Food Allergy Battle Becoming Less Of A Solitary Campaign

By George Berkheimer, STAFF WRITER



Long accustomed to going it alone, parents of food allergic children are starting to see some indications that the rest of the world is taking the growing medical problem more seriously. The reactions of a small but noteworthy handful of venues ranging from professional sports stadiums to a popular national resort indicate how widespread the incidence has become. Some of these venues have significantly changed the way they do business, while others have made at least an exploratory effort to accommodate food-allergic patrons.

More recently, a small cadre of celebrities and influential figures has boosted the ability of the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN) of Fairfax, Va., to educate mainstream America about the realities of the disease.

Founded 16 years ago, FAAN's mission is to educate the public and advance scientific research aimed at increasing the tolerance of allergic individuals or finding an outright cure. Eight major food allergens - milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, wheat, soy, fish and shellfish - account for 90% of all food-allergic reactions in the United States.

Although its membership stands at only 30,000 worldwide, FAAN has evolved into a strong advocate for food-allergic individuals. Its achievements include the Food Allergy Labeling and Consumer Protection Act of 2006, which mandates plain-language labeling of products containing allergens in the United States.

FAAN also has helped establish guidelines for food allergy management and treatment in schools and camps throughout the nation, and has gained increased ac-cess to epinephrine for emergency medical technicians in all but four states. Epineph-rine is the only drug that can effectively halt a life-threatening anaphylactic reaction in an allergic individual.



The Disney Example

Frank Yiannas, director of health and food safety for The Walt Disney World Re-sort, was appointed chairman of the FAAN board of directors in December. A recog-nized leader in the retail food service arena, he is responsible for food safety oversight of Disney's theme parks, resorts and cruise ships, as well as hundreds of food locations and food suppliers.

According to FAAN founder and CEO Anne Munoz-Furlong, thousands of families feel safe taking their children on vacation to Disney venues because of the "world class" allergy program Yiannas helped build.

"Our advice to the restaurant industry operators who tell us they can't manage food allergy customers is, 'If Disney can do it, so can you,'" she said.

That's not an overstatement, Yiannas agreed.

"With the diversity of food and beverage operations that we manage ... I think it demonstrates that many different types of ... establishments can make attempts to accommodate special dietary requests due to food allergies," he said.

Yiannis cited Disney's reservation tracking system, which notes food allergies when a guest reserves a table, as one of the company's best practices that augment customer safety, although he acknowledged that a one-size-fits-all solution simply doesn't exist.

In his role as chair and as a member of FAAN's Food Allergy Advisory Council, Yiannas said he now plans to "continue to look for ways to collaborate with other industry leaders to advance food allergy awareness through the development of industry-wide best practices such as standardized posters, food allergy symbols and educational tools."



Celebrity Influence

Television reality show fans know that country music star Trace Adkins is a par-ticipant on Donald Trump's "The Celebrity Apprentice" series currently airing on NBC. What they may not yet know is that Adkins, who has a daughter with severe food aller-gies, has been a FAAN spokesman for several years and is competing to raise money and awareness for the organization.

"I don't think many people are aware that so many children are developing food allergies these days," the Grand Ole Opry member said in a release. "Something we're doing has to be causing this, and we've got to figure out what it is."

In the meantime, other notable names and faces have discovered how to use their identities to support FAAN.

Mike Gilbert, a Spec E36 Class racecar driver with the BMW Car Club of America, competed in races up and down the East Coast as part of his RaceFAAN fund-raising program in 2007. Along the way, the Massachusetts resident invited food allergic children to attend the races and make voluntary donations to experience a parade lap.

Although he was nearly overwhelmed with the logistics of making all of the arrangements for vendors, raffle prizes and educational literature on his own, the demands of advocacy didn't keep Gilbert off his game. "I reached my goal of raising $10,000 and also managed to win the national championship in my class," he observed.

"Celebrated television Chef Ming Tsai worked on legislation in Massachusetts designed to make restaurants safer for food allergic patrons," Munoz-Furlong pointed out, while NFL football player Mike Vrabel of the New England Patriots served as hon-orary chair for a FAAN fund raiser walk in Boston, as did national radio personality Clark Howard for another walk held in Atlanta.

At the inaugural Greater D.C./Baltimore Walk for Food Allergies held in Columbia last October, Maryland Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown and Howard County Executive Ken Ulman served as honorary co-chairs. The event raised more than $128,000 for FAAN, helping it meet a 2007 goal of $2 million to be used for research programs focused on the key areas of epidemiology, causes, treatment and prevention of food allergy and anaphylaxis.

"I know how scary allergies can be," said Ulman, who acknowledged that he was rushed to urgent care on at least one occasion as a child for his own allergy- and asthma-related health concerns.



No Limits

Increasingly, professional sports organizations are experimenting with ideas to accommodate food-allergic fans.

In the local area, the Bowie Baysox baseball team is no exception. For the past two years, officials for the Baltimore Orioles Class AA affiliate have set aside special nights and special sections for food allergic fans, arranging to have the sections specially cleaned, hiring extra ushers to ensure peanuts are not brought into the sections and keeping a crew of medical personnel on hand in case of emergencies.

This year the National Hockey League's Washington Capitals followed suit, reserving an entire section for FAAN members to see the Jan. 11 game against the Phila-delphia Flyers at Verizon Center. The section sold out quickly, and team Spokesman Nate Ewell said the successful trial run would likely prompt the team to continue the practice on a sporadic basis.

Children attending the event received a bonus surprise visit from Caps defense-man Tom Poti following the game. Poti, who also happens to be a FAAN member with multiple food allergies, gave them a pep talk and a few pointers on how to stay safe when eating in restaurants.

"I tell kids not to let food allergies become a crutch," said Poti, who helped the United States hockey team win a silver medal in the 2002 Winter Olympic Games. "I'm proof that food allergies are not limiting. You can still do things you enjoy and become whatever you want to be. There are usually ways around it, you just have to figure them out."