Peanuts have been welcomed back into Winooski schools.
The nuts were banned from the schools in recent years because of fears that even a small hint of peanut residue could trigger potentially fatal reactions in children with severe nut allergies.
Winooski schools established a peanut and tree nut policy in 2002. The policy never banned peanuts from the city’s schools but administrators chose to ban nuts from school buildings to stave off any problems with allergies, said Mary Martineau, the associate superintendent for Winooski schools.
At a Nov. 4 community forum people questioned why nuts were banned and asked whether they could be brought back into the schools while simultaneously taking care not to harm children with allergies, Martineau said.
“For them, peanut butter is a staple and something most kids will eat, and it’s a protein source,” Martineau said.
Read more if you wish on what Winooski has done:
http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20091120/NEWS02/91120004 (http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20091120/NEWS02/91120004)