(Larry Crowe/Associated Press)

In the summer of 1994, two Ontario children died after suffering intense allergic reactions to peanuts. Since then, organizations like Anaphylaxis Canada, the Canadian Society of Allergy and Clinical Immunology and the Allergy/Asthma Information Association have been developing plans to address the issue of food allergies in schools.

Most school boards have been keen to follow up on this kind of recommendation but still, it seems, more work may have to be done.

Recently, a group of students who suffer from deadly food allergies lodged a complaint with the Ontario Human Rights Commission.

The students, from St. Stephen Elementary School in Woodbridge, just outside Toronto, claim their school isn't doing enough to protect their lives. They want all bagged lunches that enter the school to be inspected to prevent allergy attacks.

Is this feasible? Necessary? What exactly is the responsibility of schools when it comes to something as rare — and potentially deadly — as food allergies

Allergies on the rise

Statistics Canada said in its 2005/2006 Census at School that about one third of elementary school students across Canada reported having allergies of one sort or another.

Laurie Harada, a representative from Anaphylaxis Canada, says peanut allergies alone have been on the rise in the industrialized world. Currently, about one in 50 Canadian children have a peanut allergy, not all of them lethal.

U.S. scientists reported a year ago that about a quarter of children with peanut allergies will outgrow the condition.

Food allergies of all kinds are the concern for students from St. Stephen.

Health Canada identifies nine priority food allergies: Peanuts, eggs, milk, tree nuts, wheat, soy, sesame seed, seafood, and sulphites.

There is no cure for food allergies, which are essentially the body's overreaction to certain substances, so avoidance is necessary to prevent a reaction. But reactions can often be mitigated by the quick injection of adrenaline.

How allergens spread in schools

Allergens can spread quickly in schools through the sharing of utensils, toys and equipment, through residue from food that can be transferred around the room as well as directly from person to person.

Anaphylaxis Canada says it's impossible to tell if a child with an allergy will have a mild or potentially deadly allergy attack.

The problem for those with high-risk allergies is the ease with which allergens are passed in classrooms, especially when it comes to food. It can be as simple as sharing a crayon with a child who recently came into contact with peanut oil in a packaged food.

And it's not only peanut allergies. Those allergic to wheat could have reactions to some common classroom craft projects.

Who should be responsible?

The students from St. Stephen say their allergies are disabilities and that their school has a responsibility to protect them from allergic reactions.

Chris Cable of the York Region Catholic School Board, which St. Stephen is a part of, says the board's position is that there has been no human rights violation against the children. Cable says the school has enough measures in place to prevent a severe allergy attack.

Those measures include staff training, annual anaphylaxis information sessions for students and school staff, a strict prohibition on sharing foods and a ban on goods baked with wheat and eggs at events like bake sales.

Previously, the St. Stephen elementary school had parents list lunch ingredients on the outside of their child's lunch bag as one way to help prevent allergic reactions. Teachers conducted lunch bag inspections.

However, that was nixed last year because it was considered onerous and expensive.

The students lodging the complaint and their parents want those rules reinstated.

Protection across the country

Across Canada, provinces have been adopting rules to try to prevent allergy attacks from happening in schools.

British Columbia enacted the Anaphylactic Student Protection Act last spring, which makes it mandatory for all school boards to have emergency plans in place in case a student goes into shock.

Prince Edward Island has released statements from its ministry of education that clearly outlines the responsibility of school boards, principals, parents and students.

Under this plan, the school board must make it easy to identify students with allergies; parents must provide correct documents to the school; and the education ministry provides additional EpiPens (adrenaline injectors) to schools depending on the number of students who register with allergies.

Both New Brunswick and Alberta have programs set up to train teachers how to recognize and treat anaphylactic shock. In New Brunswick, all school staff, including bus drivers and custodians take the annual training.

Both Anaphylaxis Canada and the York Region School Board think preventing allergic reactions is a shared responsibility. That includes educating children in schools about allergy attacks, and communicating with parents to prevent certain foods from being packed in lunches.

They say teachers at schools should be prepared to double-check at least some lunches and promote good clean-up measures.

Anaphylaxis Canada has no official stance on the suggestion of marking lunch bags with ingredients. It feels mistakes can happen anyway and that there are reasonable expectations of the level of security that can be maintained.

The York Region Catholic School Board is to meet with the Ontario Human Rights Commission to discuss the dispute.

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