Sweet treats are great, but not everyone can have them. Because of food allergies, people can't have chocolate, caramel, and other ingredients that are staples in baked goods. In the UK, the number of people who have food allergies has doubled since 2008, and around 4% of children have a "probable" allergy.
Schools have to implement rules to make sure that every child is safe, and this mom learned that the hard way. After spending almost six hours on cupcakes, she was told that her son couldn't bring them to school for his birthday. This sparked a debate about whether the school was right or should've been more lenient – it's just cupcakes after all.
Bored Panda got in touch with the mom, u/International-Ad3035, and she kindly agreed to tell us more about "cupcakegate." Read our short conversation with her below!
A mom spent almost six hours making cupcakes for her son's birthday at school
Image credits: ADDICTIVE_STOCK (not the actual photo)
But the school forbade him from sharing them with his classmates because of food allergy concerns
Image credits: International-Ad3035
Image credits: International-Ad3035
The son had just started a new school, so the mom wasn't familiar with their rules: "I didn't think to check"
Commenters informed the mom that this is common practice in most schools: "I'm a little surprised that in 2025 anyone would do this"
The family was so shocked because they had brought baked goods to previous schools all the time
Kids love sweet treats, and bake sales are a staple in schools. As research from Sheffield University showed in 2017, 85% of primary school teachers would use bake and cake sales as fundraising activities.
u/International-Ad3035 tells Bored Panda that she would attend weekly cake sales at her children's previous schools. "I would bake brownies, cakes, meringue pops, millionaire's shortbread, and anything in between. I had a home baking business, and my kitchen before we moved was registered and inspected. I haven't registered since moving yet, though," she adds.
Sometimes, she would even get requests from parents. "I made lots of birthday cakes for kids at the school. I also baked a two-tier cake for my son's preschool the year he left to go to regular school."
As she was a known baker at her children's previous schools, the Redditor never had any issues regarding allergies. "All baked goods had to be nut-free," she shares. "And I had allergen labels I could put on anything that could be problematic. But as most of the things I made were 'regular' treats, there wasn't really any need."
"My kids have always enjoyed being able to take in baked goodies, which is why we were so shocked this time," the mom explains.
The negative reactions and comments from netizens surprised the mom. "I didn't expect there to be so many replies – especially comments from people seemingly getting annoyed because I hadn't asked the new school. I do think people react more and get more heated online," she believes.
At the end of the day, the boy did get to hand out his cupcakes to his classmates. According to his mom, it all went down very well, both with the children and the parents. "Because I had taken them in for the staff, I'll be baking cakes for the staff room tomorrow to take in to say thank you for allowing him to share that with his new classmates," the mother adds.
Image credits: International-Ad3035
In the UK, schools have to adhere to the 2021 Natasha's Law
After reading the original story, many commenters assumed that this incident happened in the U.S. However, it all took place in the UK. And the Brits have their own legislative regulations regarding food allergies.
The most important one that some commenters have already mentioned is Natasha's Law. Implemented in 2021, it requires food businesses to provide a full ingredient list on pre-packaged foods.
It's named after Natasha Edan-Laperouse, a student who passed away after having an allergic reaction to the sesame seeds on the baguette in her pre-packaged sandwich. Her tragic passing motivated her parents to push lawmakers for change so that people with allergies would know what kinds of allergens can be found in food.
Schools had to get ready for the implementation of the law as well. To comply with the new safety regulations, all food that is made on-site or comes pre-packaged has to include a list of all the ingredients and emphasize possible allergens.
14 ingredients are listed as potential allergens according to UK food law: eggs, fish, crustaceans, mollusks, milk, celery, gluten, lupin, mustard, peanuts, sesame, soybeans, tree nuts such as almonds, hazelnuts, cashews, etc., and sulphur dioxide and sulphites (usually used as preservatives in processed meats and dried fruit).
Image credits: International-Ad3035
There are other reasons why bringing sweet treats to the classroom might not be okay
Allergies are one (and a very big) reason to deter parents from bringing homemade sweet treats to the classroom. In the UK, some schools have policies regarding this; others don't. As the mother in this story says, she hasn't been informed about any forbidden-food policies until now.
But St. Paul's CE Primary School, for example, doesn't allow any birthday cakes, sweet treats, or party bags. Instead, they suggest that the parents donate £5 to the class, and they will spend it on books for their "book nook."
Other schools choose not to do so because of the mess and sharing concerns. The headmaster at the Norbreck Primary Academy in Blackpool told The Guardian that teachers often struggle to cut the birthday cakes into enough slices for 30-person classes and have to clean the mess left behind.
Some people also raise concerns that this practice is not fair. In the case of allergies, some kids might be unable to enjoy the baked goods when they have all the allergens labeled. What's more, this puts pressure on other parents to always bring in something for their kids' birthdays. And, in reality, not every family might be able to afford it.
Image credits: International-Ad3035
In the end, the teachers changed their minds and decided to hand out the cupcakes to the children
Image credits: GaudiLab (not the actual photo)
Image credits: International-Ad3035
Commenters were joyous that all that work didn't go to waste, but others accused the mom of being too whiny
