New food allergy training available for staff working in schools and children’s education and care services
7 June 2021:
The National Allergy Strategy, a partnership between the Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy (ASCIA) and Allergy & Anaphylaxis Australia, has released free online food allergy training for staff working in schools and children’s education and care services. The All about Allergens courses provide essential information about managing food allergy including communication tools, reading labels and avoiding cross contamination of food allergens when preparing and serving food.
Every day, children with a food allergy attend a children’s education and care service or school. These children rely on the people caring for them to make sure their snacks and meals are safe to eat. It is essential that staff who prepare food and are involved in feeding and supervising mealtimes are feel supported with training about how to manage food allergy.
All about Allergens for Children’s education and care (CEC) is designed for kitchen staff (cooks and chefs), educators and teachers working in long day care, preschool/kindergarten, family day care, outside school hours care, vacation and occasional care and other education and care services.
All about Allergens for Schools is designed for school canteen and tuckshop staff, cooks and chefs working in boarding school kitchens, food technology teachers and senior students undertaking food technology classes.
Staff working in these roles are encouraged to visit the National Allergy Strategy’s Food Allergy Training website (foodallergytraining.org.au) to complete the All about Allergens course relevant to them. On completion of the 1-1.5 hour training courses, a certificate of completion can be printed for employers.
The All about Allergens training is funded by the Australian Government Department Health. The National Allergy Strategy would like to thank members of the Food Service Training in Schools and CEC Working Group and the many stakeholders who contributed to the development of these courses.