Gluten Free and Allergy in Higher Education
Source: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2013/01/08/168872161/college-students-with-food-allergies-make-legal-gains
Many a college student lives off of microwavable meals – but some do
it not by choice but because they're worried school food might make them
sick.
They may have
celiac disease,
a digestive ailment caused by gluten, or life-threatening allergies to
foods like peanuts — both are on the rise. But even as more people
become aware of the issues, schools and institutions may lag behind.
Now
some food allergy advocates are celebrating what they see as a shifting
legal trend: schools and other institutions required to treat food
allergies as a disability. They've found an ally in the Department of
Justice.
DOJ's Civil Rights Division
announced
last month that the Americans With Disabilities Act applies to students
at Lesley University in Cambridge, Ma., who claimed that the school's
food services and meal plans were inadequate for their needs. It was the
first food allergy-related settlement under ADA in higher education,
says a DOJ spokeswoman.
In the
agreement
with DOJ, Lesley is required provide gluten- and allergen-free food
options in its dining halls, offer special meal plans for students with
allergies, and pay $50,000 in damages to the students who filed the
claim in 2009, among other measures.
"The Lesley settlement is terrific,"
Marilyn Geller,
chief operating officer of the Celiac Disease Foundation, tells The
Salt. "It puts all universities on notice that they're going to have to
make these accommodations for students with celiac, gluten sensitivity
and other food allergies."
Food allergies affect about 2
percent of adults and 4 to 8 percent of kids in the U.S., and the
number of young people diagnosed with a food allergy has risen in the
last decade,
according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
By
applying the ADA to food allergies, the DOJ has essentially turned food
into an access issue – akin to providing ramps for students in
wheelchairs.
"By not accommodating food allergies, you're
barring students from participating in the university," says Maria
Acebal, a lawyer and spokeswoman for
Food Allergy Research & Education, an advocacy group. "If you can't get safe food, how can you study there?"
It's
gotten easier to make the case that food allergy is a disability since
Congress broadened the scope of the ADA in 2008 with an
amendment. The amendment has led to widespread reforms to accommodate people, especially children, with food allergies.
But
Geller says there's still a ways to go, especially for people with
celiac disease and gluten sensitivity who have to worry about
cross-contamination of their food.
"The problem is that a
microscopic amount of gluten for people who are very sensitive can take
them down for several days," says Geller. "So we want schools to take it
to the next level and make sure that the gluten-free food is prepared
and served in dedicated areas so there's no cross contamination."
