Allergy Case Study Goodstart Hampton Park – Coral Drive

[Text displayed on screen] Practical examples of managing food allergies, intolerances and other dietary requirements, Case Study – Goodstart Hampton Park – Coral Drive

[Text displayed on screen] Megha Asija, Child Care Centre Cook, Goodstart Hampton Park – Coral Drive

My name is Megha and I have been working at Good Start Hampton Park Coral Drive as a cook for almost 5 months.

[Text displayed on screen] The Menu Planning Process

To start with, we refer to the menu planning guidelines for long daycare to ensure we are including all foods required for children on the menu. The information on the Healthy Eating Advisory Service website is really helpful—it provides examples of healthy options to include on the menu for our children.

At the start of the year, we are also notified by parents if their children have any food allergies or other dietary requirements. We use a food allergy record template to keep a record of the children’s allergies. Once these are identified, we plan out our recipes using a menu matrix. This helps me to visualise which recipes have allergens or other foods some children can’t eat. I can then start making changes to some of the common recipes we use.

I also find it helpful to write down the days of the week which the children with allergies are attending. Once the menu is finalised, we create an ingredient list—this makes it easier to know what to order each week. It’s also helpful if I’m away and someone else needs to do the ordering.

[Text displayed on screen] Managing Food Allergies

[Text displayed on screen] Shweta Rajan, Child Care Centre Director, Goodstart Hampton Park – Coral Drive

We’ve seen children with a range of different allergies over the years. At the moment, we’ve got children attending our center who’ve got egg, peanut, tree nut, and fish allergies. The cooks and other educators all complete online food safety training every year. This includes All About Allergens training, the ASCIA anaphylaxis e-training, and the I’m Alert food safety training.

We previously used to ban a food if a child was allergic to it—we used to completely ban egg, fish, and sesame. Since completing the online training though on managing food allergies, we no longer implement complete bans to any foods, as we know this isn’t a requirement in the allergy-aware best practice guidelines.

It has been really helpful not having to implement complete food bans on allergen foods, as it increases the variety of foods we can include on the menu. We now have processes in place to safely prepare allergen foods. For example, with tuna pasta bake, I will prepare the full dish and leave the tuna until the end. I take a separate portion for the children who are vegetarian and allergic to fish. I use butter beans as a protein replacement for the tuna for these children. I then put this alternative pasta bake in a separate area, covered and labeled, ready to be served.

Then I can finish the pasta bake for the other children by adding the tuna. I then put the meals for the children with allergies and other dietary requirements on a separate trolley. When the staff come to collect the trolley, they will sign a form to show they know which foods must go to specific children. The staff then take the trolleys to the room and educators will sign the form again when they are serving the food.

This helps to make sure we don’t serve the wrong food to the child with allergies. We also use different colored plates and bowls for children with allergies and make sure all staff know which children have the allergies. We have found the current best practice guidelines on managing food allergies to be really clear and useful, and they have helped our centre with our practices.

[Text displayed on screen] Catering for other Dietary Requirements (Halal)

We have several children attending our center who have Halal dietary requirements. To manage this, we only purchase and use Halal-certified meats and Halal-certified dairy products. We use these products across the whole menu, not just for children who have Halal dietary requirements. We recently changed suppliers too, as we found a different supplier who could provide a better price and deliver the meat as well.

[Text displayed on screen] Advice for Other Cooks Working in Long Day Care

Since starting as the cook here at Good Start, I have worked alongside my Centre Director to help make the best use of my time. I used to make a lot of separate meals—I would cook separate meals for the children with allergies, then something for the children who are vegetarian, and then cook a meal for the remainder of the children.

Now, I avoid making separate meals. I’ll start with one recipe and prepare most of the base ingredients as much as I can until I have to start adding in foods which some children can’t eat.

For example, the tuna pasta bake I made today: I prepared most of the dish and then had a separate version for the children who are allergic to fish and are vegetarian. I didn’t need to make a completely different meal for them.

We also have some children who can’t eat egg due to allergies or again if they are vegetarian. So, if I am making egg fried rice, I will prepare and cook most of the meal, then I’ll take out some portions for the children who can’t have eggs. I will then add a different protein—usually tofu—because this is okay for the children who are allergic to egg or are vegetarian.

It’s been really helpful to know that we don’t have to exclude or ban foods from our menu where there is an allergy. This has added so many more foods back onto the menu.

[Text displayed on screen] With special thanks to Shweta Rajan & Megha Asijia, Goodstart Hampton Park – Coral Drive