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New ABC Family Movie Sends Distorted Message About Food Allergies

Once again, Hollywood has produced a children’s movie that minimizes the seriousness of food allergy, a medical condition for which there is no known cure.

In the ABC Family Original Movie Picture This, the character Lisa Cross sets out to derail her ex-boyfriend’s date with Mandy Gilbert by causing her to have a food-allergic reaction.

Knowing that Mandy is allergic to nuts, Lisa mashes some up and pays a girl working at the mall to lace a smoothie with the nuts and give it to Mandy to prevent her from attending a party. After drinking the smoothie, Mandy’s lips and eyes get swollen; she is referred to as “butt face.”

To relieve the symptoms, Mandy gulps her friend’s allergy medicine. Unfortunately, she drinks so much of the medicine that she passes out into a fountain at the mall. Miraculously, as she comes out of the fountain, her “butt face” is gone, and she is beautiful again.

Teens are the highest risk group for severe or fatal allergic reactions. The movie, which targets this high-risk group, makes light of the potential seriousness of food allergy reactions and sets the stage for “copycat” incidents designed to get a laugh or to be vindictive.

“This movie not only minimizes the potential harm a food allergy can do, it gives viewers the false impression that recovering from a reaction occurs within minutes after a few swigs of medicine,” said FAAN founder and CEO Anne Muñoz-Furlong. “Ingesting nuts as shown in Picture This could cause a deadly reaction within minutes. Anyone behaving like the character Lisa toward an individual with food allergy could be prosecuted for assault, or worse if the victim dies. We would hope that the producers at ABC Family understand the risk they take in portraying this medical condition so lightly.”

Food allergy affects one in 25 Americans. Each year food allergy reactions cause an estimated 50,000 emergency room visits. Death can be sudden, sometimes occurring within minutes. Even trace amounts of a food allergen can cause a reaction. As depicted in this movie, most reactions occur when someone eats something they thought was safe.

FAAN has contacted ABC Family to educate the producers about the seriousness of food allergy and ask that they show more sensitivity when portraying food allergies in future films.

The FAAN Be a PAL: Protect A Life™ From Food Allergies program provides steps to help children take care of their friends who have food allergies. FAAN encourages others to follow this philosophy with anyone who has a medical problem, rather than trying to injure them.

You can let ABC Family know how you feel by completing a feedback form at http://abcfamily.go.com/abcfamily/path/section_Global/page_Contactus or by writing to:

ABC Family Channel
Paul Lee, President
3800 West Alameda Ave.
Burbank, CA 91505

About FAAN

Founded in 1991, the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN) is the world leader in information, resources, and programs for food allergy, a potentially life-threatening medical condition that afflicts as many as 15 million Americans, including almost 6 million children. A nonprofit organization based in Fairfax, Va., FAAN is dedicated to increasing public awareness of food allergy and its consequences, to educating people about the condition, and to advancing research on behalf of all those affected by it. FAAN provides information and educational resources about food allergy to patients, their families, schools, health professionals, pharmaceutical companies, the food industry, and government officials. On May 9, 2012, FAAN announced its intent to merge with the other leading food allergy organization, the Food Allergy Initiative, pending state regulatory approval. To become a member or for more information, please visit FAAN at www.foodallergy.org.

Media Contact

Nancy Gregory
Media Relations
(703) 563-3066
E-mail: ngregory@foodallergy.org