In October 2009, at the beginning of the academic school year, the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN) launched the FAAN College Network. I confess that this announcement slipped under our news radar, but now that we have heard about it, we thought it was our turn to help spread the word ... particularly as we are heading into the spring, a time when many students are deciding on colleges to attend.

The FAAN College Network is a searchable database with information on who to contact to get answers to your questions about managing food allergies on campus. The database includes College Representatives and Student Ambassadors, who are students already attending school.

Though the number of participating schools in the database is still modest (over 40 to date was the last we heard), it will surely grow with time. Plus, in many cases, the participating schools are truly going the extra mile ...

Boston University has dedicated a page on its Dining Services website to food allergy information, while Brown University has gone so far as to open allergy-free kitchens with made-to-order meals (gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free) prepared by specially-trained cooks.

The FAAN College Network website and database is free and easy to use, and their is also information on how to become a Student Ambassador and how college representatives can register their colleges with the network.