Seaweed….

My daughter came home from school and told me she can no longer bring seaweed in her lunch.

I realize that’s a strange comment coming from an 8 year old for a number of reasons, maybe even more strange is that she was disappointed by the soon-to-be absence of seaweed from her daily seaweed intake.

I think Canada’s Food Guide suggests 12 portions of dried seaweed/day so we’ll just have to double up at bath time and over breakfast.

When I asked her why she wasn’t allowed the seaweed, thinking it was for obvious reasons; it’s messy, it stinks, it’s weird, it makes my teeth green which scares people, it’s confusing, it’s noisy, people were using it as paper, the sodium content is ridiculous yet marketed to seem healthy, she said something I wasn’t expecting.

There’s a girl in my class who is allergic to shellfish.

Um, okay.

What does that have to do with your processed seaweed paper?

“She just told me I couldn’t bring it in my lunch because she was allergic to shellfish.”

Deep breath as I google “Is seaweed shellfish?”

“Yes, you can eat seaweed if you have a seafood allergy, but you should eat it with caution. Seaweed does not contain any fish proteins or any other seafood properties. However, if you have a seafood allergy, you should avoid eating at any seafood restaurants.”

As predicted, seaweed is safe to eat if you have a seafood allergy (I like the part about avoiding eating at seafood restaurants if you have a seafood allergy. It must be the allure of the koi pond that continues to draw people in, risking their lives).

Not only can this girl who is allergic to shellfish eat Ellie’s seaweed, it’s not in her lunch, it’s in my daughter’s, so why is this an issue?

I’m not suggesting even for a second someone should be allowed to bring peanut butter to school because they are not allergic and others are. Peanut allergies can be airborne and are dangerous and we get it, peanuts are evil and are only to be consumed in an enclosed capsule with twelve Doctors armed with epipens. But is my kid really not allowed to bring something in her lunch because another student might react to it if they eat it, rather steal it?

What about the rule that the kids aren’t allowed to share food?

What about people who are allergic to pet dander? They haven’t sent home a note saying people have to rid their homes of cats.

Yet.

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