Take 1 minute to promote Celiac Awareness

Only a fraction of the 3 million Americans with Celiac Disease are diagnosed.

Sharing your story will educate others. It will help find allies for our awareness efforts. Most importantly, your story advocates for those still struggling to find proper medical care.

The American Celiac Disease Alliance has made it easy to write to your congressional representative about supporting H.Con.Res. 110, the National Celiac Awareness bill. Simply click here to fill in a few fields and send it off. It's that simple.

Thank you for your support!

A call for action - food labels need improvement!

Back in September of 2008, a petition was submitted to the FDA to include rye and barley in the list of most common allergens which must be disclosed on packaging. Right now, only wheat has to be disclosed, but as we all know the gluten of rye and barley is just as offensive to celiacs as that of wheat. So to include wheat in the list without including rye and barley was nonsensical. The list needs to be amended so that rye and barley sources are also disclosed.

Without this disclosure, such things as "modified food starch", "flavor," "natural flavor" and other ambiguous ingredients may be derived from rye or barley without disclosure. This means that currently we cannot buy or eat anything with such "ambiguous" ingredients without a great deal of risk. After a 6 month delay, the petition is now available to be seen and publicly commented upon at:
http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/component/main?main=DocketDetail&d=FDA-2008-P-0509. Despite what this website might say, it is not an expired petition, and you can comment on it.

I hope you will go there, and read the petition, and leave a comment in favor of it for the FDA's consideration. The more positive comments we get stored in FDA's database, the sooner we are likely to get action on this.

Thank you!

NH Gov John Lynch declares May Celiac Disease Awareness Month

Governor Lynch signed a proclamation declaring the entire month of May to be Celiac Disease Awareness Month!

During this important campaign to raise awareness, here is something easy you can do - click here to encourage your representative to support the HConRes110 bill. This is a very simple bill that would help to educate other lawmakers about celiac disease and the larger issues that the celiac community faces, namely health insurance. This takes just a few minutes to do and it very possibly will have a huge impact on advancing the important needs of the celiac community.

Thank you!

NH Governer Declares May 10 - 16 Food Allergy Awareness Week

I just received a phone call that NH Governor John Lynch is signing the FAAN proclamation declaring May 10 - 16, 2009 Food Allergy Awareness Week in the State of NH.

I'm working with the Governor's office to get a press release out.

MA Food Allergy Bill Signed Into Law

Lots of opinions have been flying since this new bill was passed just a few days ago. The law does the following:

· Requires the placement in restaurant kitchens of an approved poster providing general information on food allergies as they relate to food preparation.

· Requires menus to include a statement that the customer should inform the wait staff of any food allergy issue.

· Requires approved food service courses — already attended by restaurant managers (the so-called “serve safe courses”) — to include the viewing of an approved food allergy video.

· Requires DPH to develop a program for restaurants to be designated as “Food Allergy Friendly” and to maintain a listing of restaurants receiving such designation on its Web site. Participation in the program shall be voluntary, and in addition to any other DPH requirements, in order to receive such designation restaurants would be required to make available to the public, a master list of all the ingredients used in the preparation of each food item available for consumption.

I've got a mixed reaction. On the one hand, this is a step forward for those of us consumed with food sensitivity worry. It raises awareness, which is always a great thing. Bringing in government oversight could improve things. I am proud that MA is being a leader, once again!

I'm also thinking it doesn't go quite far enough. Who will regularly monitor all this to ensure ongoing compliance, or are restaurants self-certifying? Will it just be a one shot deal and then all will be forgotten? Will the poster just be a decoration, or get lost? Will the info on the video be retained and utilized? Isn't "allergy friendly" kind of broad? Is the economic argument for a restaurant to become food allergy friendly strong enough so they will want to do it?

I have a passion for educating the food service industry - I just want to seen it done right. Stay tuned for more updates.