A special thank you goes out The Buffalo News and Reporter, Charity Vogel, for their (her) continued support and providing us with the ability to reach the entire community.

We are grateful for the great variety of information captured by the survey and excited to convey them to you below:  

• 133 respondents completed the survey as of April 30^th, 2010. The allergies ranked in this order: 

• 76%        Peanuts
• 65%        Tree Nuts
• 47%        Egg
• 37%        Milk
• 15%        Shellfish
• 14%        Soy
• 12%        Wheat
• 8%          Fish

• A large proportion of the families are dealing with multiple food allergies, presenting serious nutritional concerns.

• According to the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network, “food allergies are on the rise. The incidence of food allergy is highest in young children – one in 17 among those under age 3.”  The ages, of the respondents or minors suffering from Food Allergies according to this survey, range from 15 months old to 36 years with:
  • 3%          Under 2 years of age
  • 26%        Between 2 and 3 years of age
  • 18%        Between 4 and 5 years of age
  • 34%        Between 6 and 9 years of age
  • 16%        Between 10 and 15 years of age
  • 2%          Between 16 and 21 years of age
  • 2%          Greater than 22 years of age

• The great majority of food allergic patients suffer from environmental and pet allergies

• Food allergies presented in similar ways to many families;
  • Eczema
  • Hives
  • Swelling
  • Diarrhea
  • Itching
  • Rashes
  • Vomiting

• In babies under one year of age, many families experienced additional symptoms:
  • Oozing eyes
  • Puss
  • Low weight gain
  • Colic
  • Spit up more similar to vomit
  • Blood in stool
  • Labored breathing

• An overwhelming and upsetting 34% of respondents have suffered anaphylaxis, 14% greater than once, with one respondent greater than 10 times!
  • Most often exposure to milk caused the anaphylactic reaction, with peanuts causing the second greatest amount of anaphylactic reactions in the sample
  • Further concerns have arisen as to the permanent, long term effects on the body

• On a more positive note the majority of siblings do not tend to suffer from food allergies. Of those that do, milk and peanuts are the most prevalent.

• Regarding outgrowing allergies, further research needs to be conducted. However, it seems the chance of outgrowing at least one food allergy increases if a child suffers from a number of food allergies

• On the topic of physicians;
  • Most parents reported receiving limited or no support from their allergist. Most of the concern arises from the allergist’s ability to “hand them a few sheets of paper, script for blood work and an Epi Pen and sent on my way.” Through this survey process we hope to correct this issue.
  • Pediatricians seem to lack the ability to spot the warning signs of food allergies: eczema, vomiting, hives, failure to thrive, etc. They are supportive to the families, but lack knowledge of food allergies.

• The Day Care/Pre School question has expanded to include school, based upon the overwhelming outpouring of information presented in the responses.
  • The majority of parents are concerned for their child’s safety. They also commented, schools lack the proper training to manage the allergies to the parents’ comfort level.
  • Many parents have chosen to send their children to peanut free daycares/pre-schools and are extremely concerned for Kindergarten and beyond.

• Public awareness needs significant improvement, 85% of respondents agree and 93% feel NYS and Erie County are not providing the proper support.

• If services were made available to Food Allergy Families, 93% are interested and 79% would like someone to provide assistance in their home.

• The major concerns expressed by Food Allergy Families:

1. School
2. Safety
3. Ostracism/Normal Life
4. Education/Awareness/Understanding
5. Proper Nutrition
6. Restaurants
7. Food Labeling/Safe Products
8. Definitive Answers
9. Cross-Contamination

We gathered a great deal of information from this survey. We hope you will continue to help us! Many further questions have arisen from the results!

Enjoy FA Awareness Week!

Thank you to everyone who supported us through posters, emails, articles, word of mouth, and to those of you who completed the survey!

Best wishes,

Chris Popek

Food Allergy Support Services

http://www.allerrific.com/

 I recently received an email from Kids With Food Allergies with a link to several of them: http://www.kidswithfoodallergies.org/resourcespre.php?id=121&title=new_allergy-friendly_food_products_fall_2008

I am publishing this list prior to adding all the web addresses, because it’s a long list & I’m sure with the holidays already upon us, it will come in handy!!!!

