Procuring foods for students with allergies and other special diets can be better planned than running to the grocery store every week.
This article will provide tips for procuring these special foods to make it easier to manage.
Types of Special Foods for Students
First, let’s look at the types of special foods that you may need to purchase for students with allergies or other special diets.
Non-Dairy Alternatives
For students with milk allergies or intolerances, there are many different kinds of non-dairy alternatives that could be served. Examples include soy milk, rice milk, oat milk, pea milk, or lactose-free milk.
Just be sure to choose one that meets the federal requirements or matches the doctor’s statement.
Nutritional Drinks/Supplements
With common brand names like PediaSure or Boost Kids, nutritional drinks are often prescribed for children who need additional calories and nutrients.
Allergen-Free Items
While some allergies are easy to substitute, like substituting blueberries for strawberries, you may want to specially procure allergen-free items.
For example, you may want to source a granola or cookie produced in a nut-free facility just for the students with nut allergies.
Gluten-Free Items
For students needing a wheat-free or gluten-free diet, you’ll need to find some gluten-free items to serve.
While you may be able to serve some items that are naturally gluten-free, such as brown rice, corn tortillas, and quinoa, having a few specially formulated gluten-free items, like buns and pasta, helps give the student more variety.
Low-Protein Foods
Students with in-born errors of metabolism need to follow a low-protein diet with specially formulated foods to contain little or no protein. These low-protein foods are typically only available by ordering online.
Tips for Procuring Special Foods
Procuring foods for students with allergies and other special diets doesn’t have to be a weekly chore. Below are some tips for managing this piece of accommodating these students.
Tip #1: Add special foods to your distributor bid when you can
The easiest way to buy special foods is to purchase them through your regular distributor so that the foods are ordered and delivered along with other foods.
Streamlining this process makes it easier for the sites needing the food and reduces the workload of having to separately procure it.
Our main distributor stocks gluten-free items, non-dairy alternatives, and certain allergen-free foods. Our milk distributor stocks a lactose-free milk too.
Make a list of what you need, and ask your distributors which items they currently stock or could bring in for you.
Tip #2: When procuring through a distributor, communicate your expected volume and frequency
Because you’re likely ordering much smaller volumes, your distributor needs to know that these items you order won’t match your typical volumes.
Your distributor may consider the specific food a special order, which means they may need a longer lead time to fulfill your order. Letting them know when and how often you need these foods will allow them to plan for it.
Additionally, make sure you communicate with the distributor the importance of the item. Because distributors monitor their fill rates, they usually prioritize large volume items over ones with smaller volumes. Communicating with them why you’re ordering the small volume item will help them understand its importance.
Tip #3: Purchase items that can be easily split between schools
Sometimes an entire case of a special food is too much for one school to use. Therefore, if you have students that require the same special foods across multiple schools, order the foods in pack sizes that can be easily broken and shared.
For example, we currently only use plain rice for students requiring wheat- or gluten-free diets. So, we switched purchasing rice in 25lb bulk cases to 6 – 5lb bags. A case of 5lb bags is easier to share between schools than a bulk case of rice.
Tip #4: Purchase from wholesale clubs or cash-and-carry stores
When receiving the item from a distributor isn’t an option, the next best option is purchasing from a wholesale club, cash-and-carry store, or other distributor-run storefront.
For example, our Sam’s Club stocks PediaSure in 24 packs, and we can order Thick-It through their pharmacy.
We’ve also purchased soy milk from the local Gordon’s Food Store when our distributor was unable to fulfill our order.
These prices will usually be better than regular grocery store prices. Furthermore, their pack sizes are typically larger than what you can find in a grocery store.
Tip #5: Look online for hard-to-find special foods
When procuring foods for students with allergies and other special diets, you may not be able to find the foods you need locally. However, some online retailers will stock what you need.
Amazon, Walmart Online, the Webstaurant Store, and Foodservice Direct are all good options for finding products.
For specially formulated low-protein foods used for treating inborn errors of metabolism, like PKU, you can order products on Cambrooke’s website.
Just make sure you schedule frozen foods to arrive during regular business hours. If shipping to a school, warn the front office staff to be on the lookout for it. Also, ask them to alert the cafeteria staff as soon as it arrives. Otherwise, it might sit a day or two in the front office and spoil hundreds of dollars’ worth of product (ask me how I know!).
Tip #6: Store special foods in a central location
Whenever we purchase from a wholesale club or cash-and-carry store, we buy enough to last several weeks. We then store it in our central office and distribute to schools as needed.
This reduces the workload of running out to the store to make purchases every week. Additionally, it ensures we have enough in stock for several weeks, which reduces the chances of finding it out-of-stock.
We also do this when we purchase a case from our distributor we intend to break. We will also store the whole case in our central office and distribute the broken units as needed.
Just make sure you’re in compliance with any food safety regulations. We have a warehouse that we store items in that the health department inspects. If this would be an issue for you, see if another school could be your central location.
Tip #7: Ensure staff only use the special foods for eligible meals
Educate both cafeteria and other school staff about the importance of only using the special foods for eligible meals for the students that need them. The purchases are only allowable costs for School Nutrition if the foods are used in the National School Lunch Program or School Breakfast Program.
We instruct our cafeteria staff to keep the products in their possession, rather than turning over large volumes to other school staff.
For example, we keep cans of Thick-It in the kitchen and use it only to thicken the liquids served as part of breakfast and lunch. While the classroom aides have expressed preference to keep the cans in their possession, we cannot guarantee they wouldn’t thicken liquids served outside of breakfast and lunch, so we do not turn over the whole can.
Tip #8: Don’t forget afterschool snack and the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program!
Students are also entitled to accommodations in the afterschool snack program and Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP).
Scan your afterschool snack menu for items that may need to be potentially swapped and ensure you have an alternative snack ready for students that need it. You might be able to accomplish this with items you already have on hand, or you may want to purchase a special alternative for them.
Similarly, the FFVP also requires you to make accommodations for students with special dietary needs. Check your list of students needing special diets at schools participating in FFVP and make note of any that cannot have items on your FFVP menu. Then, plan to purchase a single serving of an alternative fruit or vegetable for that student.
Summary
Procuring foods for students with allergies and other special diets takes planning, but is very doable!
