Allergies

The Interim Anaphylaxis Guidelines for Queensland Schools (Department of Education, Training and the Arts, Queensland) suggest the following example strategies for tuckshops to minimise students' exposure to potential allergens:

• informing tuckshop staff of students with anaphylaxis

• providing written parental consent as to which products students with severe allergic reactions can purchase

• placing a copy of the student’s Action Plan for Anaphylaxis on the tuckshop wall

• ensuring that the promotion of the sale of new foods in the tuckshop, and encouragement given to students to try new foods, is properly supervised. Children with severe allergic reactions should not be given any food without parental consent.

• ensuring tuckshop staff are aware of the risk of cross-contamination when preparing foods (for example, ensuring all utensils used in the preparation of egg sandwiches are thoroughly cleaned before reuse).

The guidelines also highlight that, "although it may be possible to minimise students’ exposure to potential allergens within the school environment, the implementation of blanket food bans or attempts to prohibit the entry of particular food substances into schools is not supported by Education Queensland, Queensland Health and the Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy (ASCIA). Schools should not make claims that their school is ‘peanut/nut free’ as this is impossible to guarantee and may lead to a false sense of security about exposure to allergens."