Gluten free food ideas for school

At school or nursery, carers, teachers, and lunchtime supervisors can provide essential support. 

• A watchful eye at lunchtime will be a big help to your child, so make sure staff are aware of your child's gluten free diet and effect of eating gluten. 

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• If they're going on a school trip and staying overnight, pack a bag with Glutafin longer life bread or order Glutafin's gluten free and wheat free baguettes and long white rolls, as the packaging can be ripped apart to make individual packs, so they stay fresh and means their school bag is not full of crumbs. All Glutafin biscuits come in portion packs and for a savoury treat the Glutafin gluten free and wheat free savoury shorts come in 3 portion packs containing 5 biscuits and the Glutafin gluten free and wheat free mini crackers come in a re-sealable pack (like Cadbury Giant Button or Twirl bite packs). 

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• ​Older children studying food technology (or it may be known as home economics) can easily use alternative gluten free ingredients. Just let the teacher know. They may also be interested to read Jen's baking blogs, as she not only started baking gluten free, but baking and has lots of tips she has picked up from the home economist, Gluten Free Chef of the Year and from her baking club. 

Does your child have a lunch box at school?

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There is gluten free fresh bread available for your child's sandwiches, and gluten free rolls that you can toast to create a fancy Panini. Simply pick your favourite toppings and put into the roll and then place in on a hot griddle pan or in a sandwich toaster and cook for 2-3 minutes. Tuna and cheese is a popular one among coeliac children we have spoken too.

Boys should not be having more than 4 servings of oily fish a week and girls no more than 2.

If you want to give your child something different for lunch then make some pasta or why not try making a gluten free wrap that even mum or dad could eat with them then they don't always feel alone on a special gluten free diet. A wrap can be made for lunch or tea and can have any of your favourite fillings in like chicken, cheese or even steak. We have a number of wrap recipes on our gluten free recipe page. 

Fruit is naturally gluten free and ensures your child is getting the healthy food they need as a coeliac. You should aim for them to eat 5 portions of fruit or vegetables a day. Here are the size of fruit or vegetables that makes 1 of the portions:
1 apple, 1 banana, 1 slice of melon or 2 small plums or kiwi fruit, 7 strawberries, 3 heaped teaspoons of carrots, peas, baked beans, two broccoli spears. 

 To hide the taste of vegetables you can always puree the vegetables into pasta sauces.

150ml of fruit juice also provides one of their 5 a day. Fruit juices are naturally gluten free. Most fruit squash and fizzy drinks are made without gluten ingredients but barley water contains barley flour which is gluten. Cloudy drinks may contain an ingredient called barley flour and barley is gluten. Always double check all drinks are gluten free!

If your coeliac child loves eating yoghurt then read the label to see if it says gluten free or suitable for coeliacs. The best thing for checking shopping labels is to purchase a small book called Coeliac UK Food and Drink Directory from the coeliac charity Coeliac UK. This gives you a list of products that are gluten free so when you go shopping your child can still have their favourite things like yoghurt, crisps, sausages, chocolate or cereals as they will be gluten free. Some of the more popular yoghurt brands such Muller Fruit Corners are gluten free but only some flavours are so double check on the label or in the book that they are gluten free e.g. only Muller fruit corner strawberry, blackberry and raspberry, cherry, blueberry and peach and apricot are gluten free.

Snacks such as babybell and cheese strings are gluten free and fun to eat!

Why not let your childs school know that your child has to eat gluten free foods and ensure they are not being given any gluten free foods in the class by downloading and printing our letter. 

Does your child have school dinners? Advice for mum and dad!

It’s best to set up an appointment with the person in charge of catering at your child’s school to discuss more about what coeliac disease is and what gluten free foods they can eat. It is best to tell them about other things they need to consider such as cross contamination. There is a section on Coeliac UK website that talks about gluten free catering training. 

Give the school as much notice as possible and put your request in writing too. It is worth mentioning to the catering staff that you would prefer your child to be offered a similar gluten free alternative. This will help make your child feel included.

You could also take them in some of our 30 minute and simple recipes when you have your meeting and offer these to the catering staff. Often people are more receptive once they know what gluten free means and they have a good idea of what your child can eat. You may want to leave the children's coeliac leaflet with the catering staff which shows what your child can and can't eat.