How Anoka-Hennepin School Lunchrooms Cope With Food Allergies

How Anoka-Hennepin School Lunchrooms Cope With Food Allergies

Cassandra Day gets a lot out of her job as the child nutrition assistant at Champlin-Brooklyn Park Academy.

“I’m making the taco meat for the nachos that the kids will love,” she said. “It puts a smile on your face, so that’s the best part about it to see them actually being happy about what they get, saying it’s their favorite.”

Day doesn’t just learn favorite meals, she also learns which kids have food allergies.

“There’s some that they feel happy the fact that you just know and you don’t have to ask them, and they don’t have to feel like, ‘oh, I can’t have that, but you know what I get today.’ It makes them feel more included,” Day said.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in 13 children experience a food allergy.

Noah Atlas, Anoka-Hennepin’s director of child nutrition, said schools are serving more kids with food allergies.

“It might be a couple of hundred throughout the district, it might be a few more, a few less,” he said. “But you know, on any given day, each school is dealing with a percentage of students who might need a diet accommodation or are looking for something different.”

To protect kids, cafeteria staff avoid cross contamination.

They use separate containers, clean cutting boards and knives and change gloves.

They also use separate ovens when available.

“In some kitchens, we have a kitchen that is large enough that we just have one oven that they can just use for those items, otherwise it might be the first thing they cook or bake,” said Atlas.

The school district also tries to use whole ingredients when possible.

For instance, the turkey nachos are made from scratch.

That way, they avoid the soy or wheat that is sometimes found in a prepared taco meat.

Nutrition workers say they do their best every day to provide a safe and healthy eating experience.

“We want them to come,” Day said. “We want them to enjoy coming to lunch with their friends, eating food here.”

The Annoka-Hennepin School District doesn’t allow peanut butter in its kitchens, except for the manufactured, pre-wrapped peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

The school district serves 27,000 lunches and 10,000 breakfasts a day.

SOURCE: CCX MEDIA