Managing Allergies in School Canteens
When preparing food, it is essential to consider food allergy. School canteens can make food selection from the canteen a safer, positive experience for students with food allergy. There are several things that can be put in place to make sure students with food allergy are able to purchase appropriate food from the school canteen. These strategies will also support staff with food allergy.
The Managing Allergies in School Canteens Guide includes frequently asked questions and explains the 4 key strategies to food allergy management in school canteens:
- Know what’s in your food
- Be 100% truthful
- Prepare food safely
- Understand the consequences.
This Guide was developed by National Allergy Council, Allergy & Anaphylaxis Australia and the Western Australian School Canteen Association Inc, supported by the Western Australian Departments of Health and Education.
This is a members only resource, please email WASCA@education.wa.edu.au for your copy.
- The Federation of Canteens in Schools (FOCIS), and the National Allergy Strategy developed the Food allergy in school canteens poster which contains simple steps to ensure food prepared and sold in the school canteen is done so safely.
There are school-specific resources located on the All About Allergens Resource Hub such as:
- menu matrix
- Food allergen ingredient substitution tool
- Standardised recipe template.
New video resources have been developed by the National Allergy Strategy to help parents, carers and people with allergies to select, prepare and store food safely in the home. The videos can also provide additional support to canteen staff who require further allergy information. This series of seven short videos provides practical advice on:
- food storage
- food preparation and separation
- food labels: what must be included, unlabelled foods and precautionary labels.
Head to the Food Allergy Aware website for access to the video series.
