FARE Blog

Epinephrine is the first-line treatment for anaphylaxis, a severe and potentially life-threatening allergic reaction most commonly triggered by food, latex, medication or insect venom. Delayed administration of epinephrine is a risk factor for fatal anaphylaxis to food.

I’ll admit, it’s hard. Being a teen with food allergies is a difficult thing to deal with. There are so many things to worry about, such as school dances, parties, in-class experiments and social gatherings.

Last summer, Food Allergy Action Heroes were spotted helping people stay safe at the beach, at amusement parks, and out to lunch to celebrate Independence Day. Where will they be spotted this year?

As food allergies and food-induced anaphylaxis become more prevalent across all age groups, these medical conditions will render an increasing fraction of young Americans ineligible to join the U.S. Armed Forces, while a growing number of service members will develop adult-onset food allergies while in uniform.

This week, Lisa Gable joined Food Allergy Research & Education as its new CEO. Lisa comes to FARE with more than 30 years of executive leadership experience and has represented global public-private partnerships and nonprofits, working to build organizations to their maximum potential.

Swati Shah learned about FARE’s Food Allergy Heroes Walk this year and immediately jumped at the chance to get involved and make a difference for the food allergy community by joining the Northern Virginia Food Allergy Heroes Walk committee.

About two dozen advocates from across New York, some of whom have lost a family member to anaphylaxis, convened in Albany to participate in FARE’s Food Allergy Awareness Day on May 16.

A new method for diagnosing peanut allergy was outlined in a letter published last month in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (JACI). This mast cell activation test was compared to other available diagnostic tests on the basis of sensitivity (the rate of true positive tests, in which a disease is successfully identified) and specificity (the rate of true negative tests, in which a disease that isn’t present is successfully ruled out).

Throughout the month of May, thousands of people around the country shined a light on food allergies in various ways – from participating in FARE’s daily Food Allergy Awareness Action Steps, to asking their legislators to issue proclamations declaring May 13-19, 2018 Food Allergy Awareness Week, to leading awareness events in their schools and communities and much more. Here are just a few highlights from this year’s Food Allergy Awareness Week.

Recent college graduate Lily Roth is a vocal food allergy advocate and volunteer for FARE’s Food Allergy Heroes Walk in Pittsburgh. Lily majored in emergency medicine with a minor in chemistry and plans to attend medical school to become a pediatric emergency physician and an EMS physician.