Look back: Cayuga County schools adjust to food allergies – The Citizen

Sept. 5, 2007

The peanut butter and jelly sandwich is an essential part of the elementary school lunchroom.

But for 2.2 million American schoolchildren, that meal and others are off the menu.

Whether it’s milk or peanuts, wheat or soy, several common foods are unhealthy — and often lethal — to children with food allergies.

And as the prevalence of food allergies rises in the youth population, it has become an increasing priority for schools to take steps that will prevent children from allergen exposure.

It’s not as simple as making sure they don’t eat the foods to which they’re allergic. Even faint traces of peanuts or milk can trigger reactions in the children who cannot tolerate them. Touching hands with a student who has been handling these foods and exposure to surfaces on which they’ve been eaten are both risky to children with allergies.

Auburn’s schools implemented a plan six years ago to alert all faculty that comes in contact with a food-allergic child of his or her condition. Parents commonly notify the school of the child’s allergy and symptoms of a reaction.

That information is then circulated to not only the child’s teacher, but lunch officials, gym, music and art teachers. District nursing supervisor Caren Radell notes that art is a particular danger zone for food allergies due to the use of supplies that may contain products made from peanuts, the most common food allergen.

The lunch room is where the most care is taken to keep children with food allergies safe. Both before and after the meal, all children are required to wash their hands.

“In case there’s a smear of peanut butter in the web of a child’s hand afterwards,” Radell said.

Lunch room staff work hard to help food allergic children as well. Cashiers and lunch room aides will know if a child is unknowingly trying to buy an item with an allergen, like a cookie that may contain peanuts, and stop them from doing so.

The Weedsport school district works with a database that alerts lunch room cashiers when a student with a food allergy is checking out. Should a child attempt to purchase a food that stimulates an allergy, the cashier will be able to prevent the student from leaving the lunch line with it, said Food Service Director Donna Deyo.

The Moravia school district employs a similar system for its students with milk allergies. As school lunch manager for Moravia’s Millard Fillmore Elementary and Middle/High Schools, Jennifer Parker-Smith has only managed service for students with milk allergies.

“Most of the kids are really good about it, they’re well-trained once they know what to watch out for,” she said.

In the Auburn and Moravia districts, utensils used to prepare items with allergens are not used to make other food for allergic students.

“If we use a knife and spoon for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, we use that knife and spoon for that and nothing else,” Radell said.

Children with food allergies also sit at their own designated lunch table. Students with home lunches are not allowed at this table due to the possibility of their food being allergen-contaminated. Radell believes this policy keeps children safe from allergen exposure in the lunch room without embarrassing the students.

“We work closely with the parent to make sure they’re comfortable,” she said. “They have to be comfortable letting their child come to school.”

Port Byron schools are also hoping to organize peanut-free tables starting this school year. Middle and high school nurse Amy Potrzeba, who previously worked with the Allergy and Asthma Diagnostic Office in Liverpool, will be working with the elementary school nurse to institute this change. She is also looking into the possibility of mandatory hand-washing for students.

Auburn schools also send a letter to the parents of food-allergic children’s classmates that asks them not to bring in any food for celebrations that could aggravate the allergy. The allergic child’s name is also kept secret to preclude any possible ostracism.

Parker-Smith, also the mother of a first-grade student, received a letter from her daughter’s teacher informing her that should any child in the class have a food allergy, Parker-Smith – and all other class parents – would be told.

“The teachers take pretty good control of that, so we won’t be sending any peanut butter cookies,” she said.

So far, no child in the Auburn school district has suffered a major allergic reaction to food at school. In the event that one does, however, school faculty has been instructed how to administer an epinephrine shot to stop an anaphylactic reaction.

In Port Byron, Potrzeba created a protocol in March calling for an epinephrine pen to be on hand should a student experience an allergic reaction.

The risk posed by food allergies has recently caught the attention of the stage Legislature.

In early August, Governor Eliot Spitzer signed the Allergy and Anaphylaxis Management Act of 2007, which will require the New York State Commissioner of Health to develop guidelines for schools that will minimize the risk of student exposure to food allergens.

But with the steps they’re taking to prevent any problems, local school districts seem to be ahead of the game on food allergies.