Food & Nutrition Services

Federal law and USDA regulations require nutrition programs to make reasonable modifications to accommodate children with disabilities, which can include allergies and digestive conditions, but does not include personal diet preferences.

Requesting Special Meal Accommodations

You need to request special meal accommodations if:

• Your child plans to eat school meals AND
• Your child has a medically prescribed dietary need that would require us to modify our menu*

*Menu note: we do not need accommodation requests for soy milk (we offer this at every school), fish/seafood allergies, treenut or peanut allergies because they do not require menu modification. Vegetarian meals are offered every day. Please include all allergies on your child's annual health history form. 

To request special meal accommodations, complete the "Request for Special Dietary Accommodations" form at the bottom of this page. This form must be signed by a state-recognized medical provider. Please return the completed form to the Food & Nutrition Department or your school nurse. 

Food & Nutrition Department

• Fax: 425-385-4249
• Email: foodservices@everettsd.org

Please contact us with questions about special meal accommodations at 425-385-4380

 Allergen Information

• Our menu posted on the website can be filtered to identify allergens. In addition, allergens can be viewed along with nutritional information for each food item by selecting the specific item. Only the top 9 allergens are flagged, these allergens are: soy, wheat, milk, peanut, treenut, egg, fish, shellfish and sesame. While there are many more ingredients that can cause allergic reactions, the top 9 are the only ones required on nutrition labels, therefore, these are the ones the menu planner can track.
• Allergen information is taken directly from manufacturer’s labels and databases and is subject to change without notice. Everett Public School District does not guarantee the information and provides it solely for your convenience. The Food and Nutrition Department does everything we can to accommodate special dietary needs, however, the safest meals are those brought from home. For additional information, please contact the Food and Nutrition Department at 425-385-4380.

Special Dietary Accommodation Form

• Request for Special Dietary Accommodations 

• Request for Special Dietary Accommodations - SPANISH 

Many classroom enrichment activities include food. For the safety of our students and staff, Everett Public Schools Food & Nutrition Department has developed the following food guidelines based on information from Snohomish Health District:

• Use careful handwashing with soap and hot water before preparing and/or serving food, after using the restroom, after sneezing or coughing, and as necessary when food is being served.
• Food served to students should be served using disposable gloves or tongs. It is best to use gloves or utensils rather than touch with hands. If gloves or tongs are not available, serve with well-washed hands and use minimal touch.
• Due to the increase in allergies, please check with the school nurse or teacher for any specific allergies in the classroom. Please read labels carefully: some foods have “hidden” source of allergens (for example, tortilla chips fried in peanut oil).
• Cakes, breads, cookies, and other potentially non-hazardous baked goods are preferred.
• Prepared food from a commercial source is made following strict state and local inspection. For that reason, it is preferred that food items come sealed, from the store.
• Because of the difficulty of providing adequate refrigeration, foods containing custard or cream fillings are not to be served. Commercial fruit pies are acceptable, but not pumpkin pies or other custard pies made with eggs.
• Meat dishes, meat-filled pies, sprouts, and potato or macaroni salads should not be served.
• No home canned products are allowed.
• Fresh fruit can be used if it is washed and cut immediately before it is to be served. All cut melons are considered potentially hazardous and must be kept ice cold until served.
• Never serve unpasteurized milk or juice of any kind, especially apple juice or cider.
• Canned or bottled drinks are preferable to beverages that are mixed and brought in.
• Disposable cups and utensils are preferable. Minimize handling of all disposable cups, plates, napkins and utensils.

Additional Food Safety Tips

1.    Things that can make food unsafe to eat include:

• Viruses, which can get into food by sneezing, coughing and unclean hands.
• Bacteria, which can grow in food if the food is not kept at proper temperatures.
• Improper storage and preparation that can cause food to become contaminated.

2.  Some foods are more likely than others to grow germs that cause foodborne illnesses. It is very important to keep these foods at proper temperatures to keep germs from growing.

• Examples of potentially hazardous foods:
• Milk and dairy products.
• Meat, poultry, eggs, fish, and shellfish.
• Cooked potatoes, beans and rice.
• Cut melons and sprouts.

3.  Field Trips: Consider these ideas to keep your child’s field trip lunch safe:

• Pack only non-perishable foods.
• Pack a refreezable ice pack or frozen juice box in the lunch.
• Any perishable foods should be packed in an insulated cooler with refreezable ice packs to insure
  they stay cold.

• EPS School Snack Order Form
• EPS School Event Food Order Form