dealing with dyes in school snacks

It's hard enough to avoid the food dyes at home and at restaurants. They are hidden in products you would never expect. It's an even more complicated mess to try to keep my kids from eating all the tempting colored treats at school. Ben has gotten tired of having the "melt downs" after eating red so he's pretty good at avoiding things, or asking about ingredients before eating things. At the "meet the teacher" night we explained that our son cannot have food dye and other parents seemed interested. I told the teacher that safe treats are white cakes without the sprinkles, glazed donuts, and chocolate or chocolate chip cookies.

Last week, one parent contacted me to check what Ben could have. She happens to be a former colleague so that may make her more willing to go the extra mile. She decided to make white cup cakes, but her daughter was really hoping for some chocolate sprinkles. I emailed back to leave a plain one for Ben, but also added that if she was shopping for sprinkles anyway, that the Mr. Sprinkles clown bottle is dye free. I heard back from that Mom today that while others were running around the store restocking milk and meat from the massive power outages, they were looking for the clown sprinkles and found them! How blessed we are when someone is willing to go out of their way to include my son so he can eat what the rest of the class eats. If you read this, Thanks Laura!

For the times when other treats are sent in, I have supplied the teacher with individually sealed cakes that don't have dye. Most "Little Debbie" snacks are fine, but it's best to read the label.