CA AB3064

State Department of Education must create guidelines for school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools to protect pupils with food allergies, focusing on best practices for school nurses and food handlers.

Guidelines must require accurate labeling of eight major allergens (milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, wheat, peanuts, sesame, and soybeans) in food served or offered to pupils, with information made available to parents and guardians.

Schools must establish annual communication with parents or guardians of pupils with food allergies, including a communication plan meeting with teachers, nurses, administrators, and other staff to discuss allergen exposure reduction strategies.

Communication plans must include discussion of social-emotional impacts of food allergy disabilities on pupils and strategies to address bullying or other challenges, plus discussion with classmates and their parents about safe and unsafe foods.

Local educational agencies are encouraged, but not required, to follow the guidelines created by the State Department of Education.