Does anyone have ideas to manage multiple food allergies at college? My son has severe multiple allergies and wants to go to Virginia Tech which is about 5 hours from our home. Welcome tips and experiences on how to manage the food situation. He also has Asthma, do you think we should request an air-conditioned dorm room as part of the SSD request?
Most colleges have a good handle on allergies these days, especially the common ones (peanuts, tree nuts, gluten) but if your son has severe multiple allergies you will need to work closely with the cafeteria staff and housing to get a roommate that will not bring allergens into the room. Most importantly, he will have to actively seek out information and make the contacts himself since you will not be there. Also make sure his roommate, RA, etc. are advised on an allergy action plan should he become incapacitated. Have you spoken with your allergist? Ours had a series of handouts and plans for navigating college.
Your son will also have to learn to avoid foods from lesser known manufacturers, we have seen multiple instances of anaphylaxis from baked /vending machine goods that were not labeled correctly.
If the college is not able to comply with reasonable safety precautions, I’d select a different one.
I have one with celiac (and type 1 diabetes) and one with food allergies. In both cases, I accompanied them to a meeting with the chef and food staff. Each college is a little different. Many have lists of ingredients that are quite reliable, at the food sites, and one had a big book with recipes that was online. Both colleges offered personal e-mails to communicate with food services. Food can be ordered in advance and cooked separately to avoid cross-contamination. One school had safe French Fries separate from others. So as far as the dining hall, it really should be okay. But call or e-mail and arrange a meeting at the school, and in this case, although I stayed out of everything else, I did attend the meeting and the staff seemed anxious to make me feel safe and reassured.
Interesting about having a roommate avoid bringing allergens in the room. That is a great point TooOld4School! A single room is a reasonable thing to ask for, too , but if he wants a roommate, housing could help with that with the help of the disabilities office.
My three kids have asthma that is actually worsened by air conditioning. Everyone is different! Whatever helps your son is reasonable. He could bring his own air purifier.
Is carpeting a problem? Cleaning supplies?
I disagree on one point. If a college says they are not able to comply with reasonable safety precautions, and it is a school your son wants to go to, I would advocate so he could attend. But that’s a personal decision. I feel that the rights of kids with challenges are improved each time a school learns more. But with food allergies, there really has been a lot of progress and staff is most likely fully trained.
Most of the "big"unis have done a good job with the cafeterias and student eating issues. But I agree if those allergies are not food related, he should be open with the school about what he’ll need in terms of dorming. If the food allergens are so acute he can’t be in a room with a roommate eating peanut M&Ms (or whatever) that would be something he should also discuss with the college. Think of it this way, he may be dealing with those same allergens when he leaves college for the workforce if they are still impacting him at 18.
Talk to his doctors about suggestions and then talk to the Office of Disabilities at his college. Find out types of accommodations you want (including a/c) and ask the school what documentation you need for them to provide it. It can all be dealt with but it is much easier to get it all in order before he sets foot on campus. Also be sure the school medical center knows as well and if there is anything they need to keep on campus for him or anything he will need refilled while on campus a system should be arranged in advance for that as well.
Someone in my D’s dorm has an airborne fish allergy and everyone is respectful and it seems to be fine for him.
Thank you all for your tips and insights! We have been visiting the various campuses and meeting with the registered dietician and the chef from dining services. But despite all their labeling they still were not able to say with confidence there will be no cross contamination. He has peanut, all tree nuts, fish, shellfish, lobster, crab, sesame, egg, chickpeas. He overcame the milk allergy last week, so that is a huge relief. We have an egg challenge in April, since he has been on baked eggs for a few months now. My biggest concern is the food gets cross contaminated and especially for nuts, sesame and fish his allergies are very high. I hope his roommate is accommodating, most colleges said they cannot pair him based on his allergies. Going to Virginia Tech this weekend, will update. Thanks all!
