Allergies: School meals inadequate, say Powys family

Quinten carries EpiPens in case he goes into anaphylactic shock

Parents of a six-year-old with food allergies have said they faced an "uphill battle" to get a good selection of school meals for him.

Quinten from Powys has a severe allergy to dairy, egg, soya and nuts.

His dad Kam said he "always feels like the odd one out" with his friends as he and wife Ceri try to make progress with Powys council to avoid him having bland or repetitive meals.

The council said its menus were healthy and balanced.

Quinten is in Year 1 and is entitled to free school meals but his parents said they still faced a challenge to make sure he was happy at lunchtime.

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Kam said: "I find it really perplexing because Welsh government have announced that this was a priority... yet they seem to be totally unprepared for this, which I don't quite understand.

"From the very beginning when we knew he was entitled to a meal, it started off at a very basic level in terms of what they came back with.

"Lots of roast dinners, jacket potatoes without butter or cheese or anything, bland type options and we've had to spend a lot of time working with them to say 'well no, that's not right'."

Parents Kam and Ceri say they just want Quinten to have the same choices as his friends

One lunchtime, Quinten had "a slice of turkey in some gravy" when his friends had curry.

Quinten's mother Ceri said she and Kam had been told that a "single supplier policy" meant the council could not find similar alternatives which would be safe.

"Their policy is the bit that discriminates against him... I know a lot of people think that he should be grateful to have something, but actually, most people want to be the same as everybody else."

Aisling Pigott says, while work has been done, "it's disappointing to hear that some people are not getting the full access that they need"

Aisling Pigott of the British Dietetic Association said she recognised that catering for allergies took "a lot of planning" but said a nutritious meal should be available to all children.

"I think it's all about equity and just because you've got a medical condition or an allergy it's important that you're not excluded from receiving healthy, nutritious food," she added.

Jake Berriman of Powys council said: "When we are informed that a child has a special dietary need, our school catering service will liaise with the family directly to provide a menu that will meet their need.

"These menus, which follow Welsh government guidance, are checked by dieticians to ensure that they are healthy and nutritionally balanced."

The Welsh government said it wanted its free school meals to be "as inclusive as possible" and schools were "expected to make reasonable adjustments to meet any medically prescribed dietary needs".