Management of food allergens: Time to prevent food allergic reactions at school.

The observed increase of food allergy in the population, especially in children in recent decades, highlights the need for progress in improving all factors related to the prevention of food allergic reactions at school1-2 . In Spain there are 15,646 school centres with canteen service where they feed daily almost two million children (1,916,621 according to data from the Ministry of Education)3 . We conducted a survey that included 27 Hortaleza district schools in Madrid, all of them with own kitchen, where allergen-free diets for children with a diagnosis of food allergy (specialist report), were served. We developed a specific checklist that included preventive measures implemented in relation to the consideration of food allergens as a potential hazard, the existence of a specific written program for the cooking of these menus, the identification of the menu/kitchen utensils, scheduled processing, the existence of specific tables in the dining room for these children and health and support staff.