There’s a person who specializes in this. She has a database of colleges and what they do for food allergies, etc. I believe she may have a book coming out soon on this topic. You can find info at allergyfriendlycolleges.com
You’ll need documentation, although it should be fairly simple. The food will be a lot easier than the AC. LOTS of kids have asthma. I doubt very much any school could accommodate them all with single, air-conditioned rooms. So, you’ll need to be able to prove a level of severity above the norm. My own D hadn’t had a window open in her bedroom for 6 years. She’s an allergy trigger. Had to keep the pollen out of her sleeping area. She was so well controlled, she’d been dismissed from the allergist and sent back to the family doctor, that is until she went to college. Even with AC, roommates open windows, the pollen gets in…ugh.
And if food allergies are so severe he can’t be in the same room with an allergen, you may want to rethink going away to college. Even if the caf can serve allergen-free dishes (and most are really good about it), there will be students in the dining hall eating allergen filled fare. Or there might be a kid next to him in class munching on peanut butter.
I have seen students allowed to not be on a meal plan as an accommodation if the dining services can’t accommodate or have problems with cross-contamination.
Please get the facts about food allergy management on college campuses by visiting allergyfriendlycolleges.com from a college planning expert. She is also a FA mom and has extensive experience and expertise in this area.
I have a kid with a peanut allergy, and one year at Duke Tip her roommate would constantly eat peanut snacks in the room. It was a nightmare for D (although she didn’t tell me about it until afterwards). Her rag group leader told the other girl not to eat peanut products in the room, but the other girl ignored it. My D asked to be moved to a room that had been vacated by a kid who had left, and was told that wasn’t possible. The roommate became malicious about it and would deliberately smear peanut butter on handles and washcloths in the room hoping to get D to have a reaction because she said she was “faking it”.
It was a bummer summer for her being scared that she was going to react the whole time. I wish she had told me because I would have come down on the people at TiP like a hammer, but she wanted to handle by herself. The next year (her last year) on the roommate request form she specifically and clearly detailed her issues with the previous roommate and asked for one with any sort of food allergy. She got one and had a much better year, because they were sensitive and aware of each other’s needs.
So, yeah. Ask for a roommate who has food allergies, even if they’re not the same as your kid’s food allergies.
Did she have a major reaction from anything the malicious roommate did? If not, that’s a good thing because I know in the workplace kitchens, at least the companies I’ve worked at, peanut butter is pretty much a lunch staple.
Many doctors aren’t great with this kind of thing, even the really good ones. For accommodations through the disabilities office, I did research and listed possible accommodations in the body of a letter for the MD to sign. He appreciated not having to do it. That said, food allergies are more common even then they were 8 years ago and some offices may have a list of accommodations already.
I think requesting a single room might be easier than trying to get a roommate who is willing to forego foods, or maybe that question can be asked of potential roommies.
Shrimp is in a lot of sauces unfortunately.
I think that legally they have to say they cannot guarantee no cross-contamination. It may not mean there is real danger, but taking care with choices it key.
I am assuming that your son has an Epi-pen. Has he ever used it? Does he use inhaled steroids for seasonal and indoor allergies?
@momofthreeboys , no, she didn’t have any reactions from the roommate. She’s very careful. If the peanuts touch her skin it causes rashes and blistering but she’s good about hand-washing so she managed to avoid any reactions. People who don’t deal with food allergies either directly or within the family really don’t understand how tough it is to deal with. Luckily she doesn’t have asthma, and the reactions to peanuts so far have not been catastrophically anaphylactic, so we’re hoping that some of the peanut allergy Tx on the horizon can work for her (like the patch).
She understands the world is not peanut-free, and we keep peanut butter in the house, but the roommate was a total jerk about it-that’s the important take-away in my story.
Younger D also mentions that she’s food-allergy aware on the TIP forms in case they need to pair her with a kid with allergies, which I think is thoughtful of her. She doesn’t have food allergies, but sees what her older sister goes through and is very aware of what’s ok and what’s not.
