School meal fears for 6,000 pupils with coeliac disease

Lack of specific guidelines means 'almost 6,000 children are being excluded and discriminated against' every day.

No one is "taking responsibility" for ensuring school meals are safe for an estimated 6,000 coeliac children as schools re-open, the Coeliac Society of Ireland has warned.

Many parents have said they cannot trust schools to feed their children, after all meals provided in some schools this week were marked "may contain gluten". Some children with coeliac disease were offered only fruit to eat.