Food allergies figure into safety
About one in 20 children age 18 or younger in the United States has a food allergy, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
School officials in Butler County said they take precautions to keep those students safe while at school.
“We have a separate peanut-free table to make sure that any student who sits there isn’t allowed to have any kind of peanut products,” said Kyle Suerth, food service director in the Slippery Rock School District.
Suerth said the district uses a computer system to track student allergies.
“If the student has an allergy, it actually will flag the cafeteria worker to let them know that there’s an allergy and to watch what they’re serving,” Suerth said.
But protecting students against allergens goes beyond the cafeteria. Melissa Grantz, a teacher at Knoch High School, attended a one-week food science training program in Washington, D.C., this summer.
Grantz said she toured the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition at the Federal Department of Agriculture to see the latest technology for identifying allergens in food sources. She also learned the FDA is changing food labels to highlight common allergens in products.
Although the students in her family consumer science classes are old enough to understand allergies and dietary restrictions, Grantz said she still takes basic precautions.
“In my classroom, if somebody has an allergy, we always make sure that we prepare things around their needs,” Grantz said. “Usually by the high school level, students are aware of their allergies and can monitor them on their own. At elementary levels, there’s a lot more responsibility on the teacher.”
There is responsibility on the parents, too.
Brenda Gerber, nurse at the Mars Primary Center, said parents and guardians must alert school officials to their children’s dietary needs and help develop an individual allergy action plan to prevent problems and treat reactions.
“Make sure you actually contact (the teacher) and not just write it in the paperwork, especially if it’s severe,” Gerber said of parents. “Make sure that the nurse is aware. Make sure that you bring in your physician’s order for emergency medication that your child would need.”
Gerber said Mars students are allowed to carry emergency medication such as EpiPens with them on school property with permission. For younger students who cannot administer medications without adult help, Gerber keeps their prescriptions in her office.
“That’s also a Pennsylvania state law that school nurses can give training to staff on how to administer epinephrine if needed in an emergency,” Gerber said. “Epinephrine is the first line of care for a child with a severe allergic reaction.”
Gerber said when she began as a school nurse 15 years ago, about five students per school had some type of food allergy. Today, that number is almost five per classroom.
“There’s nothing really out there that says why,” Gerber said. “(There are) many theories, but nothing’s been proven.”
While nut allergies remain among the most common, Gerber, Grantz and Suerth all said gluten allergies have increased noticeably in recent years.
Grantz also said the cases of student diabetes have increased.
“It’s not an allergy, but we still have to watch what they’re consuming,” she said.
