In the News
- Whose to blame for another allergy tragedy?
- 1/18/2012 - Virginia’s Chesterfield County police have determined that there was no criminal negligence on the part of the school personnel in the tragic food-allergy death of 7-year-old Amarria Johnson on January 2...
- Crusading over foods that can kill
- 1/14/2012 - Yael Kozar of Rolling Hills Estates was getting ready to take her two young daughters for a walk a decade ago when she gave them both a bite of a peanut butter-flavored power bar. Her 18-month-old daughter spit it out, and Kozar figured she just wasn't a fan...
- Girl's Death Highlights Allergy Safety In Schools
- 1/12/2012 - Most kids can freely snack at recess, but a growing number of American children have food allergies that can lead to serious reactions if the wrong ingredient gets into their mouths...
- School Access to Emergency Epinephrine Act
- 11/17/2011 - The Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN™) has been working with U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Mark Kirk (R-IL) on federal legislation that would encourage states to adopt laws requiring schools to have on hand “stock” epinephrine auto-injectors...
- National Assoc of School Nurses Food Allergy Tool Kit
- 11/16/2011 - The Centers for Disease Control has worked with NASN, the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network and the National School Boards Association to develop comprehensive guidance and resources for food allergy and anaphylaxis management in the school setting...
- Stomach Flu may be linked to food allergies
- 11/14/2011 - Researchers at the Medical College of Wisconsin have found a possible link between norovirus, a virus that causes "stomach flu" in humans, and food allergies...
- FAAN Advocates for National Stock Epinephrine Bill
- 11/14/2011 - FAAN has been working hard on Capitol Hill to voice the need for federal legislation that will ensure that epinephrine is readily accessible in schools for the treatment of anaphylaxis...
- Peanut Allergy May be Turned Off by Tricking Immune System
- 10/1/2011 - Researchers at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine have turned off a life-threatening allergic response to peanuts in mice by tricking the immune system into thinking the nut proteins aren’t a threat to the body...
- New Online Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Course for Schools
- 7/29/2011 - Educators and school nurses across the U.S. will soon have access to an interactive online course at www.allergyready.com designed to provide a comprehensive tutorial on managing food allergies and anaphylaxis in schools...
- Food Allergies Cost $500 Million A Year
- 5/5/2011 - Doctor visits, hospital care, and lost work days due to food allergies come with an annual $500 million price tag, according to a new U.S. study...
- Managing Food Allergies in the School Setting: Guidance for Parents
- 4/15/2011 - As part of a collaborative effort with the Centers for Disease Control, Division of Adolescent and School Health, the National School Boards Association, and the National Association of School Nurses, a new guidance document is now available from FAAN. Managing Food Allergies in the School Setting: Guidance for Parents was created to help parents prepare to send their child off to school with food allergies...
- Illinois Passes Emergency Epinephrine Act for Schools
- 4/12/2011 - Provides that the purpose of the Act is to allow schools to have access to life-saving emergency epinephrine auto-injectors if and when a student has an anaphylaxis reaction and to allow the school to have personnel trained to administer an emergency epinephrine auto-injector...
- Baker found guilty in gluten-free bread case
- 4/11/2011 - The Durham baker accused of misrepresenting bread as gluten-free and sickening more than a dozen customers was found guilty of obtaining property by false pretenses today in Wake County Superior Court...
- Allergic kids face stigma at school
- 4/11/2011 - Youngsters with severe food allergies confront issues that go beyond just avoiding some kid-pleasing foods like pizza, peanuts and cupcakes...
- Girl In Coma After Eating Peanut Cereal
- 4/5/2011 - A 14-year-old Valley girl lies in a hospital bed in a coma surviving with the help of a feeding tube. She's been that way for weeks because of a peanut allergy...
- Florida school eases nut allergy restrictions
- 3/24/2011 - An elementary school beset by the protests of some parents is scrapping some of the more severe restrictions it had implemented to protect a first-grader with a severe allergy to nuts, such as obliging classmates to rinse their mouths twice daily with water...
- Peanut allergy stirs controversy at Florida school
- 3/22/2011 - Some public school parents in Edgewater, Florida, want a first-grade girl with life-threatening peanut allergies removed from the classroom and home-schooled, rather than deal with special rules to protect her health, a school official said...
