The Pink Cupcake

I know I've heard from some of you asking for a bit of an update on the "pink cupcake" incident at Tyler's preschool last week.

A recap: Tyler started his first "away from Mommy" preschool last week. I did lots of research and felt we found him a safe place that understood his peanut allergy. They also have several PA kids and have never had any of them have a reaction. When I asked about snacks, they mentioned Keebler graham crackers (safe), Nabisco vanilla wafers (safe), and animal crackers. The animal crackers were not safe so I brought alternative snacks for those days.

So, the first day of school comes and I didn't ask what was for snack although I did show them the alternative snacks in his cubby. When I picked him up and asked about snack, he told me he ate a "pink cupcake." I was alarmed and spoke with one of the directors on Thursday morning (I waited until I dropped him off because he has been nervous about being away from me due to his PA). She explained these cupcakes were for a birthday party and were bought a bakery. She reassured me there was nothing on the label about peanuts.

OK, I know what my readers are thinking (or should be thinking!!): Bakery items are never safe! That is exactly what I explained to her. Never, ever, ever!! As we all know, there is no law saying they have to state whether baked goods are around peanuts, only if they actually intentionally add them to a cake. This is why the FDA needs to regulate this labeling issue! It gives people a false sense of security. They really thought they were doing the right thing by letting him eat the cupcakes.

I was not rude to her. She really did her best. It was a mistake on my part not to double check. Nothing happened to him so that particular pink cupcake was safe. (I told my husband I hope he enjoyed it because that is the only bakery cupcake he will get until there is a treatment for PA!)

The director told me there was a little confusion on her part because some parents of PA kids at the preschool allow their children to eat things that say "May contain traces." I can absolutely see how confusing this would be. I explained Tyler's allergy is so severe that it landed him in the hospital in June and others might not have as serious of an allergy (even though they still should not be letting their PA kids eat "may contains" but that's another issue!). We had a very friendly exchange about the whole issue. I'm kicking myself for not being more thorough with them.

So, the director and I came to some conclusions regarding snacks:

*No bakery items ever, ever!!

*Keebler and Nabisco are OK

*The brands that are not Keebler and Nabisco and come from their food supplier will be called to verify their safety. (She said she would do this even though I offered...I explained about the fact they should not be processed in the same facility..I still feel a little uneasy with this and may ask to do the calling myself)

*Until we have answers on every item, Tyler will eat snacks from his cubby. He ate fruit snacks from his cubby on Thursday and wasn't bothered a bit by it.

*On birthday and special occasions, I will provide a special cupcake for Tyler

In the end, he may just eat snacks from home. I really hope he can eat some things the other children do. I don't want him to feel out of place. But his safety is certainly more important.

This whole preschool thing is a learning process for me, too. I made a mistake as his parent. There was no harm done. But, I know my job is to protect him and educate others around his allergy. Hopefully, that will be our only food problem. Unless something else bizarre happens before then, I'll post another update on how things are going next month.

I've heard from a lot of you who just put your PA kids in preschool in the last month. I'd love to hear from you guys. Did you mess up a little like I did? What makes you nervous? What's working great for you? Leave me a comment or send me an e-mail.