Released Today: The CDC Guide to Managing Food Allergies in Schools

Today,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." It is the first national comprehensive guidelines to help schools manage food allergies in their facilities and with their students.

This guide was created for schools, but I think every parent should download it and read it. It will help parents with food allergic kids understand what you can expect from schools, and also help parents of kids who have no food allergies understand why these regulations are in place. It might even help a parent save a kids life.

A Quick Snapshot of the Guide

The guide was created with the help of a team of experts, including federal agencies with the expertise in food allergies, consumer organizations who give advice on the clinical management of food allergies (like FARE and The American Academy of Pediatrics), organizations who represnt professional groups who work in schools, like school nurses.  They also worked with one school district, one state education agency, and two parents of food allergic kids.

The guide also takes into account the emotional needs & symptoms of food allergic kids, as well as guidelines on how to deal with bullying. Emotional needs are important, as well, since "the peanut table" can be a very lonely experience, as can be being forced to eat in the nurse's or principle's office.

The guide describes the symptoms of a classic allergic reaction, and how to recognize it as such from a clinical perspective, including mental and emotional symptoms. A child, for instance might have a sudden mood change or have a "sense of impending doom." I've certainly experienced this as part of a food allergy reaction, and I'm super glad that they included emotional symptoms in the guide.

The guide also gives examples of how a kid might describe a classic allergic reaction (one that might result in anaphylaxis). Here are a few examples:

• It feels like something is poking my tongue.
• There’s a frog in my throat; there’s something
• stuck in my throat.
• My tongue feels full (or heavy).
• My lips feel tight.
• It feels like there are bugs in there
• (to describe itchy ears).

A very important component of the guide is the strategic planning and framework section. It helps the schools set up a system for the school so they can properly and quickly respond to an emergency, and document any emergency, so they can learn from any incident that might occur. This includes guidelines on professional development and training for any staff who has frequent contact with food allergic kids.

It also sets up a system for each child to help prevent and reduce the risk of any emergency, including child/parent education. How many times have we heard that a parent didn't realize that their food allergy posed such a risk for their child? The parent didn't learn from the doctor who diagnosed the child, but learned from an emergency room visit?

There are several sections that describe how to put these guidelines into practice, including checklists and recommended practices from the cafeteria to the bus, to field trips, to outside groups who use the school. 

Finally, the guide gives a clear description on the Laws that govern food allergies:

• Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 504)
• the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA)h
• Governing Statutes and Regulation for U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Child Nutrition Programs (CNPs)
• Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)
• Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) of 1974

...and a very comprehensive list of federal resourses to help schools and individuals find and understand the laws.  These are listed at the end.

This is an incredible resource with a great deal of information, that is very well organized. 

Download it here:  Voluntary Guidelines for Managing Food Allergies in Schools and Early Care and Education Programs.

You can also read more about this, and find other resources on the FARE website.

My Chat with Crave – First Gluten-free Bakery to Win "Cupcake Wars"

Cupcake Wars Goes Gluten-Free

I’ve been following Crave Bake Shop's progress on Facebook, intrigued by their emphasis on gluten-free integrity, exacting pastry standards, vegan Thursdays, and multiple allergy sensitivity.  So when owner Kyra Bussanich contacted me and asked, “Can we send you some treats to try?”  I was pleased, but had no idea that she was about to be named the first gluten-free baker to ever win the Food Network’s “Cupcake Wars”.

Kyra and I chatted on December 16 (Doughnut Friday).  At that time she couldn’t even discuss the win, let alone reveal on what show she would be appearing.  She was also the first gluten-free baker to ever show up on Cupcake Wars in 2010, so I assumed the secret involved said show again.  Needless to say, I rushed home that following Sunday just in time to see her grab the prize away from heavy hitting bakers who used traditional flours. 

See Kyra's winning, gluten-free Boston Cream Pie Cupcake Recipe here.

Because of my somewhat complex allergies, I’ll be receiving Crave treats to review in 2012 – after the holiday rush.  Perhaps then, I’ll coax Kyra into for an inside look at her experience with other cupcake warriors, that intimidating-looking panel of experts, and her introduction to namesake (and one of my fave actresses), Kyra Sedgwick.  

