Food Allergies - School Awareness Part 1

Bob Gravani: Hi, I am Bob Gravani. I am a professor of food science at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. My area is food safety and I have been engaged in that most of my professional career. Recently we have conducted a survey of severely food allergic consumers. Today we are talk a little about how food allergies are managed in schools.

Host: Who at school should be aware of and involved in managing my child's food allergy?

Bob Gravani: Well when school are considered, really it's a team approach. The most likely contact would be the school nurse, who would be the primary individual most likely responsible for the child's -- managing the child's allergies. But the entire school team, the principal, the administrator the counselor, the classroom teacher, any activity teachers that the child will encounter during the day, certainly the school food service director and the dietitian and the others in the food service operation within the school, as well as after school program, teachers, the school bus driver etcetera. But the nurse would probably be the primary contact. Parents should provide a written plan, with offending foods that the child cannot-- that the child must avoid and clearly a food allergy action plan needs to be in place with emergency contacts in the unlikely event the child has a reaction in school.


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