End of the year celebrations can be a little less fun for room parents and kids alike if there are food allergies, especially nut allergies and sensitivities that prohibit kids from having the same treats that their peers are enjoying. My 8 collective years of room parent experience (double duty as room mom for both kids’ classes!) makes me well aware of the issue of food allergies. Every year at the start of the year I check in with the kids’ teachers about allergies to get a sense of what I’m up against. Sometimes I’ve been on the hunt for dairy free and vegan treats, carefully checking labels before purchasing products but honestly- trying to find nut-free treats is the worst!
With over 3 million Americans allergic to nuts, nut allergies are the #1 allergy for children. Even if nuts aren’t in the product themselves, items are often made in factories where nuts are present. Depending on the severity of the nut allergy, this may or may not be ok but as a room parent, I can’t take any chances. Even though peanut allergies to be the most common kind of nut allergy, my childrens’ classmates have also been allergic to other nuts like cashews or almonds.
Even though only .09% of the US population reports having a peanut or tree nut allergy, according to survey results from Our Specialty, I’m among the 67% who take nut allergies into account when deciding what snacks to provide for my children’s events.
While at Mom 2.0 Summit in May, I had the opportunity to talk to Rich Products Corporation and try their Our Specialty line of 100% peanut-free and tree nut-free cookies that includes frosted sugar cookies and classic flavors like snickerdoodles, fudge brownie, sugar, chocolate chip, and oatmeal raisin. These delicious cookies are ones that I can feel good about serving at school, to my kids’ friends at playdates, at sports team events, and potlucks because they are completely nut-free and are made in a nut-free facility.
Our Specialty frosted sugar cookies have been a huge hit in our home and at our end of the year class parties. Leftover cookies made an appearance at a neighbor’s house for dinner and at the pool the following day during after school swim and dive practice. I usually ask kids if they have any food allergies before they grab treats but for the first time in a long time, I found myself not having to ask if they have nut allergies. It was a welcome change to have the peace of mind knowing that what I was serving was truly nut-free.
Our Specialty Nut-Free Cookies can be found at the following retailers:
- King Kullen, A&P, Waldbaum’s, Food Emporium, SuperFresh, PathMark and Food Basics
- Bottom Dollar Foods
- WinCo
- Haggen’s
- Rosauers
- Northgate Market
- Food Lion
Thank you for Our Specialty for being a sponsor of Mom 2.0 and for the cookies they provided for my kids’ end of the year class parties. No compensation was received for this post and all opinions are my own and based on many years of experience as a room parent and former teacher. Infograph and statistics courtesy of Rich Products Corporation.
