Food Guidelines for Events

According to Julia Child, a very well-known cook, author and TV personality

“People who love to eat are always the best people.” 

So are the people who are a part of the Dianella Primary College Community.  We all love to eat, and it is our food that brings us all together.  This is why food is an integral part of our major events that involve community building, sharing, and a sense of mutual happiness. 

However, we must acknowledge that the Dianella Primary College community comprises of people from diverse and rich backgrounds, with a variety of nutritional needs, who follow different dietary guidelines. We, at DPC, aim to provide a safe, healthy, and supportive environment for everyone connected with us in one way or another, may it be our students, families, or friends.

Keeping in view the number of events we hold at DPC that involve food, we would like to request everyone who donates food to our events to please label it carefully so that people can make informed choices according to their dietary needs. 

Also, to make it easier for children to handle the food, we request you to please divide it into portions with the help of snack sized plates, cupcake wrappers/liners, or paper cups.

The label should indicate the basic ingredients used in the recipe (to address food allergies) as well as if the food is Halal. 

Food allergies are basically the body’s response to certain kinds of food, which the body believes to be harmful. If the person allergic to certain kinds of foods consumes them mistakenly, they can face negative health effects that can range from being mild to even severe, life threatening reactions. 

The 8 most common food allergens that need to be indicated (if present in the recipe) on the labels are:

• peanuts

• tree nuts

• milk

• eggs

• soy

• wheat (flour)

• fish

• shellfish

We must also consider the fact that a large part of our community adheres to a vegetarian or Halal diet. Therefore, if your dish is vegetarian or Halal, please indicate it on the label as “Vegetarian” or “Halal.”

Just for clarification, for any dish to be vegetarian, it should not include any type of meat product such as fish, chicken, or red meat.

A Halal diet prohibits any food that comes from pigs, or any by-product of pork (such as gelatine), or alcohol.  Please note that for meat to be Halal, it needs to be slaughtered in a certain way.  Halal meat can be purchased at Honeywell Meats located in Mirrabooka Village, 73 Honeywell Blvd, Mirrabooka.

Furthermore, for any food to be Halal, even the animal by products used need to come from animals that have been slaughtered in a Halal manner. 

Here you can find a list of some Halal certified food items, www.halalfood.com.au.

If you have any questions or queries, please do not hesitate to contact the Dianella Primary College P&C at pcdianella@gmail.com.au.  We will be more than happy to respond!