Written question WQ83809

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) in Wales leads on food hypersensitivity, which includes food allergy, food intolerance and coeliac disease. Part of the FSA’s role is promoting consumer awareness of food hypersensitivity. In December 2014, allergen-related rules within the EU Food Information for Consumers Regulation 1169/2011 became statutory. This means that all food businesses, including school caterers, are required to make information available on allergenic ingredients deliberately added to the food and drink they serve. In meeting this requirement, processes should be in place to protect vulnerable individuals where the institution has a 'duty of care', for example in schools. In particular, school canteens have to ensure that children with a food hypersensitivity are only served food which is safe for them to eat.

Beyond this, headteachers, school governors and their caterers are best placed to make decisions about their school food policies that take into account local circumstances. For instance, schools may be nut or peanut free which means that their caterers do not use nuts or peanuts as ingredients, and that all pupils and parents are advised not to include nuts or peanuts in lunch boxes.

Local authorities and school governing bodies have legal duties under the Education Act 2002 regarding safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, which includes learners with healthcare needs such as allergies.

To support local authorities and governing bodies with their legal duties, the Welsh Government has published statutory guidance called ‘Supporting Learners with Healthcare Needs’. This guidance was produced in consultation with a diverse range of stakeholders, including allergy organisations. It is accompanied by quick guides for practitioners, parents and young people. The statutory guidance requires local authorities and education settings in Wales to have a healthcare needs policy in place that is readily available to staff and parents. The policy should include a procedure on how to raise awareness of common conditions and seek to ensure that pupils with any medical condition, including allergies, are properly supported.

The guidance encourages extending awareness of healthcare needs across the education setting to include other learners, and suggests consideration of how friendship groups and peers may be able to assist learners. Schools are able, at their discretion, to invite organisations like the Anaphylaxis Campaign to present to their staff and pupils.

The guidance states that school staff should be trained to recognise the signs, symptoms and triggers of common life-threatening medical conditions and know what to do in an emergency. This includes training on how to administer an adrenaline auto-injector (AAI), sometimes referred to by the brand name Epi-Pen.

Following a change in UK legislation, since 1 October 2017, education settings can purchase AAIs without the need of a prescription, for use in emergencies. The Welsh Government has published Guidance on the Use of Emergency Adrenaline Auto-Injectors in Schools in Wales, which has been drafted in collaboration with a range of stakeholders, including health specialists and allergy organisations. This guidance provides advice on recognising and responding to an anaphylactic shock, use of an AAI, reducing risk of allergen exposure, the supply, storage, care and disposal of emergency AAIs and links to information. Further training and support around allergies and the use of AAIs is available to schools from school nursing services and allergy teams based in health boards.