We are committed to providing meals for all our customers/pupils and for those needing special diets for medical requirements, where possible. We work closely with our suppliers and have systems in place to ensure our kitchen teams have information as accurate as possible but it must be noted that they can only be guided by information that suppliers provide - this is similar to the process of a parent catering for a child’s special diet at home.
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To ensure the safety of each of our customers we must work closely together with parents, the school and the kitchen team. Culinera normally changes its menus on a termly basis and therefore regular meetings may be required to ensure we can offer your child a suitable menu option.
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If you are happy to order a suitable dish from our published menu and the school are already aware of your child's special diet (including a referral letter from a medical professional such as a G.P/ consultant /dietician), then you don't need to do anything.
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If your child is new to the school or the school are not aware of your child's special dietary needs, please complete the below form and then submit to the school office with a referral letter from a medical professional (G.P/ consultant /dietician). If you need a special menu please ensure you state this on the form below.
It is the parents responsibility to ensure that allergies and special diets are reported to the school either with the school office, during enrolment or through this form (however this method will only be accepted once the form has been acknowledged by both the school and Culinera).
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All meals are ordered through our online meal ordering system. Meals will only be available to choose, where allergies or special diets do not conflict. If allergies are not reported, it is possible that you could order a meal that would not be suitable for your child.
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If there are not suitable options on the published menu then please ensure you request a meeting with the team to explore if a menu can be offered which meets your child's allergy or special dietary requirements.
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Please note that Culinera are unable to provide medical diets for food allergies that fall outside of the recognised 14 major allergens. Due to the complexity of allergen and intolerance-related medical diet requests and to ensure the delivery of safe school meals for pupils with medical dietary requirements, we can only provide medical diets for children with no more than a combination of two specified food allergies/intolerances plus tree nut, peanut or shellfish.
Culinera reserve the right to refuse to provide a meal if it is deemed to be too complex or high risk to safely manage at location level. Despite our best efforts, our food/drink is prepared in areas where cross contamination may occur and therefore, we are unable to guarantee that our dishes/drinks are free from any allergen.
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The timescale for a medical menu to be implemented, is approximately three weeks from the submission of the completed Medical Diet Request Form. The exception to this is made in September, where volumes are higher. During peak times we allow up to six weeks for processing. Where new pupils are joining a Culinera school, we require the Medical Diet Request Form and evidence, to be submitted at least two weeks prior to the end of the summer term.
Please choose from the suitable options below that you would be happy for your child to eat whilst you wait for this meeting.
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Please note that the information included within this form will remain in place until it is superseded by another letter from a medical professional.
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Thanks for submitting!
Please now submit a referral letter from a medical professional (G.P/ consultant /dietician) to the school office.
Please note this form will not be actioned until such event. You should receive an automatic achnowledgement of this email, however any next steps will be confirmed by the school.
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The timescale for a medical menu to be implemented, is approximately three weeks from the submission of the completed Medical Diet Request Form.
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The exception to this is made in September, where volumes are higher. During peak times we allow up to six weeks for processing. Where new pupils are joining a Culinera school, we require the Medical Diet Request Form and evidence, to be submitted at least two weeks prior to the end of the summer term.
