Food allergies and intolerances

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Information for schools and workplaces

The Directorate of Health publishes guidelines for school canteens in preschools and primary and upper-secondary schools regarding food availability and meal framing, which also provides cooking guidelines for students with food allergies or intolerances. The Directorate of Health also works with health-promoting workplaces to promote healthy lifestyles, health and well-being for all.

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Recommendations for day-care parents and infant kindergartens (Icelandic)
Handbook for kindergarten kitchen (Icelandic)
Handbook for primary school canteens (Icelandic)
Handbook of diet in high schools (Icelandic)

The school handbooks discuss the importance of meeting the different needs of students concerning allergies and intolerances following a diagnosis and a certificate from a doctor. It also states that it is necessary to get precise information from parents/guardians about what kind of food the child needs and what they cannot get. It often takes time to learn about allergies or food intolerances, and parents/guardians must provide the best information about what suits their child. Also, individuals can have food allergies to foods that are not on the list of common allergens. In such cases, it may be more difficult to find these foods in the list of ingredients since food producers only need to label separately in capital letters or in bold in the list of ingredients foods classified as common allergens according to a regulation in force in the European Economic Area.

It is important that schools always receive ingredient lists for ordered foods. Food producers can modify recipes in their products, so the list of ingredients must always be reviewed.

Finally, it should be borne in mind that allergies in children can change from year to year, which is why the school and parents/guardians need to review these issues regularly.

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It is optional for schools to participate in health-promoting activities in collaboration with the Directorate of Health. For those participating, access is provided to checklists that address, among other things, access to healthy food and food allergies and intolerances.

The checklists emphasize the need for canteen employees to be offered regular education, such as courses on preparing special foods for individuals with food allergies and intolerances.

Care must also be taken to ensure that all canteen staff know which students are on special diets and that procedures are in place and are followed.

Primary and secondary schools are also asked to review how many students subscribe to school meals regularly. Schools at all levels are also asked to regularly check students', parents', and staff's satisfaction with school meals. A survey to parents/guardians asks why their child is not on a meal subscription, as allergies and intolerances may be one of the answer options. Most schools in Iceland have children with allergies or intolerances, so paying close attention to ensuring they have equal access to school meals like other students is essential.

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Health-Promoting Workplace

Health-Promoting Workplaces is an approach under the auspices of the Directorate of Health in collaboration with the Occupational Safety and Health and VIRK Vocational Rehabilitation Fund, which formally began in February 2019. Implementation of a health-promoting workplace is the decision of directors and employees in the workplace. In a health-promoting workplace, emphasis is placed on many aspects of employees' health, such as a healthy diet and a safe and healthy work environment. Criteria are set for each area, and the criteria for the diet (Icelandic) in the workplace state that information on the ingredients of dishes served should be visible to staff and that different dietary needs of employees, for example, due to allergies and intolerances, should be met.

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If you need assistance preparing special diets, you can get information about courses and educational materials from the Icelandic Asthma and Allergy Association.

There is also a wide range of information on necessary procedures for preparing special nutritional foods in Handbooks for school canteens from the Directorate of Health.

Finally, municipalities and workplaces can contact a nutritionist if further assistance is needed to prepare a special diet.