Top 10 Reasons Not to Ban Cupcakes

For the industry perspective. It's real.

I come from a family of people with Celiac syndrome (if you don't know what it is, you should, and you should be tested,) so I am really aware of gluten in things. Tahnkfully, no one in my house has it, but it has really changed the way we all eat when we're together.....

You have some serious integrity in refusing to sell stuff to people who could contaminate others. Well done. I'm glad there are people like you.
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Alyssa Royse
JUST CAUSE
make some good news!
www.JustCauseIt.com ( http://www.JustCauseIt.com )

I've never understood the rules at school here!! right when you start thinking you have it all figured out, they surprise you with something new!!

Mansi
http://funnfud.blogspot.com

Food allergies can range from the irritating (dairy I don't know about causes me pretty bad stomach upset whereas dairy I do know about can be headed off with a lactaid or something) to the deadly (peanut allergy ahoy!). Most people who aren't directly affected by them, though, don't consider how very VERY serious they can be.

I used to work at a bakery, and we used dairy, wheat, and peanuts. One of the things we made was fresh caramel apples with chopped peanuts. We also made peanut butter cookies. As a result, every single surface in our kitchen was contaminated with peanut oil. We used peanuts. We baked with peanuts.

Parents would come in, looking for treats to bring to their kids' schools. They'd specifically ask about peanuts, and I'd tell them that no, our food wasn't safe. There were peanuts in our kitchen. And they'd try to argue with me. Maybe it was bad for business, but I'd flat refuse to sell them stuff. "Well... maybe it'd be ok if I get something that doesn't have peanuts IN it." "No, it wouldn't be ok. We bake with peanuts. Anything you buy would be contaminated with peanuts." "But there's no peanuts actually IN the thing. How bad could it BE?"

Packaged, mass-produced products are very clearly labelled as to whether they're produced in a facility that uses peanuts and many other allergens, and the packaging is a prophylactic against them coming into later contact with those allergens. As sucky and counter-intuitive as it seems, banning home made food is a really REALLY good idea when you don't know the dietary history (or cleanliness of the kitchens) of everyone involved. :)

You make your kids peanut butter sandwiches, right?

Now imagine that some of that peanut oil got into some ho-made rice krispy treats or brownies or cupcakes or whatever and caused a severe reaction in some allergic kid.

There's factories that are licensed as free of certain common allergens... wheat, peanuts, dairy, etc. This both reduces the liklihood of an accidental allergic reaction AND cuts down on liability.

... when a Twinkie or an Oreo is "safer" than a homemade cupcake

Mmmm, mmmm, don't you just love the taste of preservatives? (We do eat Oreos, but only them and the Milanos.)

Linda
www.moonbridgebooks.com ( http://www.moonbridgebooks.com )
Cherry Blossom Memories blogspot

the thought that a twinkie is safer than my mothers homemade applesauce cake is horrifying indeed. :)

allergies and lawyers, between them, the can take the fun out of any occassion!

if you're in saint louis, will you go on a food tour for me? breakfast at Duffs with a great bloody mary, lunch at Pho Grand, dinner at bar italia (miramare, please) maybe some snacks at Volpis, and some sticky toffee pudding for dessert? (I actually made the Tap Room's Sticky Toffee Pudding here and brought it to a local restaurant to convince them to put it on the menu. it shows up occassionally..... i stay up at night dreaming about that stuff!!!!!)
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Alyssa Royse
JUST CAUSE
make some good news!
www.JustCauseIt.com ( http://www.JustCauseIt.com )

Hi Linda,

Nice to "meet you"! If you'd like to meet in person some time, just say the word!

[For others, the recipe Linda is asking about is Flaky Tender Pie Crust ( http://kitchenparade.com/2007/11/flaky-tender-pie-... ) from my column Kitchen Parade, which is published in my hometown newspapers here in St. Louis.]

The pastry is definitely a 'short' pastry and thus does have a high proportion of fat:flour. It is "shorter" than an all-Crisco or all-lard crust but with the butter, has far more flavor, too. It is also "un shorter" (or whatever that word would be!) than MANY recipes I see which call for still another two or three or even four more additional tablespoons of fat so that the dough is easier to roll.

