Restrictions & lists

Food restrictions

Where younger children are involved, some food restrictions or special measures may be implemented. Special accommodations should be handled on an individual basis.

Parents of food allergic children and school staff are encouraged to work collaboratively to develop strategies that are both realistic and reasonable for their environments.

Many school principals ask the entire school community to read food labels and to not send in products with an allergenic substance such as peanut.

It is important to note that food restrictions alone do not take the place of effective risk reduction strategies. The emphasis should be on preventing an allergic emergency through education, awareness, training and being prepared to respond during an emergency.

Parents of food-allergic children should condition them to not accept foods that the parents have not approved. They should also ask school staff not to offer food to their children without their prior approval. People who do not have a food allergy may not understand ingredient labeling practices. Assumptions about foods can put allergic individuals at risk.

Therefore, even in schools that have implemented a restriction on products with peanuts and nuts, parents should teach food-allergic children to stick to strict safety rules (not sharing or accepting food, carrying epinephrine, etc.).

Schools can be expected to create an ‘‘allergy-safe” environment. It is unrealistic, however, to expect an ‘‘allergen-free” environment.

Food lists

Many schools provide a list of “safe foods” to all families to help them comply with a “no peanuts or nuts” request. While this is well-intended, schools and food-allergic consumers are encouraged to use them as a guideline only. Many of these lists could be inaccurate or outdated.

Parents of children with food allergy should teach them to always read food ingredient labels (for older children) and not to accept or share foods that the parents have not approved, even in so-called “peanut-free” schools.

It is unrealistic to expect others who are not affected by food allergies to understand the details required to properly read a food label. Others may not recognize alternate names for foods (e.g. casein = milk), and assume that a product is okay if there is no “may contain” warning (which is voluntarily put on by manufacturers).

Updated February 9, 2006