May 2012 – The two powerhouses of food allergy awareness and research are planning to join forces. Earlier this month, the Food Allergy Initiative (FAI) and the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN) announced their intent to merge, pending regulatory approvals.
The merger appears to be a perfect marriage – blending FAAN’s expertise in spreading awareness via publicized information, resources, and special food allergy programs and FAI’s role as a major funding source for food allergy research. In a recent press release, representatives for FAAN stated that, “The unified organization will focus on funding research to find a cure, advocating for food-allergic people, increasing awareness about the severity and growing prevalence of food allergies, and educating the public and other key stakeholders about the disease and the urgent need for a cure.
Food allergies are finally gaining recognition in the mainstream, but awareness has unfortunately come with a cost. Studies show that one in every 13 children now live with a food allergy, and nearly 40 percent of those kids have already experienced a severe or life-threatening food-allergic reaction. Hopefully this expanded organization can help to identify some of the underlying causes behind the increasing prevelance of food allergies.
For more information on the two organizations, visit www.faiusa.org and www.foodallergy.org.
