

There is no BSA policy that I know of. Both Philmont & N Tier food has a lot of peanuts although they have peanut free options.

I do not see that it would be practical to ban all peanuts from camping. Even if you did, how could you be sure? Peanuts & peanut products are so pervasive, if you do not have the issue, you are likely to miss something.

Fortunately the scouts that have that issue in our troop have a mild case & they deal with by being aware of what they eat.

[Mrw]

If the boy's reaction is so severe, I can understand banning peanut products from the menus for any trips he is going on. The last thing I would want is to be camping somewhere away from immediate medical help and this kid has a reaction. It may even make sense to keep the patrol box his patrol uses free of peanut products.

It is more problematic to ban all peanuts from any vehicle that goes on the trip. That may mean that Mom needs to drive on many if not all of the trips the scout goes on - or individually talks to the other parents who drive for the troop and see which cars would be okay for her son to ride in.

I have a son with a mild peanut allergy and we have had kids in the troop with problems with milk protiens, chocolate, eggs and there was something else. As well as a kid who did not eat pork products for religious reasons. Menus were planned around this on an as-needed basis.

It should not be that onerous a task to be a little more creative in your cooking and menu planning to make foods this boy is safe to have. My experience is that the milk protein issue was much more pervasive than peanuts are and therefore more difficult to handle.

[PaulSWolf]

There are also substitutes for Peanut Butter - made from sunflower seeds. I know some schools in this area have become peanut free for reasons such as your case, and have successfully switched to "sunbutter"

See: http://www.sunbutter.com/

That company apparently has a peanut free "gorp" too.

[maricopasem]

Just look at it as if it were any other type of disablility. I'm sure you'd be more than accomodating if the Scout were blind or deaf or confined to a wheelchair.

We had a very similar experience at our church recently. One of the younger children has the same type of peanut allergy and the parents wanted to do the same thing, to the point of even asking parents to consider not even feeding their children peanut products on Sunday before church. I was skeptical that it would fly, but I was wrong. The parents were so gracious and accomodating. Most voluntarily decided to not feed their kids peanut products before they could even be asked.

This eternal cynic is pleasantly surprised by people more often than not.

[Hubert]

Like said in earlier posts, I can understand baning from the patrol box and such, but in cars too? I like to eat peanuts sometimes, sometimes M&Ms with peanuts, I do not feel it would be right to the others to limit them on what they can do because of one boy. I understand its severe, but he can ride with his mother, seeing how you said in the OP that she attended the camp outs. I had a similar issue, of a boy being limited on what his physical limitations are, and I was told to find other activites for him to do so the others can do some. Well, it can fit here in a way, find other foods the boy can enjoy and the others still be able to eat peanuts.

[OldGreyBear]

Sure. allow peanuts, but before you do, take a look at Anaphylactic shock and its treatment and ask yourself if you want to ever question if you were the reason

[ASM-142]

I think at this point that the scouts mother drives all the time is beacuse there is no ban on peanuts. For some individuals even the smallest amount of peanuts can be deadly so even if the food is originally separated there is a possiblility of cross contamination. Being that this scout is a member of the troop, the members of the troop should accomodate his disability.

[ronin718]

What nobody seems to pick up on here is while you might be able to ban peanuts from the cars during the trip, I'm sure the cars are used for other activities outside of Scouting. What happens if peanuts/peanut oil products are consumed in the car during the rest of that time and some residue remains?

It definitely sounds like Mom is going to have to transport her son if she wants to ensure his peanut-free world.

[Mrw]

That is why I suggested the mother talk individually with the other potential drivers to determine if it is safe for her son to ride in their cars.

Even with a son with a mild peanut allergy at home, there is likely peanut contamination in my car. And I would not be willing to tell my family they could never have anything possibly contaminated with peanuts in the car just in case I drove some other kid to a campout one day.

Beyond that, the troop should not have a problem accomodating this boy's needs.

