Are Food Allergies Serious and Legal Issues?Catherine J. Frompovich Add to those statistics that more than 200,000 hospital emergency room visits a year result from food allergy reactions. [3] So, allergic reactions to food have now become a serious public health hazard statistically, one could say. However, the folks at Judicial Watch dont seem to think so! They contend that the U.S. Department of Justices action of strong arming Leslie University in Massachusetts to change its cafeteria menu and meal plans to accommodate students with gluten allergies is an outrageous move by the Departments bloated civil rights division. [4] Well, lets consider what some of the more common food allergic reactions can be: Foods that cause the most reactionsapproximately 90 percentinclude peanuts, tree nuts, wheat, milk/dairy, eggs, soy, shellfish, fishand any edible containing them as ingredients. The only known treatment for food allergies is total avoidance. So why would Judicial Watch think that the Dept. of Justices accusing the school of violating Title III of the Americans with Disability Act (ADA) amounts to an overreach of interpreting the law? Well, Food allergies may constitute a disability under the ADA, according to the settlement between the college and the feds. Individuals with food allergies may have an autoimmune response to certain foods, the symptoms of which may include difficulty swallowing and breathing, asthma and anaphylaxis. [5] The DOJ claimed that Leslie University did not supply enough gluten-free food so students could eat gluten-free and/or enjoy eating with classmates. Allergy-free eating is a serious issue that should be leveled against all schools, colleges, and universities, since gluten intolerance is becoming pandemic, it would seem. Perhaps, culinary arts courses at every level of education and certification ought to have a semester steeped in preparing gluten-free foods and learning how to substitute high allergy ingredients in recipes as part of any professional chef training and certification curriculum. Concern is growing that a trend will be in the offing to make more gluten-free foods available in restaurants and other places that serve food. Thats not a bad idea, frankly. Also, I think it may be a blessing in disguise for getting the public, in general, to have a better and healthier selection of food to eat, especially in fast food restaurants. Supermarkets caught on and now have gluten-free sections. As per the DOJ Press Release on the matter, Under the settlement, Lesley University agrees to amend its policies and practices to: Continually provide ready-made hot and cold gluten- and allergen-free food options in its dining hall food lines; Develop individualized meal plans for students with food allergies, and allow those students to pre-order allergen free meals, that can be made available at the universitys dining halls in Cambridge and Boston; Provide a dedicated space in its main dining hall to store and prepare gluten-free and allergen-free foods and to avoid cross-contamination; Enable students to request food made without allergens, and ensure that a supply of allergen-free food is available; Work to retain vendors that accept students prepaid meal cards that offer food without allergens; Display notices concerning food allergies and identify foods containing specific allergens; Train food service and University staff about food allergy related issues; Pay $50,000 in compensatory damages to previously identified students who have celiac disease or other food allergies. [6] Moving along that continuum, how will the DOJ deal with those folks who suffer allergic reactions to genetically modified foods and foods made with them? I know of some folks who blow up to the size of a six-month pregnancy after eating GMO canola oil. That, alone, should be a prime reason for GMO food labeling, in my opinion. Attorneys ought to be looking at launching class action law suits based upon violating Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act. If it works for gluten issues, it should work for GMO issues. Or, is that why Monsanto sought what was known as The Monsanto Protection Act that Senator Jon Tester of Montana is being lauded for ending a law that ordered the U.S. Department of Agriculture to ignore judicial bans on genetically modified crops.[7] A similar dispensation is what the vaccine makers got from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Congress, and Monsanto obviously coveted that legal protection status. Personally, I think the DOJs interpretation about food allergies is correct. If food allergies are considered a disability, then people suffering with Multiple Chemical Sensitivities (MCS) need to be treated ethically by society, including the medical profession and the law. Anywhere between 12.6 and 33 percent of U.S. citizens in the 1990s [8] suffered with MCS. It is now 2013 and who knows what the percentage is. For those who need an understanding of what MCS is, please see this. This website provides super-important information regarding MCS housing issues. With all the chemicals humans are bombarded with daily, especially since infants now are mandated to be injected with toxins starting at birth (Hepatitis B vaccine), and then at 2, 4, and 6-month well-baby visits with additional numerous neurotoxic multi-valent vaccines and vaccinations, the human immune system is experiencing catastrophic meltdown. Those glitches are manifesting as chronic diseases and allergies because whats being impacted is the immune system triggering responses to a wider range of agents such as foods, just not certain diseases, and is placed in a constant immune response triggering state due to immunologic adjuvants in vaccines. To understand more about immunity, please read Wikipedias Immune System. More and more allergies will become evident, all while modern medicine continues with its petrochemical and neurotoxic paradigm of health and healing. Our bodies are telling them we cannot tolerate toxins. Our childrens health is getting worse with chronic diseases at earlier ages and infant death categories such as Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, i.e., SIDS. The time has come to re-evaluate health, especially the healing paradigm that seems to be very flawed when it comes to injecting toxins/poisons into the body to prevent illnesses, especially in newborns, infants, and toddlers under the guise of prevention or prophylaxis. What do you think Hippocrates, who said, first do no harm [9] would say? Notes: [1] http://www.foodallergy.org/facts-and-stats [2] Ibid. [3] Ibid. [4] http://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2013/10/doj-forces-college-menu-change-food-allergy-is-a-disability/ [5] Ibid. [6] http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2012/December/12-crt-1538.html [7] http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/montana/tester-gets-kudos-for-eliminating-monsanto-protection-act/article_99daf25f-261d-52e0-a384-f41d23ce8d0a.html [8] http://www.mcsresearch.net/journalpapers/sicknessrelateddysfunction.pdf [9] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primum_non_nocere Catherine J Frompovich (website) is a retired natural nutritionist who earned advanced degrees in Nutrition and Holistic Health Sciences, Certification in Orthomolecular Theory and Practice plus Paralegal Studies.Her work has been published in national and airline magazines since the early 1980s. Catherine authored numerous books on health issues along with co-authoring papers and monographs with physicians, nurses, and holistic healthcare professionals. She has been a consumer healthcare researcher 35 years and counting. Catherines latest book,published October 4, 2013, is Vaccination Voodoo, What YOU Dont Know About Vaccines, available on Amazon.com. Her 2012 bookA Cancer Answer, Holistic BREAST Cancer Management, A Guide to Effective Non-Toxic Treatments, is available on Amazon.com and as a Kindle eBook. Two of Catherines more recent books on Amazon.com are Our Chemical Lives And The Hijacking Of Our DNA, A Probe Into Whats Probably Making Us Sick (2009) and Lord, How Can I Make It Through Grieving My Loss, An Inspirational Guide Through the Grieving Process(2008). 