- Xolair May Treat Milk Allergy In Kids
- 3/21/2011 - A small new study suggests that children with severe milk allergies may be able to rapidly overcome their sensitivities with the help of a biologic drug that helps to quiet an overly aggressive immune response...
- How To Teach Older Children About Their Food Allergies
- 3/18/2011 - Kids in this age group are more independent than younger children, and their social interactions are far more prominent; accordingly, food-allergy discussions for older kids must take a different tack than the talks you might have with younger children...
- Family sues restaurant over seventh-grader's fatal food allergy
- 3/13/2011 - The family of a Chicago Public Schools seventh-grader who died last year after an allergic reaction to peanuts at a school party has filed a wrongful-death suit against the Chinese restaurant that provided the meal, claiming the student's teacher told the restaurant to avoid peanut products...
- The Peanut Puzzle
- 2/7/2011 - Could the conventional wisdom on children and allergies be wrong?...
- Food Allergic Children May Feel Unsafe In Schools
- 1/26/2011 - New research shows young people who have experienced life-threatening anaphylactic shock from specific food exposures have significantly different views of the risks associated with their allergies based on their age and can benefit from discussing their perceptions of the safety of their school environment in improving their ability to cope...
- Schools take steps to combat food allergies
- 1/25/2011 - Even as schools across Illinois put the finishing touches on new state-mandated food allergy policies, some health care advocates question whether they go far enough to keep children safe...
- Food Allergies In Schools
- 11/9/2010 - Food Allergies and Schools: Keeping Students Safe and Ready to Learn. The full webcast is available as an archival edition on the Education Solutions Global Network (ESGN) website...
- Food allergies make kids a target of bullies
- 9/28/2010 - It's tough enough having to avoid products with peanuts and other ingredients as a kid with severe food allergies. It's tougher when someone at school waves a granola bar in your face at the peanut-free lunch table...
- What do food allergy labels really mean?
- 8/11/2010 - While you might be tempted to ignore those "made in a facility that processes" (something you're allergic to) labels in the supermarket, new research suggests products with these labels are in fact more likely to be contaminated with peanuts, milk or eggs than unlabeled foods...
- Aw, Nuts!
- 8/6/2010 - At the beginning of last year, I wrote a column that questioned whether...
- Why Are Food Allergies On the Rise?
- 8/3/2010 - Two-year-old Ethan Wily had a cold recently, so at first it wasn't surprising that he started coughing last week after eating some pistachio gelato...
- EpiPens on school buses targeted
- 1/27/2010 - Jennifer Griffin won't let her son, at Oak Ridge School in Sandwich, ride the bus to school because the result could be deadly...
- What's nuts, Chatelaine, is not to be concerned
- 11/10/2009 - When the top women's magazine in the country takes a snide, cynical run at a serious health issue that affects children, these are truly different times in the publishing industry...
- Teacher Gets Award for Saving Child's Life
- 10/13/2009 - A teacher in Greensboro was recognized as a hero today after saving a child's life. Back in December, Wanda Smith administered an epinephrine pen to a student in anaphylactic shock from a peanut allergy...
- FAAN Responds to Slate Article
- 9/5/2009 - In an Aug. 31, 2009, article entitled “Nuts to That – The People Profiting From Food Allergies,” published in the online magazine Slate, writer Meredith Broussard questions and attacks the scientific work in the area of food allergies...
- Milk Safe, Even Encouraged, For Some After Treatment For Milk Allergy
- 8/18/2009 - Some children with a history of severe milk allergy can safely drink milk and consume other dairy products every day, according to research led by the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center and published in the Aug. 10 online edition of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology...
- Folic Acid May Help Treat Allergies, Asthma
- 8/9/2009 - Folic acid, or vitamin B9, essential for red blood cell health and long known to reduce the risk of spinal birth defects, may also suppress allergic reactions and lessen the severity of allergy and asthma symptoms, according to new research from the Johns Hopkins Children's Center...
- Think you have food allergies? Think again
- 7/20/2009 - Allergies were far from Christie Littauer's mind when she fed creamed spinach to her son Jack for the first time. The 6-month-old had already eaten peas and green beans...
- Celiac Disease Four Times More Common Than In 1950s
- 7/1/2009 - Celiac disease, an immune system reaction to gluten in the diet, is over four times more common today than it was 50 years ago, according to findings of a Mayo Clinic study published this month in the journal Gastroenterology...
- Peanuts Anyone?
