Protecting Children with Food Allergies Act of 2025
Key claim: The Protecting Children with Food Allergies Act of 2025 would require local school food service personnel under the USDA National School Lunch Program to receive annual training and certification—including demonstrated competence—on preventing, recognizing, and responding to food-related allergic reactions.
Abstract
(S1469 · 119th Congress) Protecting Children with Food Allergies Act of 2025 This bill requires that local school food service personnel receive annual training and certification on food allergies as part of the training provided by the National School Lunch Program of the Department of Agriculture. Under current law, the mandatory training and certification for school food service personnel must include modules on (1) nutrition, and (2) health and food safety standards and methodologies. Under the bill, the training and certification must also include a module on food allergies, including information on the best practices to prevent, recognize, and respond to food-related allergic reactions. As part of the certification, the bill also requires that food service personnel demonstrate competence in the training provided. Latest action (2025-04-10): Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry. (text: CR S2568)
Why this matters
School food service workers are the frontline for preventing and responding to allergic reactions in the ~30 million children served daily by the National School Lunch Program, and food allergies affect roughly 1 in 13 U.S. children. Adding a mandatory allergy module with demonstrated competence to existing NSLP training standardizes an area currently handled unevenly across states and districts, with modest administrative cost implications for school food authorities but limited direct effect on farmers or food prices.