The introduction of new statutory allergy guidance for schools in England – due later this year – marks a significant step forward in protecting children with food allergies.
But as schools prepare for the new requirements, one question is becoming increasingly important:
Who is actually responsible for allergen safety in schools?
The simple answer is: everyone has a role to play, but the responsibility ultimately sits with the school.
The new guidance makes it clear that allergy management should form part of a school’s wider safeguarding and medical needs arrangements. In other words, allergen safety is not solely the responsibility of catering teams, teachers or parents – it requires a coordinated, whole-school approach.
Allergy management is becoming a safeguarding issue
Food allergies affect thousands of children across the UK, and for some pupils even trace amounts of an allergen can trigger a severe reaction. The new DfE guidance has been developed to help schools create safer environments for children with allergies, ensuring that risks are identified, managed and communicated effectively.
Under the draft guidance, schools are expected to have:
- A standalone allergy policy.
- Individual healthcare and allergy action plans for relevant pupils.
- Annual allergy awareness training for staff.
- Clear emergency response procedures.
- Effective communication between school staff, parents and catering teams.
These requirements reflect a growing recognition that allergy management is not simply a catering issue – it’s a safeguarding responsibility.
Where does catering fit in?
While schools retain overall responsibility, catering teams play a critical role in managing day-to-day allergen risks. They’re responsible for ensuring ingredient information is accurate, recipes are properly recorded and allergen information is available to those who need it.
However, allergen management can quickly become complex. Menus change. Suppliers change. Ingredients change.
Without robust processes in place, the risk of misinformation, misunderstanding or human error can increase.
This is particularly important for schools managing catering in-house, where responsibility for allergen information often sits entirely within the organisation.
The risk goes beyond the 14 major allergens
Many schools are familiar with the 14 allergens that food businesses are legally required to declare. However, individual pupil allergies don’t always neatly fit within that framework.
A child may have a severe allergy to kiwi fruit, for example, which is not one of the 14 declarable allergens. If schools are relying solely on standard allergen information, important risks could be missed.
This is why effective allergy management depends on having access to detailed ingredient information and clear visibility of individual pupil requirements.
How technology can help schools stay in control
As expectations around allergy management increase, many schools are reviewing whether their current processes are robust enough to support a whole-school approach. When allergen information is stored across spreadsheets, paper records, and multiple systems, maintaining the information and consistency can become increasingly challenging.
Litmus Edge’s allergen management function automatically links supplier data directly to recipes and menus, removing the need for kitchen teams to manually flag allergens. This supports a robust approach, creating a safer foodservice operation, enhancing compliance, and providing greater reassurance for both schools and parents.
Video: Our MD Candice Finn explains more about how Litmus Edge helps schools manage their in-house catering and allergens.
Beyond improving safety and compliance, Litmus Edge also saves valuable time. Schools currently using the platform save an average of 15 hours of administration per month, which includes having allergen information automatically transferred from supplier systems to menus, eliminating more time-consuming manual approaches.
Importantly, allergen management in Edge extends beyond the 14 major allergens. Pupils can have an allergy to any food so the provision of the full ingredient list for each dish on the menu for parents and carers is hugely valuable.
Rachael Venditti RNutr, Registered Nutritionist and Head of Sales (Litmus Edge), said: “One of the biggest misconceptions around allergen safety is that responsibility sits with a single individual or team. In reality, keeping children safe requires collaboration across the whole school.
“Schools need confidence that everyone is working from the same information and processes. By bringing allergen and ingredient data together in one place for both schools, catering teams, parents and carers, Litmus Edge helps schools improve communication, strengthen processes and reduce the risk of avoidable mistakes. While technology can play an important role, it is most effective when used as part of a wider whole-school approach to allergen management.”
Ensuring robust processes
For school leaders, the key question is no longer whether allergen management matters, but whether existing processes are robust enough to stand up to scrutiny.
Now is the time to review your school’s approach, identify any gaps and ensure you have the right systems in place to support staff, reassure parents and help keep pupils safe.
If your school manages catering in-house, learn more here around Litmus Edge can support allergen management, compliance and communication with parents.
The Litmus team