- 6/9/2009 - Ever since she was an infant, Reagan Roberts could not tolerate being anywhere near cow's milk...
- Food Allergy Labeling Not Always Accurate
- 3/16/2009 - A small number of food products with a "may contain" label actually do contain an allergen, while about 2 percent of foods products without such a claim also contain allergens, new research shows...
- Sesame Allergies on the Rise in U.S.
- 3/16/2009 - Sesame seed allergies are rapidly rising in the U.S., but most Americans never even consider sesame bagels, hummus, or other sesame-containing foods as the source of their or their kids’ allergies, food allergy experts say...
- Registration Opens for FAAN’s Walk for Food Allergy
- 3/9/2009 - In keeping with its mission to fund research and educational initiatives as well as raise awareness about food allergies from coast to coast, the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN) is gearing up for its 2009 Walk for Food Allergy...
- Why We're Going Nuts Over Nut Allergies
- 2/26/2009 - Susan Fradin has nightmares about Cheerios. Specifically, the Honey Nut variety. Her son Noah is allergic to peanuts and almonds, and her nighttime torment began during his first trip to sleepaway camp, when he was 9...
- Leading Food Allergy Research and Advocacy Groups Merge
- 2/2/2009 - The Food Allergy Initiative and The Food Allergy Project today announced a merger of their organizations, a powerful combination that will increase public awareness of the severity of life-threatening food allergies, empower advocates and family support groups, and encourage the nation's leaders to increase funding for this potentially deadly disease...
- Water softener eczema relief hope
- 1/11/2009 - The Department of Health-backed study will also look at the differing effects of hard and soft water on the condition which causes dry and itchy skin...
- FAAN's Walk For Food Allergy Raises $2.3 million
- 1/9/2009 - The Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network’s (FAAN) fifth annual Walk for Food Allergy: Moving Toward A Cure events, held in 26 cities across the country, raised a record-breaking $2.3 million in 2008...
- Have Americans Gone Nuts Over Nut Allergies?
- 1/4/2009 - Five years ago, at a San Francisco elementary school, a nurse stood by to ensure that the children scrubbed their hands as they arrived, while their packed lunches were confiscated and searched for nut products...
- A Recipe For Disaster
- 11/23/2008 - "Good manufacturing practices," the labels stated, were "used to segregate" potential allergens such as tree nuts, soy or milk. The labels were informative, comforting and also untrue...
- Children At Risk In Food Roulette
- 11/21/2008 - American children with food allergies are suffering life-threatening--and completely avoidable--reactions because manufacturers mislabel their products and regulators fail to police store shelves, a Tribune investigation has found...
- Food Allergy Among U.S. Children
- 10/10/2008 - In 2007, approximately 3 million children under age 18 years (3.9%) were reported to have a food or digestive allergy in the previous 12 months. From 1997 to 2007, the prevalence of reported food allergy increased 18% among children under age 18 years...
- Food Allergy Sickens Teen
- 9/19/2008 - A Torrance High School sophomore has been hospitalized since inhaling fumes Thursday from peanuts used in a science lesson, school and medical officials confirmed...
- Can You Trust Again? Post-Allergy Trauma
- 9/9/2008 - Gina Clowes thought the hard candy her son had just eaten was safe for his multitude of food allergies. The candy turned out to be a chewy variety that triggered a severe allergic reaction...
- The Future of Epinephrine Delivery
- 8/28/2008 - After attending the AAAAI conference in the spring, the vital importance of epinephrine as the cornerstone treatment for anaphylaxis was really driven home...
- Meds Shmeds, Gimme Fries
- 8/23/2008 - One study found that 74 percent of teens dramatically overestimate their ability to manage their asthma...
- Food allergies place some students at risk
- 8/23/2008 - When children with food allergies head back to class this week, school personnel need to know that lunch or snack time can be potentially deadly for these students, says pediatric allergist Dr. Susan Pacheco...
- Mom takes on food industry- Child’s life-threatening food allergies spur change
- 8/22/2008 - Kathleen Silverman was vigilant about what she fed her son Tyler, who suffers from life-threatening food allergies. So when she read on the packaging of a soy-based product that it was dairy-free, she felt confident Tyler would be safe eating it. Moments later, Tyler, then 4, went into anaphylactic shock and was rushed to the emergency room...
- Schools’ peanut bans spark backlash
- 8/11/2008 - When Terri Mauro posed the question, “What’s so bad about peanut-butter bans?” on her Web site, she never expected the volume of cold and angry comments she received...