Pastry is an indulgence, no matter how it's made. I want it to taste so good that it's WORTH eating, no matter the calories. Hope this helps!!! I have completely fallen in love with making pie crusts again!

Alanna Kellogg, A Veggie Venture ( http://kitchen-parade-veggieventure.blogspot.com/ )

... when a Twinkie or an Oreo is "safer" than a homemade cupcake.

That said ... THANK YOU for all the thoughtful responses. I was playing along with the fun of it and honestly, til just now reading all the comments, didn't consider the real seriousness of the issue.

First, for all you Seattle folk, I know that Legalize Frostitution is not original, it is the BRILLIANT tagline of Cupcake Royale, where i choose to celebrate most occasions in life, including good moods, bad moods, rainy days, sunny dys, winning a soccer game, losing a soccer game.

So, I'm a cupcake lover. Big time.

That said, there are a couple children in my life who will go, immediately, into anaphylactic shock if they eat something that was made with a utensil that had touched peanut oil or peanut butter. Learning to bake for them was a challenge, because many, if not most, kitchens are not clear enough for them. Many, if not most store bought cake mixes (which is what a majority of people use, i suspect) are not allergen free. Nor are frostings.

So, I have to say, I understand the ban on homemade food in schools. I really do. I don't like it, I think it's sad in a lot of ways, but i don't think that most people have enough knowledge to truly bake something that is allergen free. For better or worse, those nasty (but oddly delicious) grocery store cupcakes are made with pretty much nothing natural and have been supervised by a team of lawyers to make sure there's nothing in there that would kill someone instantly. slowly perhaps, but not instantly.

anyone who's read any of my posts about food knows that i am pretty militant about natural and wholesome foods in our house. we grow our own, raise our own, by from local farmers - hell, we drive half an hour each way to get milk that is farm fresh and not pasteurized....

but, every now and then, a big o'l pile of unnatural sweetness is okay. our daughter will look at us and say, "it's okay on a special occasion, because we eat so well most of the time."

and she's right.

i don't think it's worth risking someones life just for a special occasion.
___________
Alyssa Royse
JUST CAUSE
make some good news!
www.JustCauseIt.com ( http://www.JustCauseIt.com )

I'm from St. Louis and our kids' school district bans anything homemade for safety and liability reasons. A ban on storebought cupcakes is different, though, which is what I suspect the New York school is doing. Perhaps you've noticed that those cupcakes in the bakeries and groceries have Mt. Everest icing. I can see why teachers would be dismayed at the thought of their kids flying high with sugar, then dropping into the abyss of low blood sugar. I'm surprised they don't ban those storebought cakes full of frosting, too.

Hi Alanna, I read your column in our paper. Isn't the pie crust recipe way rich?

Linda
www.moonbridgebooks.com ( http://www.moonbridgebooks.com )
Cherry Blossom Memories blogspot

Homemade treats are banned in my school district. This is a policy that was established after a child ate a homemade treat and had to be hospitalized for an illness parents claimed was due to the food they ate at school. There was a lawsuit and the district had to spend big bucks defending the teacher who allowed the treats. Rather than thinking schools are unreasonable for not allowing homemade treats, maybe you should be thinking whether you want your child eating anything any student happens to bring to school. At least if it's a purchased treat you know there were some standards of cleanliness and packaging when the food was prepared.

Yes, in a way it's sad, but unfortunately this is the way of the future. Food allergies are only one thing to think about when you're deciding what your child should be permitted to eat.

Kalyn Denny
Kalyn's Kitchen ( http://kalynskitchen.blogspot.com )

This is sad! My kids' school is doing this too, with the justification that the state is worried about food allergies. It's sad to me that they don't trust the parents...they'd rather have things prepackaged with preservatives and whatnot than home cooking.

Your Pop Culture Librarian also writes almost daily at I, Asshole ( http://iasshole.org ).

Sorry, all, who knew that when you accidentally hit the comment button while in preview mode, your post and the comment would both publish? And there seems to be no way to delete a comment.

Alanna Kellogg, A Veggie Venture ( http://kitchen-parade-veggieventure.blogspot.com/ )