Iowa district strives to become peanut-free

LE MARS, Iowa — For many schools, keeping things like peanuts out of the cafeteria can be next to impossible. But the Gehlen Catholic School District has made it their mission to do just that.

Officials with Gehlen Catholic say they feed roughly 450 students every day. But only four of those students have a known food allergy to peanuts. The school nurse says it is very important these students do not eat anything that has been exposed to peanuts. Tt could even mean the difference between life and death.

"You can can a reaction on your skin." says Many Weiland, Gehlen Catholic School Nurse. "You could break out to. You could have an anaphylactic shock, where you are going to quite breathing. Your throat will close up, and ultimately you'll die from it.""

The cafeteria has been nearly peanut free for the last two years. Officials with the kitchen say they even ask parents to help with this issue when it comes to Homemade meals by not packing peanuts of any type. The trust Gehlen has with the companies they get their food from also plays a major roll.