- ALLERGIC REACTION
- 7/15/2008 - THE FAMILY GROOVE gets the inside scoop from the distinguished medical advisory team at Kids With Food Allergies Inc. (www.kidswithfoodallergies.org...
- Postponing cow's milk may not prevent allergy
- 7/8/2008 - Delaying the introduction of cow's milk may increase, rather than decrease, the risk that a child will develop allergies in the first 2 years of life, researchers from the Netherlands report...
- Americans With Disabilities Act Restoration- Information from AAFA
- 6/26/2008 - Over the last 17 years, the courts have narrowed the definition of disability to the point that people with asthma and allergies, and other conditions who manage their disabilities, are viewed as “too functional” to have a disability. Just because your asthma and allergies are mitigated with treatment does not mean that you should not be protected...
- H.R. 3195: ADA Amendments Act of 2008
- 6/25/2008 - To restore the intent and protections of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. This bill has been passed in the House. The bill now goes on to be voted on in the Senate...
- Food-allergic children with asthma may require extra emergency medication
- 6/19/2008 - New research findings suggest that some food-allergic children may not be equipped with enough potentially life-saving medication to reverse a severe allergic reaction. According to research to be published in an upcoming issue of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, a second dose of epinephrine - the drug of choice for treating severe allergic reactions - was needed in nearly 1-of-5 cases of food-induced anaphylaxis in children...
- Soy Milk Allergy Myth Debunked
- 6/18/2008 - A young Melbourne scientist has released research that blows out of the water the theory soy milk causes peanut allergies in children...
- Uniform Allergy Plans Sought for in U.S. Schools
- 6/9/2008 - When Danielle Davis attended school in Rapid City, S.D., her mother didn't worry much about her being exposed to peanuts, a food that could kill the severely allergic teenager. Danielle's high school had a food allergy policy, and she had no problems during her nine months there. But when the two moved to Charleston in 2006, everything changed...
- A Plea for My Daughter
- 6/9/2008 - I've spent a lot of time thinking about what I'll say to the other parents on back-to-school night when my daughter enters first grade. That day is still months away, but I know I need to plan my words very carefully. I need to ask the other parents in the class to protect my daughter's life, and I know there is a good chance that some of them won't feel like participating...
- Food Allergies Trigger Multibillion-Dollar Specialty Market
- 6/8/2008 - Kari Keaton is the sort of customer most businesses used to hate. The Rockville mother lingers at the grocery store, poring over ingredient labels. She calls food manufacturers and interrogates their customer service representatives about what sorts of foods get processed in the same facility and probes them on the meaning of "natural flavoring." And after all that effort, she still may not buy their product...
- Food Allergies in Schools: Do You Need a 504 Plan for a Food Allergy?
- 6/8/2008 - A major provision of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. § 794) requires school districts to provide all students, regardless of disability, with a "free appropriate public education." This provision, found in section 504, applies to any condition - physical, mental, or emotional - that might interfere with a student's ability to receive an education in a public school classroom, subject to external review...
- One Small Nut So Many Fears
- 6/2/2008 - My three-year-old son doesn't like beans, beef stew or anything with melted cheese. He claims he can't eat them because they contain peanuts. "My mouth feels scratchy, Mommy," he always says. "I think you accidentally put peanut butter in here." As if. His joke might be funny if it wasn't so serious...
- Food allergies on a stick: The risks of summer eating
- 6/2/2008 - Most people would rather not know what goes into the corndog they consume at the summer carnival. But for the 12 million Americans with food allergies, awareness of ingredients is a must for safely eating their way through summer events, according to the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (AAAAI)...
- News Article
- 5/22/2008 - For Kristy Littauer's 2-year old son Jack, the dangers are all around...
- FDA: Time for Asthma Patients to Switch Inhalers
- 5/20/2008 - Old-fashioned asthma inhalers that contain environment-harming chemicals will no longer be sold at year's end — and the government is urging patients not to wait until the last minute to switch to newer alternatives...
- Addressing The Challenge Of Children With Food Allergy
- 5/14/2008 - Includes testimony by Senator Christopher Dodd (D-CT), Dr Hugh Sampson, and the heart-breaking testimony of Teresa Walters, mother of Nathan Walters...Addressing the U.S. Senate. View in real player or click after each speaker's name to read their testimony...
- Worried About Food Allergies?
