just for fun...what about the chickens and cows that were bothered for the eggs and milk to bake the muffins and donuts to serve.....and those poor Florida farmers having to pick each orange.....

sounds like she planned this commotion and I hope her son will one day tell Mom "Cool it Mother!"

I don't go near the seafood counter...why go to an event knowing Banana Nut Muffins are there!

It seems to me the parent of the child who knows he is diabetic and buys and eats sweets anyway--secretively, on the bus before his parents can stop him--has a much bigger problem than the bake sale. He must have access to sweets in other places as well--stores, wedding receptions, holiday parties, etc., etc.--and if he keeps this up he will face serious health consequences. Ending the bake sale won't help prevent that at all.

I come from a different perspective. I'm the owner of a fundraising company and am very very aware of all the issues here. As a member of the governmental affairs task force of the Association of Fundraising Distributors and Suppliers, food safety and childhood obesity are very big issues with our association, as we move toward compliance with all the new regulations coming down. That being said, I am also allergic... milk, nutrasweet, citrus, cashews, and my wife is also... tree fruits, tree nuts, soy, peanuts, cashews, wheat, citrus, nutrasweet. Yes, being allergic is the pits. BUT, we live with it and don't expect others to change for us. Yes, when we attend a special event, we let folks know, and yes we have to ask "what kind of oil do you fry in" and when the answer is "vegetable oil" (which may contain soy) just bypass that offering and get a baked potato. I suggest that groups having problems with these issues rethink their objectives. If the objective is just to raise funds, then maybe another approach would do the job without the grief. If the objective is to bring people into the school, then maybe a family fun night would be just as good as an ice cream social. The key would be to present the change as something new, exciting, different, and positive. When someone draws a circle that shuts you out, just draw a bigger circle that includes them in.

What about the kid whose allergic to milk, eggs, soy or wheat? Might as well make it "Virtual Muffins with Mom" because any of them can have those ingredients.
While I understand the dangers of a food allergy like peanuts, their child must learn to live in this world with it and one of the places that they learn about the world is the school.

Besides, there is no guarantee that the place than makes the muffins has not had some contact with peanuts. True, even the slightest amount of contact with it can have serious consequences, and while unfortunate for that child, there is no guarantee. If you cater to this concern then you must address the other potential health risks to other children and you will eventually have no events.
Perhaps an alternative option would be to distribute a flyer prior to the event stating, "If you or your child has a specific food allergy, please contact *** prior to the event. Be advised that some selections will not be appropriate for your or your child but we will provide alternative selections based on your needs."
It will then put the responsibility back on the parent at the event to be dilligent in protecting their child. Again, unfortunate that they must do this but in a perfect world, their child would not have this allergy.

She was crying in the office and said her son (1 in 400 in the school) cannot even be in the room with a nut.(which means he may as well stay away from me at this point)

That is too funny! Do you think that was a tad over the top? Her child must not be able to go anywhere. I am so sick of these people that think life is all about them and screw the 400 other people that are enjoying something.

The problem begins when the powers that be cater to these people. Here is why I love my principal...If this happened in our school, my principal would have handed her a tissue, told her to toughen up, get a grip, and to call him when she is calm enough to have an adult & reasonable conversation.

Our Principals attitude is why we rarely ever see any nonesense. Don't get me wrong...If you have a valid complaint he will bend over backwards to take care of it and resolve it for you. But when it comes to nonesense, he has no tolerance will tell you right out and put an end to it before it even becomes an issue.

I have an update to my own reply. While we do not have a bake sale, I started the Donuts with Dads, Muffins with Moms and the politically correct all encompassing Bagels with a Buddy events a few years ago. We had our Muffin event just last week, and a parent complained that we served Banana Nut muffins.
She was crying in the office and said her son (1 in 400 in the school) cannot even be in the room with a nut. (which means he may as well stay away from me at this point)
(I find it hard to believe you can ever leave the house and go out in public or to any restaurant ever as you never know who is carrying around heart healthy tree nuts to snack on at any moment.) In any case, we have been told to not have nuts in any of our muffins.

Rather than change all the events to nut free, I am asking that the Muffins and Donuts events be as usual. We can change our Bagels with a Buddy event to nut free. Hopefully that will be satisfactory.

I know 'catering to' does not sound very caring, but it is difficult to ever have an event that someone does not like. It just makes it that much harder to get enthused about being a volunteer when there is always someone telling us we that have the nerve to do - whatever it is we are trying to do. I can see why Middle Schools lose alot of volunteers - we are just tired at that point.