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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Country Music Star Trace Adkins to Be Honorary Chair of Nationwide Food Allergy Fundraiser Walk
Growing Epidemic Affects 12 Million Americans, Including His Daughter
FAIRFAX, Va., July 11, 2007 – Country music giant Trace Adkins will serve as the honorary chairman of this year’s Walk for Food Allergy: Moving Toward A Cure, it was announced today.
The event, to be held in 20 cities across the country as well as online, is sponsored by the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN) to increase awareness about food allergy and to raise money for research and education.
Adkins, an active member of FAAN, has been involved in those issues for several years now. His daughter, Brianna, now 5, was diagnosed with peanut allergy when she was 18 months old, following a severe reaction to peanut butter.
“We had no experience with food allergies at the time, and it was terrifying,” says Adkins, who has a string of country hits dating back to his 1996 platinum debut album, Dreamin’ Out Loud. “We later learned she’s also allergic to milk and eggs. So I know firsthand how important FAAN’s efforts to increase funding for food allergy research are. Please join me and thousands of others in raising money to find a cure!”
More than 12 million Americans have food allergy, which 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. Food allergy afflicts one in 25 Americans overall, and one in 17 under age 3.
“Over the last 10 years, we’ve seen an increase in the incidence of food allergies in children, and scientists don’t know why,” says FAAN CEO and founder Anne Muñoz-Furlong. “It’s critical that we all work together to help them find the answer, as well as a cure.”
Registration for FAAN’s Walk for Food Allergy is online at www.foodallergywalk.org. The walks will be held in the following cities in 2007: Indianapolis (Aug. 18), Houston (Sept. 8), Denver (Sept. 9), San Francisco (Sept. 15), Chicago (Sept. 15), Milford, Mich. (Sept. 29), Boston (Sept. 29), Shawnee Mission, Kans. (Sept. 29), Baltimore, Oct. 6), San Diego (Oct. 7), East Meadow, N.Y. (Oct. 7), Spokane, Wash./Coeur D’Alene, Idaho (Oct. 13), Ridgewood, N.J. (Oct. 14), Dallas (Oct. 20), Atlanta (Oct. 27), Doylestown, Penn. (Oct. 28), Charlotte, N.C. (Nov. 3), Bloomington, Minn. (Nov. 4), Tempe, Ariz. (Dec. 2). In addition, a virtual walk will be held online on Dec. 8.
Trace Adkins fundraising bears are available for sale at www.foodallergy.org or by calling (800) 929-4040, with all proceeds going to FAAN.
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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