WARREN, N.J. – The Warren Township Board of Education is blaming student food allergies for its decision to ban birthday treats from the district’s classrooms.

“The school nurses were involved I helping us look at the hours they spend determining whether or not the birthday party foods are appropriate for the class, given allergy concerns,” Interim Superintendent Elizabeth Nastus told the Echoes-Sentinel. “Those hours spent assessing the food take valuable time away from their daily nursing practice.

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“This is not an attempt to discourage birthday celebrations,” Nastus assured, “it is a way to identify alternative opportunities to celebrate each child’s birthday that are not potentially jeopardizing those students with health or allergy-related issues.”

School officials contend students in the district’s five schools currently suffer from about 30 different allergens, including but not limited to nuts, dairy, legumes, eggs, soy, cherries, red dye, gluten, pineapples, sesame seeds, meat, fish, shellfish, watermelon, kiwis, peas, strawberries, blueberries, peaches, nectarines, mangos and plums, Tap into Warren reports.

Last school year nurses analyzed more than 2,234 food donations for those allergens, school officials said.

“The board has indicated that it does not want our schools to be food-free. The board recognizes that food can enrich students’ learning experiences in a curriculum-based lesson or event,” Nastus wrote in a statement to parents.

“To balance all of the above, the Policy Committee, in efforts to provide a safe environment for all of our students, made the recommendation to the full Board to eliminate food when celebrating birthdays in school. The Board supported this recommendation with the understanding that celebrations would not be eliminated. Rather, alternative ways to recognize and celebrate a student’s special day are currently being reviewed,” she wrote.

The policy was initially set for a second reading at the school board’s Dec. 21 meeting, but Nastus’ statement to parents this week references a Dec. 7 board meeting at Warren Middle School, where parents can voice their thoughts on the proposed policy during a public comment period.

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Tap into Warren reports “a petition in support of birthday food is currently circulating among parents.”

Numerous other school districts across the country have banned birthday treats, as well, some in response to student allergies, others in an effort to enforce strict limits on fat, sugar, sodium and other nutritional restrictions championed by first lady Michelle Obama.

In the last year alone, schools in Iowa, Maryland, Georgia, Maine, Illinois, Missouri, Pennsylvania, and other states have restricted treats students can eat in school. Even students in Israel are complaining that the trend away from birthday treats in U.S. schools is now taking hold in their country.

In many places, parents have complained about the restrictive policies with little success.

Regardless, many continue to point out the apparent hypocrisy of schools serving pre-packaged and heavily processed foods as “healthy,” while banning homemade treats.

Parents in many places also seem to resent the government dictating what, and when, their children can eat.

“This is a direct attempt to control the nutritional intake of the children with a little allergy talk thrown in. But, don’t be fooled, the main reason for this policy, which corresponds with state and federal policies, is to control your child’s food intake,” beechlover posted in response to an August Frederick News-Post story about a ban on birthday cupcakes in Frederick County schools.

“Little by little parents are losing control of their own children through these county, state and federal policies.”