Landmark Food Allergy Law Enacted In New Jersey

Main Category: Allergy
Also Included In: Nutrition / Diet;  Pediatrics / Children's Health;  Public Health
Article Date: 21 Mar 2007 - 0:00 PDT

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New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine has signed into law P.L.2007, c.57, a new law that calls on the New Jersey Department of Education to create food allergy management guidelines for schools, and calls on school districts to develop food allergy policies based on the Department of Education guidance.

The new law also clarifies the procedures by which students can carry prescribed epinephrine at school, as well as school staff members becoming trained to administer epinephrine when the school nurse is not immediately available.

"This critical new law will provide New Jersey parents and schools with sensible guidelines to help keep students with life-threatening food allergies safe while in school," explains Robert Pacenza, Executive Director of the Food Allergy Initiative. "Even a miniscule amount of a food a child is allergic to, if accidentally ingested, can cause a serious and potentially fatal reaction."

The Food Allergy Initiative's (FAI) year-long work on this legislation and its partnership with the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Coalition of New Jersey (FAACNJ), a group of parents with food allergic children, has led the way for the passage of P.L.2007, c.57.

FAI will be working over the coming months with the New Jersey Department of Education and FAACNJ to create the new food allergy management guidelines.

About FAI

The Food Allergy Initiative is a non-profit organization that supports research to find a cure for life-threatening food allergies, clinical activities to identify and treat those at risk, public policy to make the world safer for those afflicted, and educational programs to make the hospitality industry, schools, day care centers and camps safer.

The Food Allergy Initiative
http://www.foodallergyinitiative.org