5 things: Student claims college failed to meet gluten disability

Each Friday I compile a list that highlights five things you probably missed in the news that week and why you should care about them.

Here’s your list for the week of March 28:

1. Student says college refused to refund meal plan after not meeting gluten disability
In 2012, the US Department of Justice said food allergies were a disability after students sued Lesley University, saying the dining department failed to meet their needs regarding gluten-free food. Now, a student at the University of Pennsylvania is saying she could not reasonably get gluten-free food from the dining services department. The student says the process to receive the meals was cumbersome; she had to email a dining service employee at the beginning of the week providing her meal times and dining locations. The student asked dining services for her meal plan money back, but the department refused, according to an article in The Daily Pennsylvanian. Penn Business Services released this statement to the paper: “In most cases, Penn Dining is able to accommodate a student’s special dietary requirements. This is done in a variety of ways including providing education and guidance on available options; adding menu items to our cafes; or even having our chefs prepare meals customized specifically for the student.”

Read more: No gluten, no service

2.  Food insecurity leads to hospital readmissions, study finds
If you don’t have steady access to nutritious food, you’re probably going to be readmitted to a hospital. A new study finds that 30 percent of hospital “super-utilizers” (patients with three or more inpatient visits in a 12-month period) are food insecure and another 25 percent are only marginally food secure, according data from the USDA. The researchers also found that more than half of these super-utilizers used food pantries or other food resources and 40 percent were worried they would run out of food, according to a study published in Population Health Management. As hospitals work to reduce readmission rates to meet Affordable Care Act rules, foodservice departments are becoming an even more integral part of patient and visitor care. Here’s one amazing story about a children’s hospital in Arkansas handing out free bagged lunches to kids.

Read more: Study: 30% of hospital 'super-utilizers' are food insecure

3.   Breakfast in the classroom doesn’t improve students’ academic achievement, study finds
In a follow-up to last week’s column about breakfast in the classroom (BIC) not increasing obesity, New York University just released a new study that looked at breakfast in the classroom in NYC schools. This study confirmed the earlier study that BIC didn’t increase obesity but rather increased breakfast participation without cannibalizing lunch participation. One interesting point the study found was that BIC did not improve students’ attendance or academic achievement, which many BIC proponents often cite as a by-product of implementing BIC programs.

Read more: Classroom Program Increases School Breakfast Participation, Not Obesity

4. New packaging has student upset at college
For the past 10 years, Miami University has been using a to-go brown paper product that it thought was compostable. The box is made of 100 percent compostable cardboard. The issue was that the companies in the Oxford area that could compost the packaging all went out of business. Then the university learned that the brown boxes weren’t compostable at all, and then that is wasn’t even recyclable. The university had been going through 45,000 boxes each month. That meant the university had to find an alternative that could still meet its sustainability goals. Enter a clear plastic container, which is recyclable. Some students aren’t happy with the switch, suggesting that it wasn’t as eco-friendly as the brown box option.

Read more: University’s switch to recyclable plastic takeout containers draws mixed reviews from students

5.  Lead in water still an issue in schools
Part of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act was providing access to drinking water in school cafeterias. That’s not an all too difficult thing to do when there are water fountains available. But what happens when that water is contaminated by lead? It’s becoming more of an issue as cities like Flint, Mich., and Newark, N.J., are coping with lead issues. This story in the New York Times provides a great history of how schools have dealt with the issue. A 1988 federal law addressed the issue, requiring schools to ditch lead-lined water coolers and test their drinking water. But the law was struck down in 1996 and there hasn’t been a federal law on the books since then, leaving states and cities to fight the issue on their own.

Read more: Schools Nationwide Still Grapple With Lead in Water

Bonus: Henry Ford licenses recipe database to provider in India

Contact Becky Schilling at [email protected].
Follow her on Twitter: @bschilling_FM