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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
10th Annual “Food Allergy Awareness Week” To Focus on Preventing Fatalities
May 13-19 Puts Spotlight on 12 Million Americans Who Have the Condition
FAIRFAX, Va., April 25, 2007 – The focus of this year’s Food Allergy Awareness Week, which runs from May 13-19, will be on learning how to help the 12 million Americans who have the condition avoid suffering a potentially fatal reaction. The slogan is “Learn how to Be a PAL: Protect A Life from Food Allergies™.”
According to the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN), which sponsors Food Allergy Awareness Week, food allergy is the leading cause of anaphylaxis (a severe and potentially fatal allergic reaction) outside the hospital setting, and results in more than 50,0001 emergency room visits each year. Eight foods account for 90 percent of all allergic reactions in the U.S.: milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts (walnuts, almonds, cashews, pistachios, pecans, etc.), wheat, soy, fish, and shellfish.
“Over the last 10 years, we’ve seen an increase in the incidence of food allergies in children,” says Anne Muñoz-Furlong, FAAN CEO and founder. “Until there’s a cure, it’s critical that we all work together to protect these children.”
Because most allergic reactions to food occur as a result of eating something that was believed to be safe, it is especially important to learn how to “Be a PAL.” All it takes is five easy steps:
- Never take food allergies lightly.
- Don’t share food with friends who have food allergies.
- Wash hands after eating.
- Ask what your friends are allergic to, and help them avoid those foods.
- If a friend who has food allergies becomes ill, get help immediately.
“When it comes to food allergies, anyone can ‘Be a PAL,’” says Muñoz-Furlong. “Food allergies impact every single American, and if we work together we can save lives.”
Food Allergy Awareness Week comes on the heels of a mass visit to Washington, D.C., May 1-2, by more than 100 youth who have food allergies. They will be coming from across the nation, accompanied by their families, for the FAAN Kid’s Congress, and will meet with legislators on Capitol Hill to get support for food allergy legislation, such as the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Management Act, which calls on the federal government to create national guidelines for managing students with food allergies. You can find out more about the FAAN Kid’s Congress, Food Allergy Awareness Week, food allergy legislation, and food allergy in general by visiting FAAN’s website, www.foodallergy.org.
ABOUT FAAN
Founded in 1991, the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN) is the world leader in information about food allergy, a potentially fatal condition that afflicts about 12 million Americans, or one out of every 25. A nonprofit organization based in Fairfax, Va., FAAN has 30,000 members in the U.S., Canada, and 62 other countries. It 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. For more information, please visit FAAN at www.foodallergy.org, www.faankids.org, and www.faanteen.org.
CONTACT:
Jennifer Love
Marketing and Media Communications Manager
(703) 563-3061 direct, (301) 639-4811 cell
jlove@foodallergy.org
1 Decker, W., Campbell, R., Manivannan, V., Luke, A., Sauver, J., Weaver, A., et al. (2008). Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 122, 1161-5.
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