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Peanut Allergy > Awareness and Advocacy
Awareness and Advocacy
Here at PeanutAllergy.com’s Awareness and Advocacy page we will report on legislation and other similar issues that are relavent to the health, well-being, and further education of peanut allergy sufferers and their loved ones.
Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act (FALCPA)
Enacted on January 1, 2006 the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act of 2004 (FALCPA) requires all packaged foods regulated under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFD&C Act) labeled after that date must comply with its food allergen labeling requirements. It includes both domestically manufactured and imported foods.
This act mandates that eight major food allergens be labeled in language that is easy to understand. This applies to peanuts and peanut products as well as milk, egg, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, wheat and soybeans.
Federal Benefits
In the US, children who suffer from food allergies that can be life-threatening, including peanut allergy, enjoy some benefits thanks to federal law because they are typically regarded as disabled under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) as well as the Rehabilitation Act (S. 504).
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
ADA says, “A customer with a food allergy may ask a restaurant if it is possible to omit a sauce or ingredient from a dish he or she wishes to order. When it is easy to do, the request should be honored.” However, the ADA protects restaurants from having to make so-called “fundamental alterations”, meaning changes in their food, products, or services that are sufficiently significant to alter the nature of the product they offer. Therefore, it is reasonable to ask for peanut products to be removed from certain dishes, but a restaurant does not have to comply with a request for a special dish that has no such products and is not remotely part of their menu. The ADA only requires them to make “reasonable modifications.”
Rehabilitation Act
Sec. 504 of the Rebilitation Act begins by stating: “No otherwise qualified individual with a disability in the United States, as defined in section 7(20), shall, solely by reason of her or his disability, be excluded from the participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance or under any program or activity conducted by any Executive agency or by the United States Postal Service.”
For more information, please visit the US Department of Education
U.S. State Laws
At least 37 US states have laws that allow children to carry prescribed epinephrine to school with them (the list is below). If your state is not among this list, contact your local representative or assembly person and ask what can be done to change the laws and allow your child to bring prescribed epinephrine to school.
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Delaware
Florida
Hawaii
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oregon
Rhode Island
South Carolina
Tennessee
Texas
Virginia
Washington State
Washington, DC
West Virginia
Wyoming
Peanut Allergy Resources
Awareness and Advocacy
Here at PeanutAllergy.com’s Awareness and Advocacy page we will report on legislation and other similar issues that are relavent to the health, well-being, and further education of peanut allergy sufferers and their loved ones.
Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act (FALCPA)
Enacted on January 1, 2006 the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act of 2004 (FALCPA) requires all packaged foods regulated under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFD&C Act) labeled after that date must comply with its food allergen labeling requirements. It includes both domestically manufactured and imported foods.
This act mandates that eight major food allergens be labeled in language that is easy to understand. This applies to peanuts and peanut products as well as milk, egg, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, wheat and soybeans.
Federal Benefits
In the US, children who suffer from food allergies that can be life-threatening, including peanut allergy, enjoy some benefits thanks to federal law because they are typically regarded as disabled under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) as well as the Rehabilitation Act (S. 504).
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
ADA says, “A customer with a food allergy may ask a restaurant if it is possible to omit a sauce or ingredient from a dish he or she wishes to order. When it is easy to do, the request should be honored.” However, the ADA protects restaurants from having to make so-called “fundamental alterations”, meaning changes in their food, products, or services that are sufficiently significant to alter the nature of the product they offer. Therefore, it is reasonable to ask for peanut products to be removed from certain dishes, but a restaurant does not have to comply with a request for a special dish that has no such products and is not remotely part of their menu. The ADA only requires them to make “reasonable modifications.”
Rehabilitation Act
Sec. 504 of the Rebilitation Act begins by stating: “No otherwise qualified individual with a disability in the United States, as defined in section 7(20), shall, solely by reason of her or his disability, be excluded from the participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance or under any program or activity conducted by any Executive agency or by the United States Postal Service.”
For more information, please visit the US Department of Education
U.S. State Laws
At least 37 US states have laws that allow children to carry prescribed epinephrine to school with them (the list is below). If your state is not among this list, contact your local representative or assembly person and ask what can be done to change the laws and allow your child to bring prescribed epinephrine to school.
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Delaware
Florida
Hawaii
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oregon
Rhode Island
South Carolina
Tennessee
Texas
Virginia
Washington State
Washington, DC
West Virginia
Wyoming
Peanut Allergy Resources
Peanut Allergy Resources