[Nuts4Scouts]

For the parents to request this his allergy must be, as the opening poster stated, extreme and DEADLY to the boy.

For those boys who like to chow down on peanuts in the cars on the way to the campsite, please do NOT, under any circumstances at all, touch this boy, or anything else in camp that he might even accidentally come into contact with. This includes camping gear, tables, dining flys, poles, stakes, flags, door handles, clothing, etc. You must THROUGHLY SCRUB you hands and clean any vestige of peanut product off of yourself before going anywhere near where this boy will be.

People with extreme peanut allergies can have a LIFE THREATENING reaction to even the slightest bit of peanut oil. Sometimes even the smell can trigger a reaction. These folks live with an epi pen close at hand their whole lives and unfortunately, if the attack is severe enough, these might not even be enough.

What might seem like an unneccessary inconvenience to you, could be life and death to this boy.

[Billiken]

You can't control what has been consumed in other peoples' homes or cars.
You can only make the other parents aware of the situation and ask for their cooperation.

Personally, as SM, I would do everything in my power to see that this Scout participates in the program.
I'd also make sure other Troop families knew of this extreme situation. We would plan event menus with peanut-free items.

I would then ask the mother of the Scout in question to buy the food for our outing/campout (reimbursed by the troop, of course).
We'd implement a strict policy that no other food could be brought on the outing.

All of this said, I would require the parents of this Scout to sign a notarized and witnessed hold-harmless letter stating that I, and all other participating leaders, had done everything in our power to provide a peanut-free environment. Also that, should their son have an allergic reaction (or God-forbid something worse) that the Troop leadership and BSA were not in any way liable.

Is the Scout allergic to any type of other nuts....like acorns?
We camped in an area last month where there were acorns everywhere (with lots of acorn-type dust in the air).

[Mrw]

Peanuts are much more closely related to legumes than tree nuts such as acorns. Most peanut allergies are not affected by tree nuts and tree nut allergies are not affected by peanuts.

[Quailman]

It may even make sense to keep the patrol box his patrol uses free of peanut products.

It also makes sense to make a new patrol box for this young man's patrol to use, so that it never comes into contact with peanuts or peanut products.

[scouter01]

ban GORP? seems like a crime.


maybe ask him to bring his own "camp appropraite" food and have the troop pay for it?


edit: another crime is sunbutter. forcing kids to eat it is wrong. trust me the first bite is good, the rest of the sandwich is gross.

also

peanut free GORP is impossible, it would be GOR

also for the the religios/veggie's restrictions we usually just by some veggie dogs and cook them first and then everyones happy

[Mrw]

Banning gorp and peanut butter is a very small price to pay for someone's life!

[evmori]

Banning gorp and peanut butter is a very small price to pay for someone's life!

We have kids with similar reactions to foods. We never banned anything. We did maintain a list of the foods that were harmful & to who they were harmful & this was incorporated into the menu planning.

Managing these things teaches way more than banning them. Peanuts aren't banned in the real world.

[Billiken]

also for the the religious/veggie restrictions we usually just by some veggie dogs and cook them first and then everyones happy

We accomodate scouts with bona fide religious restrictions.
For example; all-beef hot dogs and turkey bacon instead of pork bacon.

We will not create special meals just because someone doesn't like xxxxx.

[ASM-142]

We will not create special meals just because someone doesn't like xxxxx.

In my troop the scouts themselves determine the menu based on aggreement with all the boys in the patrol. Using this method there has never been a case where someone does not like something.

[Mrw]

Banning is sometimes the only way to manage severe allergic reactions. There are some pepole with food allergies who have serious reactions to the smell of the particular food. Or to eating something made in the same factory as that food is processed in. I have a friend who ended up in the emergency room after her toddler was kissed by an Uncle who had just eaten jelly beans that were made in a plant that also makes peanut candy.

For milder allergies or religious reasons, it makes sense to just ensure that child's needs are planned around - such as the turkey bacon, or letting little Johnny bring his own balogna when the patrol is eating paenut butter.