• Vermont Nut Free
• Divvies
• Clabber Girl
• Whey Out Chocolate
• Meraby
• Cookies for Me
• Peanut Free Planet
• Amanda’s Own
• Ian’s Natural Foods
• Simple Food
• Enjoy Life
• Vinta
• Ok Brownie
• French Meadow
• Allergaroo
• Bobo Kids
• Ener-G
• Pamela’s Simplebites
• Sharkies Inc.
• Yummy Earth
• St. Clairs
• Crispy Green
• Just Tomatoes
• Good Health Natural Foods
• Heartland’s Finest
• 123 Gluten Free
• French Meadow
• Newman’s Own
• Pure Fun
• S Better Farms
• Gillian’s Foods http://glutenfreegilliansfoods.com
• Philly Swirl Ice Cream Company
• Lucy’s www.drlucys.com (find us at Starbucks!)

Costanzo’s can’t guarantee eggless, but peanutless.

With Easter around the corner, Federal Meats at the Southgate is great with accommodating customers with food allergies.  They will cut the meat in the back, pack it back up and set it aside for so that it doesn’t even go near the case.  They have mayo based prepared foods in their case and could potentially contaminate the meat you are looking to buy.

FEBRUARY 15, 2010

7PM-9PM, FORESTVIEW RESTAURANT

LANCASTER NEW YORK

MEETING MINUTES

• MEMBERS IN ATTENDANCE AND RESPECTIVE FOOD ALLERGIES

*indicates new member

• Updates from Group Leaders

1)    Chelsea —passed out Ground Rules for our group; reviewed them with all

2)    Tracy—not in attendance but sent a note asking about whether anyone knew a contact for a website

3)    Kim —announced that Dr. Rockoff has agreed to be our Medical Advisor J

• Topic of Discussion—FAAN Walk

Discussion lead by guest, Marie —walk is scheduled for Saturday, August 14^th, 12pm-2pm at Delaware Park.  FAAN will be sending “save the date” postcards.  There are sponsorship levels available.  Marie needs about 20 volunteers and will email our group officers more information.  The goal is to increase the number of walkers and sponsors this year.

• Other Issues Discussed:

1)    Need for presentations to the local schools regarding food allergy issues; Rosanna  indicated that our group is working on the presentations from FAAN and will have them ready soon for use

2)    Dining out with food allergies—members shared experiences and ideas

3)    Professional sport outings—discussed going to a Bisons and Sabres game with an allergic child.

• Meeting closed with “Positive Experiences”

Next meeting:          Monday, March 15, 2010 at 7pm

                                    2314 Wehrle Drive, Williamsville, NY 14221

                                    716.634.1010

While CDC-INFO is unable to locate food allergy statistics by region, you may find the following resources helpful.

The National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) is a cross-sectional household interview survey, maintained by the CDCs National Center for Health Statistics. The NHIS monitors the health of the United States population through the collection and analysis of data on a broad range of health topics.  Please see the website below:
www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhis.htm

CDC’s Division of Adolescent and School Health maintain a website regarding food allergies:

Food Allergies
http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/foodallergies/

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) is the nations principal supporter of food allergy research.  You may wish to contact them for further information:
http://www3.niaid.nih.gov/topics/foodAllergy/

Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Information about Food Allergens
http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/wh-alrgy.html

You may also wish to contact your local or state health department for further state specific statistics.  Please visit the following online directory to search for your health department:
http://www.statepublichealth.org/index.php?template=directory.php

Links provided to non-Federal organizations are provided solely as a service to our users. These links do not constitute an endorsement of these organizations or their programs by CDC or the Federal Government, and none should be inferred. The CDC is not responsible for the content of the individual organization web pages found at these links. 

Thank you for contacting CDC-INFO Contact Center.  Please do not hesitate to call 1-800-CDC-INFO, e-mail cdcinfo@cdc.gov, or visit www.cdc.gov if you have any additional questions.

CDC-INFO is a service of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR). This service is provided by Vangent, Inc. under contract to CDC and ATSDR.

http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/foodallergies/publications.htm

http://www.fda.gov/Food/ResourcesForYou/Consumers/ucm079311.htm

 
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