 Pictured: Jackie, Kyra Bussanich, Kyra Sedgwick. The episode let Kyra have a chance to cater a Hollywood party on the set of "The Closer" starring Emmy award winning Kyra Sedgwick.

Online Bakery to Retail Yum Store

In the meantime, let’s focus on what we could discuss:  her journey from online baker to a retail store with lines out the door and down the block on opening day.

I didn’t anticipate such a crowd.  I thought that it would be six months before I’d hire my first employee, but I had to hire someone the first day!

Kyra first launched Crave’s online presence in 2008, but on May 13, 2011, she opened “a whole different ballgame” in Lake Oswego, Oregon.  Kyra said that this open-minded, small business community, located just outside of Portland, was committed to helping her grow.  

As we chatted up the artsy quality of Lake Oswego, it reminded me of Saugatuck, MI – a town near my current state of repose, Grand Rapids.  As small worlds would have it, Kyra’s grandfather was born in Grand Rapids before ending up in San Diego.  Six Degrees.

I found it wise that Crave learned from the online business before opening the retail storefront.  One important lesson was that neither the size nor the brightness of multiple orange “fragile” stickers could keep your precious cupcakes from being dropkicked on their journey to your door.  So Crave packages accordingly and offers limited items available for shipment, like 3 kinds of cupcakes, ring dings, and the scones of the day.  Sweet.

In store, they create beautiful special order wedding cakes, and have a pretty large menu of gluten-free yummi-ness from which to choose.

Passion, Sacrifice and Le Cordon Bleu

Custom Birthday CakeKyra received her training at the famous culinary arts institute, Le Cordon Bleu.  As we chatted, it was clear that she measures her gluten-free pastries against the best, and that she will not compromise taste, texture and flavor simply to make a treat.

We love requests.  But it’s difficult when people expect us to serve sugar-free, vegan and dairy-free every day.  My heart always sinks, because it’s so hard for me to say, “I can’t do that for you today”. Our goal is to do amazing tasting gluten-free things.  There is no reason that gluten-free shouldn’t taste just as good.  I don’t want to compromise our standards.

Thinking of her in a roomful of wheat flour, however, I thought of her health and she graciously let me inquire.  Kyra has Crohn’s, and her mother has been recently diagnosed with Celiac Disease, so given her own diagnosis and the genetic propensity for CD, she was putting herself in front of a gluten-toting firing squad every day during her training.  

I was sick a lot in pastry school and missed about 1 day every other week because I was too sick to go to class.  Some of my professors understood, but others were not very sympathetic.

I thought of my tour of the bakery at The Secchia Culinary Institute in Grand Rapids, which I took earlier this year.  I had a clear picture of what Kyra’s experience might have been like.  Secchia’s bakery had huge bins marked “wheat”, “rye”, and “barley”.  During my tour there was no class in action, yet the empty bakery was clouded with flour nonetheless.  I could only imagine the sacrifice Kyra made to learn her craft.  My respect for this chick climbed even higher as we spoke.   

On Gluten-free Laws, GMO’s and Health

Wedding CakeWhenever I interview a baker, researcher, doctor or flour manufacturer, I ask their opinion about the pending gluten-free law.  Is 20 parts per million too much?  Could the law go any further?

20 ppm is too much.   I think it should be zero ppm, but that 20 ppm is realistic.  You can’t control everything and mistakes do happen.  The law itself will be primarily driven by consumers and their choices.  Eight years ago no one knew about gluten, but consumers and their health drove changes in the market.  Before I cut gluten out of my diet entirely, I had no appetite, was losing weight, not sleeping well and operating on a 30% gas tank.  After only 3 days on a gluten-free diet I felt tons better. My mom, however, took a lot longer to heal.  Even painkillers for my mom were formulated with gluten.  It’s so important to have products that are labeled correctly.

As for modern day GMO’s (genetically modified organisms), she is one of the growing number of people who believe that GMO’s are one big reason behind the huge spike in gluten allergies – that and the fact that we are eating so many processed foods loaded with gluten protein.  

If you don’t have your health, you don’t have anything.  If you are sick, the only thing you can focus on is how you feel.  Today, we often reach for a quick fix in the medicine cabinet.  But that doesn’t get to the root of the problem, and just layers one medication on to the next.  And it all could come down to taking care of ourselves through diet.

