Our website has a lot of posts about food allergies, from how to prepare for play dates to a teacher’s perspective on responding to issues in the classroom.
I speak from the viewpoint of a mom who does not currently have kids with food allergies, but I do have to provide snacks for a preschool class with various food allergies. I called on my fellow Columbia Mom writer who does have a child with food allergies to ensure we provide you with a list of snacks that are acceptable.
When my son first went to preschool, I got a list of allergies of children in the class, including milk, eggs, and nuts. At first, I was at a loss, as I never had to check for some of those allergies in snacks before. It can also be tricky because while the FDA requires companies to label with a “contains” statement they do NOT require manufacturers to add the “made in a facility that processes” or “MAY contain traces of…”
So you could pick up a snack that doesn’t “contain” allergens but “may contain traces.” Because of this, most of this list has specific brands that are safe for the top eight allergies, unless otherwise specified.
Fruit
Check with the teacher to see if any of the students have a specific fruit allergy. Consider providing the following on kabobs or cut up.
- Apple
- Banana
- Mango
- Pear
- Grapes
- Strawberries
- Blueberries
- Raspberries
- Oranges
- Peaches
- Plums
- Pineapple
- Papaya
- Star Fruit
- Honeydew Melon
- Cantaloupe
- Watermelon
Vegetables
- Carrots (you can even go fancy and do crinkle cut)
- Cucumber
- Jicama
- Cherry Tomatoes
- Snow Peas
- Cauliflower
- Broccoli
- Celery
- Edamame
- Olives
- Avocado
Processed Fruit
- GoGo Squeeze applesauce and yogurt pouches
- Plum Organics applesauce mashups pouches
- Sun-Maid Raisins
- Zee Zees Applesauce
- Zee Zees Pearsauce
Salsa
- Wise – Medium or Mild
Tortilla Chips
These brands are free of peanuts, tree nuts, and eggs but may contain other allergens.
- Tostito’s original tortilla chips
- Herr’s- Bite Size Dippers, Nacho Cheese Flavored, Restaurant Style, Traditional Authentic Cantina Style, or Yellow Round
- Utz Tortilla Chips – Dippable, Multigrain, Restaurant Style, White Round, Yellow Round
- Wise Bravos Tortilla Chips – Extreme, Nacho Cheese, Stadium Nacho
Rice Snacks
- MadeGood Crispy Squares – Chocolate Chip, Vanilla
- Quaker Quakes Rice Snacks – Caramel Corn, Ranch, Sea Salt & Cracked Black Pepper, Kettle Corn, Chocolate, Sweet Chili, Cheddar Cheese, Sour Cream & Onion
Popcorn
- Skinny Pop popcorn – Dusted Dark Chocolate, Jalapeno, Naturally Sweet, Original, Sea Salt & Black Pepper, White Cheddar
Crackers
- Honey Maid Graham Crackers
- Honey Maid Teddy Grahams
- Goldfish – Baby Cheddar, Cheddar, Colors, Mix-Up, Parmesan, Pizza, Pretzel, Saltine, Whole Grain
- Goldfish Flavor Blasted – XPlosive Pizza, Xtra Cheddar, Slammin’ Sour Cream & Onion
- Rold Gold Pretzels – Thins, Sticks, Rods, Tiny Twists, Lightly Salted Tiny Twists, Tiny Twists Cheddar, Tiny Twists Honey Mustard, Sourdough, Honey Wheat, Cheesy Garlic
For moms who have never had to deal with food allergies until your child went to school, hopefully, this list helps give you a good start for snacks. Don’t be afraid to ask the parent of the allergic child what foods are safe for them. Allergy parents are always willing to help! I myself had help from an allergy parent for this post. I also found the Snack Safely website to be a great resource.
Great resource and ideas!