Combating the hidden peanuts in school lunches

For more than a year Denis Jones has been on a crusade.

His enemy: peanuts in school lunches and Arlington Heights Elementary District 25's refusal to notify parents of the problem. Some cereal, granola bars and cheese crackers contain peanuts and are being sold even though the district has a policy not to serve any food containing peanuts, Jones said.

"The district is endangering the lives of students," said Jones, an Arlington Heights resident. "If someone brought a gun to school, you bet parents would've been notified about that."

Jones' son has a severe allergy to peanuts and could die of anaphylactic shock within minutes of eating a small amount of peanuts.

Jones addressed the school board several times on the peanut issue in the past year, but the school board has never talked publicly about the issue. This week Jones traveled to Springfield to address the state board of education.

The District 25 school board will discuss the food policy in April or May. One food-service employee "has been reprimanded" for serving a cereal containing peanuts this year, but there is not a widespread problem, said school board member Dan Petro.

"It was a mistake and the person was disciplined," Petro said. "I can't say anymore about it because it happened in closed session."

The issue started in September 2006 when Jones' son -- then a fifth-grader at Olive Elementary School -- returned home after touring Thomas Middle School. During the tour, Jones' son was told several food items in the Thomas cafeteria contained peanuts.

He notified school district officials who promised to look into it. The next school year, in December, Jones said his son reported Reese's Puffs cereal in the school cafeteria. After some research, Jones found many other food labels for items sometimes served in the cafeteria that list peanuts in the ingredient list.

Daily menus are listed on the District 25 Web site. But sometimes items containing peanuts that aren't on the list are sold in the cafeteria, Jones said.

Today Jones sends his son to school with strict instructions not to eat anything that isn't on the online menu.

"I told him, don't eat anything that's a surprise," Jones said. "The problem is, there shouldn't be any surprises."

Jones said he doesn't understand why District 25 officials have not told parents about the peanut items.

"I can tell my sixth-grader what not to eat, but what about a kindergartner who can't even read?" he said.

Petro stands by the District 25 policy and said that if any changes need to be made, that will happen in the next few months.

"It's in our handbook. We don't serve food with peanuts," Petro said.

Matt Vanover, a spokesman for the Illinois State Board of Education, said state officials will be discussing the peanut issue with District 25 officials.

"There are two sides to every story, but we are looking into it," he said.