Balanced Approach Safe And Workable

Spokane School District 81 showed great balance and sensitivity this week in response to parents who wanted Mullan Road Elementary School to stop using peanuts in its cafeteria.

The request came from Sam and Megan Cozza, whose 7-year-old son, Joey, has a severe allergy to peanuts. He got sick from a cookie he took off a teacher’s tray at school.

Paul Stone, principal at Mullan Road, decided that banning peanuts probably wouldn’t be effective. And besides, “There still will be kids who really enjoy peanut butter and jelly sandwiches,” he said.

Instead, cafeteria workers will start highlighting menu items that contain peanuts. And staff members at Mullan Road will be trained to give emergency epinephrine shots to treat children who have severe allergic reactions.

Stone’s decision is a wise one. It shows consideration for a student with a condition that is potentially life-threatening. At the same time, it allows the vast majority of students to enjoy a varied choice of foods that includes peanuts.

As a practical matter, Stone’s solution avoids the prospect of additional food bans that could seriously limit what children are allowed to eat at school. Peanuts aren’t the only food that can cause anaphylaxis, a severe allergic reaction. Eggs, fish, nuts such as pecans and walnuts, and shellfish can also be life-threatening foods to some children, according to the Food Allergy Network. Wheat, soy and milk can also cause allergic reactions to a lesser degree.

Remove all of these foods as ingredients of lunch at school and the menu shrinks considerably.

And what do you do about children who bring their lunch from home? Just coming in contact with certain foods can cause some children to have an allergic reaction. Do you search through lunchboxes for contraband food?

Declaring Mullan Road peanut-free would have created a false sense of security for allergic students.

Stone’s program heightens awareness of foods that cause allergies in some students and should help ensure appropriate emergency treatment of children who suffer an allergic reaction.

This enables students who aren’t allergic to eat what they choose, provides protection for students with food allergies and minimizes the disruption to normal school life.