Since last year the Board of Health of the town of Andover, Mass., has required school parent-teacher organizations “to have a specially trained ‘certified food protection manager’ if they plan to serve food at a school fund-raiser or class party.” The training sessions needed to become a certified manager cost $145. Potluck suppers are entirely forbidden since it is impossible to monitor the cooking of food in homes. “The rules were even stricter when the policy was first implemented. PTOs and parents were required to have a trained food safety expert at every event involving food, including classroom birthday parties where cupcakes would be served.” Now the town is drawing up a list of foods that it does not consider to pose a big safety problem, a list that surprisingly turns out to include coffee and doughnuts (hasn’t anyone warned them about hot-coffee spills and obesity-as-tort?) “Even though we have a long history of no problems, society is getting more litigious, and many of the PTOs are looking at getting insurance,” said Mary Jo Gustus, who heads the parent-teacher organization at South Elementary School. (Meredith Warren, “Parents train as food police for school spaghetti suppers”, Lawrence Eagle Tribune, Mar. 17). For another food menace averted, see Dec. 13, 1999. More: Feb. 17, 2005 (Indiana).

Filed under: Indiana, schools