In Joetsu City, Niigata Prefecture, a child with a severe milk allergy suffered from anaphylaxis after eating school lunch.
What are the “beliefs” that accumulate when preparing school lunches?
We also interviewed them about what to do in case of an emergency involving a child.
(Interview: TeNY TV Niigata reporter Satoko Yagi)
■Why did allergens reach children’s mouths?
In September 2023, there was an accident at an elementary school in Joetsu City in which a child with a food allergy suffered from anaphylaxis during a school lunch and was rushed to the hospital.
Why did allergens reach children’s mouths? When we conducted interviews, we discovered that there was an accumulation of assumptions and carelessness at the school.
Her hives spread and her legs turned red… This is a child who developed anaphylaxis, a severe allergy symptom, and was rushed to the hospital.
In September 2023, a child with a severe milk allergy developed the disease after drinking soup made with frozen cream corn at school lunch.
■Not checking the ingredients in advance due to “assumption”
A tragic accident occurred at an elementary school in Joetsu City.
[Joetsu City Hitoshi Ichikawa, Director of Education]
“We take this allergy incident very seriously as it is a matter of human life.”
According to the Joetsu City Board of Education, the nutrition teacher in charge of school lunches assumed that the frozen cream corn did not contain milk and did not check the ingredients in advance.
When he used another manufacturer’s “frozen cream corn” in the past, it didn’t contain milk, so he assumed that “this time it didn’t either.”
[Joetsu City Hitoshi Ichikawa, Director of Education]
“It’s possible that the ingredients may change depending on the manufacturer along the way. That’s why we have to check every time. I wonder why we need to check, and I wonder if we missed something in the original.”
The child was briefly hospitalized, but survived. Even so, the children are still traumatized by the school lunches and have not returned to their normal lives.
■Why did school lunch allergy accidents occur?
Why did school lunch allergy accidents occur? We also met with the children’s parents and asked them about the situation.
[Reporter Yagi]
“According to the parents, it was discovered that the child had a severe allergy when he was young, and they say that they are being extremely careful at home to avoid consuming cow’s milk.”
■“18 minutes until using EpiPen”
Even though the school had been careful about the menu not using milk, why did this accident happen this time? Reporter Yagi will explain.
[Reporter Yagi]
“This incident occurred because the nutrition teacher did not request the list of ingredients for the frozen cream corn, and the cook also neglected to check the ingredients upon delivery.
According to a city report, the child complained of stomach pain after eating his school lunch and went to the bathroom alone for 10 minutes.
After that, the homeroom teacher noticed something unusual when the child returned to the classroom. However, he was hesitant to use the EpiPen, an injectable drug that relieves symptoms, and it took eight minutes to administer it. In total, it took 18 minutes to use the EpiPen.”
Q) Was this 18 minutes fast or slow?
[Reporter Yagi]
“In 2012, an accident occurred in Chofu City, Tokyo, where a child died after suffering anaphylaxis while eating a school lunch.According to the accident report, there was a delay between the child’s onset of symptoms and the time the principal administered an EpiPen. It took 14 minutes.
In the case of Chofu City, the time it took was shorter than 18 minutes, but it resulted in a fatal accident.
In places such as Tokyo, decisions on whether to administer the drug should be made within five minutes of confirming symptoms.
The Niigata Prefectural Board of Education advises that this be done “immediately,” but does not specify a time. According to a specialist doctor, the reason it took 18 minutes to administer the drug was due to a “delay in judgment.”
■”It is important to administer without hesitation”
I asked a specialist about the EpiPen.
[Allergist Dr. Yasuki Tanaka]
“It’s not like something terrible will happen if you hit it incorrectly. What’s bothersome is if you don’t do it and it’s too late.”
Allergist Dr. Yasuki Tanaka emphasizes the importance of administering the EpiPen without hesitation.
The EpiPen can be administered by removing the safety cap, grasping it firmly, pressing it firmly into the front and outside of your thigh, and waiting a few seconds.