Talk to that school directly. This isvone of the FAQ during college visits. Every school we have visited have well thought about that already. Some have menu with ingredient online and made allergen free items every meal. One even would prepare a meal specifically to meet the need.
My oldest ds’s allergies are similar to your ds’s except swap eggs with most fruit (all fruit grown on trees, plus grapes. He can eat strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries.)
We ended up getting a letter from his allergist stating that living in a dorm and eating in the dining hall was life threatening. He was given a waiver even though his university required it for 2 yrs. It was just easier than him constantly worrying about cross contamination.
We dealt with these issues with our daughter. The first year the school agreed to make her special meals to be picked up at a certain time. First semester it work somewhat but the quality and service decline toward the end of the semester. Mistakes were make. Second semester, my daughter gave up and we started sending food from home.
My advice/comments:
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Take what the school says with a grain of salt. They mean well and will try but expect mistakes. Cross contamination can be a real issue.
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Some schools can only source food from their limited approved supplies. It took our school over four weeks to find a supplier of fresh eggs.
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While they might supply specially prepare meals, they will often miss the appointed meal pickup time. Makes it harder to eat with friend when the food is not ready on time.
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Your son must be willing to advocate for himself. If he isn’t willing to speak up, he will have difficulties.
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Make sure that your son has easy access a grocery store to buy food that is safe to eat. This is important if he cannot eat restaurant food like my daughter.
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Chefs do not always understand what is in the food they prepare. Sulfates are NOT always listed on food labels.
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Make sure your son can have his own refrigerator and that it can be large enough to meet his needs. Keeping enough food for a one weeks worth of meals can be tough in some micro refrigerators.
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Make sure you son knows how to cook. Many of my daughter’s friends had no idea how to cook the basics. They planned on cooking but ended up eating out every day.
As for asthma:
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Does cold air bother your son. If so, see if the school has a point to point car service. This will have to be done through disabilities.
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If heat and humidity cause problems, an air conditioned dorm could help. Mt daughter heath is greatly improved with central air. Central air can help provide a constant source of fresh filtered air.
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Does you son have chemical sensitives? If so seriously consider a private room. Also consider whether a shared bath will cause problems. My daughter choose a old style dorm with a floor bath over a suite style where 8 people share one small bathroom. The concern was about keeping the scents out of her room.
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I second the suggestion for a air purifier.
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Carefully consider your son medical needs. Is the health center capable of handling his asthma. Likely not an issue but worth checking. Most schools will have no problems in this regard.
My daughter is a sophomore this year. The first year she roomed with a girl from her high school who was very respectful of her allergies. They got along fine but decided not to room together re next year. D’s new friends were already paired up & her new "best friend " told her it wasn’t good for their friendship to room together so we requested a medical single for this year. Most of the colleges we visited offered something like this. I have to be honest and tell you that it sometimes stresses me out that she is alone. Her entire building is single dorms & she knows people in the building but my concern is that she would have a reaction with no one around. Next year she is sharing an apartment style dorm with a group of girls who understand about her allergy & have been trained to use an epi pen. I plan to get her separate pans, etc and probably keep her meal plan.
Yes living off campus could be an option, but I don’t know if he will do well living alone for the first time. But certainly the food issues will be helped…altho he does not know how to cook yet. I will give him a crash cooking course in the summer. I also worry about no one being around if he is sick or has a reaction. I am also concerned about the shared bath, he is sensitive to smells and perfumes. Will need to ask his allergist to mention it in the letter. Honestly with so many kids having allergies, its a wonder the schools don’t take it more seriously and help - they could have one section of dorm for people with allergies, or even one cafeteria dedicated to allergy safe food prep. I am almost at the point of keeping him local and not sending him anywhere! And he would hate me for the rest of his life if I did that!
noname87, thank you for al the useful tips. It is certainly overwhelming and I can see how the food quality or care in prep might deteriorate over time! I am seriously thinking about not letting him go and having him attend a local school which is the last thing he wants!!