- 5/13/2008 - Michelle Anixter was sure her infant son, Grant, had food allergies- the Highland park, IL., mom noticed that he often got hives and rashes around his mouth when he ate, but Grant's pediatritian dismissed her concerns...
- Five Steps Forward For Food Allergy
- 5/13/2008 - FAAN celebrated FAAW on Capitol Hill. At an educational briefing on May 13, FAAN unveiled a new advocacy initiative, “Five Steps Forward for Food Allergy,” aimed at improving the lives of Americans with food allergies...
- Addressing Food Allergies
- 5/1/2008 - Many school officials indicate that they are not comfortable dealing with allergy guidelines because medical needs go beyond their usual roles, says Raymond E. Lechner, superintendent of schools at the Wilmette (Ill.) Public Schools District 39, which developed one of the nation's first food allergies plans in 2005...
- Can Food Allergies Be Overcome With Scheduled Small Doses Of Allergens?
- 4/21/2008 - Researchers at National Jewish Medical and Research Center are conducting trials to evaluate a method to prevent allergic reactions to food. They are feeding peanut- and egg-allergic people increasing doses of an investigational protein extract from the foods to see if they can induce the participants’ immune systems to tolerate the food...
- Peanut Butter and Deadly Taunts
- 4/17/2008 - Late last spring, 14-year-old Sarah VanEssendelft of Mastic, N.Y., experienced bullying worthy of a teen movie. "There was a group of five girls ... and they decided they didn't want me sitting at their lunch table anymore," said VanEssendelft. To get her to leave, they all brought in peanut butter and jelly sandwiches...
- House Passes Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Management Act
- 4/8/2008 - On April 8, 2008, the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Management Act of 2008 (FAAMA) was passed by the House of Representatives. This important legislation was introduced in the House by Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY) as H.R. 2063. It calls for a uniform guidance document to be created for schools so that any school in the country looking for help in managing food allergies will have a place to turn...
- Forbidden Foods
- 3/28/2008 - When Eliza Rader was 17 months old, she tasted peanut butter for the first time. Immediately afterward, she broke out in hives, her tongue swelled and she had trouble breathing. Her mother rushed her to a doctor. Later, tests confirmed that Eliza had a severe peanut allergy and was also allergic to sesame and to tree nuts, which include almonds, hazelnuts and walnuts...
- Everything you need to know about food allergies
- 1/17/2008 - Confused about how to deal with common food allergies? Not sure where to even start? Clifford W. Bassett, M.D., a medical director of Allergy & Asthma Care of New York and a faculty member at the New York University School of Medicine, provides practical advice for managing food allergies in the primary-care setting...
- Advice changes for preventing baby allergies
- 1/7/2008 - Breast-feeding helps prevent babies’ allergies, but there’s no good evidence for avoiding certain foods during pregnancy, using soy formula or delaying introduction of solid foods beyond six months...
- No Peanuts, No Soy? Not Necessarily
- 11/30/2007 - Peanuts and soy are both common allergens and both legumes, and one frequent pattern among allergens is that foods that are closely related sometimes have higher-than-average risks of causing allergens in the same person. (Examples of this phenomenon include high risks of multiple tree nut allergies in a person who's diagnosed with allergies to any one particular tree nut allergy and a similar issue with shellfish allergies...)
- Fear and Allergies in the Lunchroom
- 11/5/2007 - It's 1 p.m. at Mercer Elementary School in Shaker Heights, Ohio, and Lena Paskewitz's kindergarten class is filled with the happy hum of kids getting ready for their favorite part of the day: lunch. Caleigh Leiken, 6, is toting a pink Hello Kitty bag her mom has packed with goodies: strawberry yogurt, string cheese, some veggies and a cookie...
Disclaimer: The intention of posting articles on this site is for assisting our members in becoming aware of some of the current research, stories, etc. being published about food allergy. The list is not comprehensive or inclusive- it is simply news that group leaders have come across and thought worthy of sharing in this manner. Please do not use any of this information as though it is advice from FAPE. When reading studies on desensitization, please be advised that these studies are in preliminary stages and the studies are being conducted in a highly controlled medical setting by medical professionals. Absolutely do not try desensitization in any form at home! Desensitization is NOT considered a current form of treatment for food allergy! Instead, only strict avoidance of food allergens is recommended. As with all information on this website, it is not intended as medical advice. Please consult a physician.