I think the answer is so simple.  If you have celiac (or other inflammatory problems) – get off gluten.  

Like so many people today, Kyra suffered for most of her life and had several misdiagnoses slapped on her forehead.  On a gluten-free diet, however, she is thriving.   We can all learn from experiences like Kyra’s, and garner hope, as well.

Advice for Tender Foodies

Kyra Bussanich, Owner and Creator of Crave Bake ShopI asked Kyra for some advice for the Tender Foodie population.  Here is what she said.

Experiment!  I used to be one of those people who liked to draw inside of the lines.  I didn’t want to try a recipe unless it came out perfectly.  But this is not a way to start an alternative bakery.
 
Once, I made grilled nectarines with a tapioca and soy pudding for my dairy-free husband.   The pudding did not set, so I served him Grilled Nectarines and Vanilla Soup!  He looked up at me and said, “This is really good!”  So the lesson is, If it tastes good, serve it.  It’s all about how you present what you create.  

Bake Shop Practices

I respect bakers and restaurants who not only have strict, trained practices in place, but who also know their limits.  Here are a few highlights of Crave’s practices:
 

Soy 

The only soy used is the soy lecithin that is already processed in the Callebaut bittersweet Chocolate (which is also dairy-free) and in their dark chocolate sprinkles.

Cleaning Practices & Dairy-Free:

• Between each cupcake batch they clean extensively with sanitizing solution and the racks are wiped down every day.
• The most restrictive batch, like dairy-free cupcakes, go first into the oven.
• They change parchment paper with every batch.

Ingredient Sourcing, GMO, Organic, Local:

• They use only certified gluten-free ingredients.  No gluten makes it into the bakery.  (They love Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-free flours)
• Crave uses no oat flour, and only use gluten-free oats (from Bob’s and Naked Oats) that are from farms that do not rotate their oats with gluten crops.
• Crave use organic, non-GMO, and local ingredients wherever possible.
• Prefer to make flavors using produce and products in season whenever possible.

Crave is a Kosher Certified Bake Shop

Special orders

Special orders can be accommodated if planned ahead.  For instance, Crave recently fulfilled an order for a “gal who had a fatal peanut allergy”.  But they had to do it during a week when other special orders could be made that didn’t require peanuts.  Crave didn’t use peanuts in any items for a week prior to fulfilling this non-peanut order.  Crave knows that gluten and nut particles can linger in the air for quite some time.  They respect that bit of physics.  I respect that.  And look forward to my taste test.  Bring it on, Kyra!

Find Crave

LOCATION: 460 5TH STREET, LAKE OSWEGO, OR 97034

PHONE: 503.212.2979 | FAX: 503.212.2978

EMAIL: INFO@CRAVEBAKESHOP.COM

HOURS: TUE-FRI 8am - 5pm, SAT 8am - 4pm

To Degree or Not to Degree? My Tour of the Secchia Culinary Institute

Culinary Degree?  That is the Question.

The sound of clinking steel, the uber-visible hats, the TV battles and people calling you "Chef"...  it all has no small amount of sex appeal these days.  But the siren song of culinary school for me is this:  learning about food is creative, intersesting and endless. 

As my secret desire to hob knob with culinary experts bubbles up, so do the holes in my own self-training.  My palate has been lucky to have tasted extraordinary cusine throughout the world - especially in New York City.  I've read, I've watched and I've experiemented with brilliant success and with miserable failures.  A few of my friends who braved my first Easter Brunch; and who endured the deafening commentary of the smoke alarms in my tiny New York City apartment can attest to the miserable failure part.  Needless to say, I have improved. I've learned.  People seem to really like it when I cook for them.

But when it comes to the art and science of food, I would love to go beyond my current foodie status and simply ... learn more. And do so in the presence of people who really know what they are doing.  

On the Institute tour, I discovered something wonderful.  I don't have to get a degree.  I don't have to become a working chef.  I can pick a program and simply take classes without having to be super woman or go into the poor house.  I could take a week or two off for the technical labs.  My training could happen over several years.

I also discovered that the chef professors will work with my food allergies.  Although they require you to taste everything, the school makes real exceptions.  If you are allergic to an ingredient in a dish, or if you have religious reasons against that ingredient, you are exempt from its consumption.

