Be Food Allergy Aware When Packing School Lunches

The beginning of the school year can be a very exciting time. Along with packing school supplies such as books and pencils, you'll also be packing school lunches for your children. While there are food safety tips that you should follow to avoid foodborne illness, it's also important to remember allergy awareness when you are packing lunches for school. If your children pack their own lunches, you should help them understand how to be food allergy aware.

Food allergies

As many as 1.2 million Canadians may be affected by life-threatening food allergies and these numbers are possibly increasing, especially among children. Currently, it is estimated that six per cent of children are affected by food allergies.

Although many foods can cause allergic reactions, Canada has identified a list of priority allergens that are responsible for the majority of allergic reactions to food in our country. These allergens are peanuts, tree nuts, sesame, soy, seafood (such as fish, crustaceans and shellfish), wheat, eggs, milk and sulphites.

Allergens can cause a reaction in your respiratory system, stomach and intestines, skin or cardiovascular system. The symptoms of allergic reactions vary in type and severity, from mild skin irritations and hives to breathing difficulties and loss of consciousness. Symptoms can also develop at different rates, sometimes getting worse very quickly. The most severe reaction, called anaphylaxis, can be fatal.

Food allergies are triggered when your body's immune system mistakenly identifies a food protein to be harmful. Exposure to even the smallest amounts of allergenic protein can cause a serious allergic reaction in sensitive individuals. This is why you need to be very careful when packing school lunches for your children.

Allergens in schools

Because of the potential seriousness of allergic reactions, many schools have a policy in place to restrict students from bringing certain items in their lunches. It's very important for you to follow the school's food allergen policy closely, even if your child is not allergic. The health and safety of other students depends on all parents and students following the school's food allergen policy. Here are some tips to help you:

• If your child is allergic to a certain food, make sure the school knows about the allergy and work with them to come up with a strategy to keep your child safe. Remind your child that it isn't safe to trade or share food.
• If peanut is on the school policy as a restricted food, try thinking about alternative sandwich-making ingredients. For example, try hummus or apple butter instead of peanut butter.
• Always read the labels on the food you pack in your child's lunch. Don't pack any food with ingredients that are restricted at your school. Look for warning statements on the label such as "May Contain...". Remember, even trace amounts can cause a severe allergic reaction.

What the Government of Canada does to keep our food supply safe

The Government of Canada is committed to food safety.

Health Canada establishes regulations and standards relating to the safety and nutritional quality of foods sold in Canada. Through inspection and enforcement activities, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency verifies that food sold in Canada meets Health Canada's requirements.

For more information on food safety, please visit the Government of Canada's  Food Safety Portal and the Canadian Partnership for Consumer Food Safety Education's  Be Food Safe Canada program.

Additional resources

Some of the following hyperlinks are to sites of organizations or other entities that are not subject to the  Official Languages Act. The material found there is therefore in the language(s) used by the sites in question.

• Join Health Canada's Food Allergies e-Notice, a free service to stay on top of issued advice as well as regulatory and scientific developments in the area of food allergens and intolerances in Canada
• Sign up for the CFIA's email or RSS notification service
  "www.inspection.gc.ca/recalls"
• Lunch to Go! Food Safety Tips  Preventing foodborne illness
• In Your Kitchen: Safety Tips
• Health Canada's webpage on Food Allergies
• It's Your Health on Food Allergies
•  Anaphylaxis Canada
•  Allergy and Asthma Information Association
•  Association Québécoise des Allergies Alimentaires (french only)
•  Allergy Safe Communities