The child who was involved in the accident has resumed going to school, but according to his parents, for about three months after the accident, he frequently had stomach pains before going to school, and school lunches became traumatic and he returned home to eat lunch. It means life went on.
■”Review food allergy countermeasures”
We have excerpted comments from children’s parents.
[Excerpt from parent comments]
“After just one school lunch, it turned into fear.
We understand that it can be difficult to create menus and prepare safe and secure school lunches within a limited amount of time.
We believe that by improving the working environment of nutrition teachers and cooks, each individual will have more leeway, which will lead to the first step in preventing accidents.
Just being able to eat the same thing as everyone else, even just one item, brings joy to children with allergies. I would like the entire prefecture to review food allergy countermeasures.”
According to the parents, the child has always loved school lunch time, and they have worked hard to get him to eat school lunch again.Currently, the child is accompanied by a parent and can eat school lunch in a room other than the classroom where the accident occurred. This means that it has become like this.
■The school site
We visited schools to find out what measures are being taken to prevent allergy accidents, which can be life-threatening and leave serious emotional scars.
The long-awaited lunch time… This is a first grade classroom at Niigata Elementary School in Niigata City.
Today’s school lunch was rice flour noodles and kashiwa soup. And it was full of vegetables and pickled radish.
There are two children in the class who are allergic to sesame seeds.
Therefore, takuan-ae is provided with an “elimination diet” in which sesame seeds are removed.
■“Elimination meals” provided at school lunches
Elimination meals are placed on a plate separately from other school lunches, and come with a tag that clearly states which child they are being served to.
Multiple layers of management are in place to ensure that these meals are not mixed in with regular school lunches, such as by being served before other children.
At Niigata Elementary School, 20 of the 476 children in the school have applied for allergies.
On many days, school lunches cater to allergies, such as “elimination meals” that remove ingredients that cause allergies, such as the takuan-ae on this day, as well as “alternative meals” that are made by adding other ingredients in place of the removed ingredients. It is said that it provides.
[Niigata Elementary School Megumi Watanabe Nutrition Teacher]
“In order to ensure that all staff members have a common understanding and that the child receives the elimination food, for example, in the school lunch room, we confirm the response in the school lunch room, and when we go to the classroom, we also check in the classroom.”
Based on Niigata City’s manual, we use red-colored plates for allergy-friendly school lunches, and we also provide parents with an “allergy confirmation form” every month, informing them in detail which menu items are eliminated or substituted. It is said that it is.
[Niigata Elementary School Megumi Watanabe Nutrition Teacher]
“If your child is allergic to almonds, we will mark the word about almonds and notify them that they will be on an elimination diet.We have 6 staff members at the school to confirm and notify the children at home. I will send this back to you for confirmation.”
■Teacher training
Teachers watching over children with allergies will also be able to use an EpiPen without hesitation.
In 2023, in response to the accident, Joetsu City gathered teachers and staff from 30 elementary and junior high schools in the city and held a training session under the guidance of Dr. Tanaka.
The participating teachers and staff learned how to respond in an emergency, as well as how to supervise children with allergies at school.
[Participating teachers]
“I haven’t actually used the EpiPen yet, but I was worried about whether I would be able to calmly use it for the children in an emergency, so I’m glad I took the training.”
■Thorough cooking management system and emergency response
To protect children in emergencies. Dr. Tanaka says that he would like to request that schools both thoroughly implement a cooking management system and constantly practice emergency response.
[Allergist Dr. Yasuki Tanaka]
“You need to learn medical follow-up and what to do in case someone accidentally ingests something. Just because you don’t accidentally ingest it doesn’t mean you don’t need EpiPen instruction. You just need to provide guidance in two ways.”
■“A slight letdown can directly lead to your life.”
The parents of the children involved in this accident were interviewed to let us know about their allergies and to prevent this from happening again.
He says he wants the world at large, not just schools, to know that for severe allergy sufferers, even the slightest letdown can be life-threatening.
Additionally, since there is currently no community for people with allergies in Joetsu City, I hope that the community of children and their guardians with allergies will expand, and that there will be more places to exchange information and share concerns.
2024-03-09 10:34:00
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