They, like most culinary schools around the world, do not yet provide any formal food allergy training, however.  But I think this might change.  After speaking with Dan Gendler, the owner of San Chez and the upcoming head honcho for the Secchia Culinary Institute, I have some hope.  It might take a while, but I have some hope.

Salad Day

Our tour group had the privilege to walk in on a salad class that day.  It looked like they were learning about different vinaigrettes.  The kitchen was spacious and every chef-in-training had a place to work comfortably.  Apparently, this is not true in many culinary schools where students have to wait in line for a chance to give their newly learned skills a try.  At the Secchia Culinary Institute, everyone has a place at the stove and at the chopping block -- all under the personal and watchful eye of their class professor.   

It was in the salad area, however, that I noticed that, contrary to my earlier perception, our tour group wasn't made up of a variety of age groups considering classes.  The older folk were parents of prospective students.  These prospective students were mostly just out of high school.  "Hmmm," I thought.  "I wonder if I would stand out?"  As one of the parents so kindly put it, "Are you having a mid-life career crisis?"  I hate it when people point out that I'm not one of the kids.  "No", I laughed (I didn't really laugh), "I love my job.  I'm a marketer who writes about food and just want to learn more." 

I'll show you a crisis, lady.  Just say "mid-life" one more time.

 

Retro Remnants,  Up-to-Date Training.

I loved running across some classic looking equipment in the meat area.  I have absolutely no idea what these things do, but they captured my attention and it gave me a sense that the school has a real history to it. 

 

But what impressed me on the tour, was the sense of discipline that the students seem to have.  We not only ran into students learning about salads, we met a few creating cake sculptures in the bake house, taking a break before serving lunch and setting up in the restaurant itself.  It was evident that they weren't just going to school, they were being trained.  Really trained (front to back) in the restaurant business itself.

A sneak peek into the ice sculpture case

I enjoyed seeing this discipline, because it felt like these students will be entering the food world with a deep and wholistic understanding.  An understanding that goes above and beyond whatever job they choose to do.  When they graduate, they will understand how to work with customers -- happy ones and not-so-happy ones.  They will know how to budget for and order food and beverages.  They will have participated in video conferencing with Scotland and other areas of the planet.  They will have learned from chef professors who have trained and worked within a few different cultures.   They will have witnessed customers responding to the food they cook and serve, because they worked in restaurants and catering facilities right through the school.   The Heritage Restaurant is one of them, and I had no idea that it existed before the tour.  The restaurant decor could use a solid facelift,  but what I witnessed in the attitudes of the students as they set up the dining room was an up-to-date knowledge of what service is all about.   Plus, the 180+ degree view provides an atmospheric element that is always in style.

Leading the Way in Food Allergy Training?

I felt satiated with information about the Secchia Culinary Institute after the tour -- and a little excited.  From what I understand, food allergy training has not been incorporated into most culinary educations thus far, including the Secchia Culinary Institute.  But I have a good feeling that Grand Rapids and its Culinary School might be responding to this need -- I'm hoping in the nearer future. 

Why am I so concerned?  If you have food allergies, you know why, because you have experienced this first hand.  A recent study in Great Britian (April, 2011) showed a shocking ignorance and a huge gap in the education of restaurant workers  when it comes to food allergies.

•  Almost 25% of those surveyed labored under the impression that drinking a glass of water could diffuse an allergic reaction when an individual consumed an allergy-triggering food.
  
  
• 23% believed that consuming a small amount of triggering foods, such as tree nuts or shellfish, would not harm the allergic individuals.
  
  
• 21% believed that diners could “pick out” allergy causing foods and still consume the dish without risk.
• Catered foods provide the most risk
• 1/3 had any kind of food allergy training, but 80% of these same respondents felt confident in serving customers with food allergies.

“Staff with high comfort and low knowledge are potentially dangerous, as they may convey an exaggerated sense of competence to their customers, giving them false reassurance.” _the researchers from the public health division of Brighton and Sussex Medical School

Sources: 

The Inquisitr

Science Daily

With the growing numbers of food allergic customers entering restaurants today, food allergy training is an essential addition to any culinary curriculum.  Could The Secchia Culinary Institute lead the way?  I'll keep you posted.

And who knows, perhaps I'll be jumping in at some point next year to learn a few thousand more of the billions of things there is to learn about this wonderful thing called food.