Allergies and primary school lunches

[notamorningpanda]

Hi just wondering what primary school are doing to cater for children with allergies in regards to school lunches. I was surprised to learn that in the primary my child attends ALL children with an allergy action plan HAVE TO choose from the allergen free menu (which excludes the top 14 most common allergens) even on days when they can eat the standard menu. So a child with a shellfish only allergy for example, has to have gluten and dairy free meals every day, even though most meals won't contain shellfish! Is this common in primaries?

Not at mine - ours buy in or make a substitute as close as possible. My DC has a severe allergy and they have special fishfingers and special pitta breads and stuff and use different ingredients - as far as possible, their meals are exactly the same, just without their allergen.

This is a single form entry MAT primary - I don’t know if that makes a difference?

Not common in ours but all food is made onsite. They try to substitute where they can to replicate a similar meal. If the allergen is too central to the meal, there are always other meals to choose from.

Have you raised it with school. They are clearly trying to make things as easy as possible for themselves.

They probably use a supplier for the main meals that won’t guarantee cross-contamination free.

In DSs school they have a bespoke menu catered to whichever allergens they need to avoid for each child. In reality they can have much of the same stuff but with the problem food substituted for something suitable.
Example would be bean grill in a gluten free pitta bread, potatoes and salad for kids needing to avoid wheat. The kids with allergies go in 15 minutes early with a chosen friend and eat first to avoid cross contamination of the dining area.

Does it matter? Are they being fed? Maybe the school is being extra cautious and just working around their limitations. Your child may well be eating better anyway if the ingredients are healthier (perhaps).

My DS has egg and shellfish allergies and he could usually eat one of the two offered mains so they didn’t make anything special for him (if he couldn’t he got the jacket potato option). I know they did modify the meals for my friends DD who couldn’t eat gluten.
They did say they’d take precautions but couldn’t guarantee no cross contamination as they only had one kitchen.

No. Individual children are catered for accordingly in our school so they choose from the normal menu and an adapted version will be made.

Of course it matters they're being prevented from accessing the normal menu for no reason. It could well be disability discrimination.

DC’s (private) primary school did this. It is obviously easier for the school than catering for each child’s allergies individually. But it meant that DC, who could eat eg. dairy, was not getting adequate nutrition. The school did not allow packed lunches.

I got a letter from the dietician in my hospital’s paediatric allergy department to the effect that school was not meeting DC’s nutritional needs and DC should be allowed to bring a packed lunch. School swiftly changed its policy to allow packed lunches.

We also had the problem that DC was allergic to foods which were not among the top 14 allergens, primarily legumes such as chickpea, lentils and green peas. So a blanket policy of excluding the top 14 did not protect DC anyway.

It sounds a very sensible idea.
School halls are busy, loud and chaotic. It’s better to be safe than sorry, especially with children’s lives. Allergies and Coeliac disease are a very serious matter and you can’t take chances.
The allergy menu is equally as healthy and nutritious as the non-allergy menu. Eg dairy is substituted with alternative calcium sources and gluten free food is just as tasty as gluten containing food.

Yes, this the same as my DD's school. Anyone who has allergies in the top 14, has a 'free from top 14' menu. My DD has allergies in top 14 and also a couple that aren't, so she actually gets a personalised menu, which just avoids her allergens. But this means she just eats the normal meals most of the time.

It’s often outside caterers rather than the school making this decision. What you’ve described happens in my school. When there are hundreds of children it is easier to have an “allergy free” menu rather than the kitchen staff try and remember everyone’s allergy.

If it is only shellfish I’d be surprised at this as no school I’ve known serves shellfish! But as PP have said I’m sure it’s about cross-contamination.

Mhmm bit extreme.

It’s lazy and unfair. Gluten and dairy free food every single day is depressing if all you’re allergic to
is pecans / shellfish or any other allergen that’s very unlikely to be on the menu! It’s all about saving money so the mass catering companies can produce 1 meal for everyone cheaper and will ensure no child with allergies actually eats the meals as they will be so unpalatable.

It's not for no reason if the only items they have that are certified free of allergens are on the special menu - finding out after eating that the 'well, it sounded OK' option either contained their specific allergen or was cross contaminated with it either in the kitchen or at the manufacturer's - is not something to actively court.

(Said as a rather irritated coeliac who wouldn't dream of risking it following repeated occasions with different catering firms over the years).

Yes but ops child only has an allergy to shellfish. If there's no shellfish on the normal menu there's no reason why he can't eat from it. I understand why it may be more complicated for someone with coeliac but that isn't the case here (and that said, plenty of large primary schools manage coeliac and other allergens without making children eat from alternative menus every day too).

Cross contamination at factory level as well as in other meals prepared in the same part of the kitchen is the risk.

Our school caterers ask parents of allergy sufferers to contact them. From there it is a discussion as to what is suitable (the menu doesn't change massiveky on a 3 week rota, and we can book a term at a time, so this isn't as huge as task as it sounds). The caterers only produce school lunches, and all food is made from scratch.

They are able to choose from the standard/veggie/JP meal if that is suitable (ingredients, any potentional contamination etc listed on the booking site). If not, an 'allergy' menu is provided only to kids with allergies, and needs to be discussed when booking meals.

Works quite well.

Forgot to say that they do allow packed lunches.

DD's friend has multiple diagnosed allergies- wheat, dairy, egg, soy, sesame, seafood and nuts amongst them- and is still catered for with a balanced diet.

Yes it's only a shellfish allergy so I was surprised that they will have to have the top 14 allergen free menu as PP have said no meals on the regular menu have shellfish anyway. It's a mild allergy, DC doesn't have an EpiPen, only antihistamines in case of accidental exposure, which never happened at nursery even though they had the normal meals everyone else was having. I understand it's about cross contamination but sounds like plenty of other schools manage it fine, and it does feel like the catering company is just being lazy. I have raised it with the school who have forwarded my questions to the catering company.

Of course it matters, cutting 14 food types out of a growing childs diet is never ideal.

Theres also plenty of allergies outside the top 14.

This isnt done at my childs school luckily, you can often avoid allergens within the choices and if not they will make something as close as possible.

I wouldn't be happy about this as some of the 'allergen free food' is awful. i.e diary free cheese and I wouldn't want my child to eat something they really didnt like despite not have any allergies to it just to make life easier for the catering company.

Our school are similar to @Posywosey in that the parents contact the company directly and they agree between themselves a suitable 6 month menu for their child (the menus change every 6 months). However, all meals are made on site in the school kitchen so this may help.

I have a child with a top 14 allergy. Prior to this year we could order from the main menu, but also had the choice to order from the 'allergy menu'. However, this year we can now only order from the allergy menu and have also had to do an IHP (she didn't need one before as her allergy is non-IGE). These changes are all due to Benedict's Law and what the school are choosing to do to comply with new legislation and keep children safe as best they can.