Should homemade snacks be banned from schools?

The Glamorgan Gazette reports that Mynydd Cynffig Junior School in Wales has banned home-made cakes and biscuits from its Christmas fair to protect pupils’ health and safety, following the 2005 E. coli outbreak, and fears that ingredients could trigger pupils’ allergies.

The Welsh Assembly Government issued a ban on the sale of home-made products in schools in areas affected during the E. coli outbreak, but this guideline was withdrawn when the outbreak was over.

Neil Davies, headteacher of Mynydd Cynffig Juniors, said the school had made its decision to protect pupils, and the school had not received any complaints from parents or grandparents.

“I have got to guarantee the health and safety of the pupils. I’m not doing it to upset anybody.”

As we wrote a couple of years ago, food safety isn’t a game, but having the health umpires around to make sure things are running smoothly isn’t a bad thing.

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About Douglas Powell

A former professor of food safety and the publisher of barfblog.com, Powell is passionate about food, has five daughters, and is an OK goaltender in pickup hockey. Download Doug’s CV here. Dr. Douglas Powell editor, barfblog.com retired professor, food safety 3/289 Annerley Rd Annerley, Queensland 4103 dpowell29@gmail.com 61478222221 I am based in Brisbane, Australia, 15 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time