What is a food allergy?

A food allergy is when the body's immune system reacts unusually to specific foods. Although allergic reactions are often mild, they can be very serious. In the most serious cases, a person has a severe allergic reaction (anaphylaxis), which can be life-threatening. 

It's still unknown why people develop allergies to food, although they often have other allergic conditions, such as asthma, hay fever and eczema.

Symptoms of a food allergy

Food allergy symptoms can vary widely from person to person and range from mild to severe. They typically occur shortly  after consuming or coming into contact with the allergen and can affect different parts of the body. Common symptoms of a food allergy include:

Digestive problems - nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, abdominal pain, cramps

Skin reactions - itching, hives, eczema, redness, swelling

Respiratory issues - sneezing, runny or stuffy nose, coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, chest tightness

Swelling - of lips, tongue, throat, face or other parts of body

Cardiovascular Symptoms - rapid or weak pulse, light-headedness, dizziness, fainting

Anaphylaxis - A severe, potentially life-threatening reaction involving multiple systems of the body, characterised by a drop in blood pressure, loss of consciousness and difficulty breathing. Anaphylaxis requires immediate medical attention.

Nuts

As we have children who attend Barford Primary who are allergic to nuts, please note that we aim to be a NUT-FREE school. This means that our kitchen staff provide a nut free menu for school lunches and we do not use nuts within classroom teaching.

Staff Training

We have a number of staff members who hold paediatric first aid certificates and half the staff also receive annual Administration of Epipen Competency training. This ensures that we have staff across every area of the school who are appropriately trained to deal with an allergic reaction if and when they occur.