Food Allergies in Public Schools: Toward a Model Code

Sufferers of food allergies can experience anaphylactic shock, and even death, within minutes of exposure to allergens such as peanuts, soy, wheat, eggs, milk, and fish. This causes unique problems when the food allergy sufferers are children in public schools. The widespread availability of these allergens in school lunchrooms and classrooms places children with food allergies in danger while they are entrusted to the government\u27s care. Since these children, especially young children, cannot be relied upon to be able to avoid allergens on their own, reasonable and logical laws should be in place to ensure that children are safe while in school. However, such laws do not exist. Accordingly, this note provides an overview of the insufficiency of today\u27s disparate federal and state laws, and proposes a model code that is designed to protect children with food allergies