Food Allergy Counseling: CDC and Voluntary Food Allergy Guidelines for Schools

A press release from FARE:

On October 30, 2013, the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) published “Voluntary Guidelines for Managing Food Allergies in Schools and Early Care and Education Programs” - the first national comprehensive guidelines for school food allergy management…The guidelines were created as the result of the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Management Act (included under the FDA’s Food Safety Modernization Act), which was championed by FARE and signed into law on Jan. 4, 2011. The law required the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services to develop and make available to schools a voluntary policy to manage the risk of food allergy and anaphylaxis in schools. FARE, the National Association of School Nurses and other groups collaborated with the CDC on the development of these guidelines. 

Information via Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC): 

The Voluntary Guidelines for Managing Food Allergies provide practical information and planning steps for parents, district administrators, school administrators and staff, and ECE program administrators and staff to develop or strengthen plans for food allergy management and prevention. The Voluntary Guidelines for Managing Food Allergies include recommendations for each of the five priority areas that should be addressed in each school’s or ECE program’s Food Allergy Management Prevention Plan:

• Ensure the daily management of food allergies in individual children.
• Prepare for food allergy emergencies.
• Provide professional development on food allergies for staff members.
• Educate children and family members about food allergies.
• Create and maintain a healthy and safe educational environment.

The Voluntary Guidelines for Managing Food Allergies online here.


Via FARE how you can get more involved to spread the word to your school:

Know the Facts: More than 15 percent of children with food allergies have had a reaction at school, and approximately 25 percent of epinephrine administrations in the school setting involved an individual whose allergy was previously undiagnosed.

Contact Your District and School Leaders: Reach out to your school board, superintendent, principal, and/or school health office to let them know that the guidelines are available at www.foodallergy.org/CDC. If your school district already has school food allergy management guidelines in place, ask your school officials to consider the CDC guidelines the next time changes are proposed.

Tell Your Friends: Let other families know that they can help increase awareness of the new CDC guidelines by notifying their district or school leaders.