Gateway FEAST recommends the following resources for our support group members who manage food allergies, asthma, or eczema. These widely respected organizations are good sources of information on the management of allergic conditions, offering basic educational resources for the newly diagnosed, as well as helpful day-to-day management tips, and allergy awareness materials.
Food Allergy Resources
Food Allergy Research and Education (FARE) is one of the leading food allergy advocacy organizations in the United States.
FARE offers a range of useful educational resources for families managing food allergies, including guides on how to avoid food allergens, information on how to read food labels for allergens, model allergy action plans, and information on how to recognize and treat anaphylaxis.
Gateway FEAST is a FARE recognized support group.
Food Allergy Anaphylaxis and Connection Team (FAACT) is a trusted food allergy advocacy organization that was founded by parents of children with life-threatening food allergies.
FAACT offers helpful food allergy resources including basic food allergy management tips for families, materials for schools on the management of food allergies in educational settings, and important information on the legal rights of people with food allergies.
Kids with Food Allergies (KFA) is a division of the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA), focused on offering practical advice and education on food allergy management to families of children with food allergies.
KFA shares information on avoiding food allergen exposure, reading food labels, and treating allergic anaphylaxis. The KFA website also features a an allergy-friendly recipe collection that is searchable by food allergen.
Gateway FEAST is an AAFA recognized support group.
Allergic Living is an online magazine dedicated to the subject of living with allergies. Allergic Living covers the latest in allergy related news, features perspectives from people with allergies, allergists, and allergy researchers.
Allergic Living also offers a great selection of free-from recipes for people with food allergies. Their allergy-friendly recipe collection is searchable by food allergen.
Allergy Eats is a crowd-sourced restaurant guide for people with food allergies, featuring allergy-friendliness ratings and reviews of restaurants nationwide. Users can search for or review restaurants on the Allergy Eats website, or on their mobile app.
Founded by the father of a child with multiple food allergies, Snack Safely maintains a frequently updated Safe Snack Guide, designed to help schools, camps, and childcare facilities find snacks that are free from common food allergens.
Snack Safely also partners with multiple food producers to create Allergence, an resource for detailed allergen information, including cross contact information, on 11 food allergens, for products from participating food makers.
In addition to the allergy-friendly food guides it offers, Snack Safely publishes a blog that offers food allergy management tips and discusses the latest in food allergy news.
Here are some important food allergy related resource documents from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
US CDC Voluntary Guidelines for Managing Food Allergies In Schools and Early Care and Education Programs
This guide covers CDC approved, expert recommended best practices for managing food allergies safely in school and child care settings. It’s a useful resource for administrators working to create safe and inclusive policies, for teachers and child care providers who work with children with food allergies, or for parents who want to work with staff in a school or child care setting to make sure that their children with food allergies are safe. This guide can be particularly helpful for both school staff and parents to consult when creating a 504 plan for a food allergic child in a public school setting.
US CDC Tips for Parents of Children and Adolescents with Food Allergies
This guide for parents of school age kids and teens with food allergies helps families assess whether a school environment has good food allergy management practices, and offers parents tips on how to communicate with their child, their child’s health care providers, and school staff about food allergies.
US CDC Food Allergy Management Toolkit for Teachers
This guide for teachers offers information on best practices for safe and inclusive food allergy management in a classroom setting.
US CDC Food Allergy Management Toolkit for School Administrators
This guide for school administrators is useful for creating policies that allow children with food allergies to attend schools safely and be safely and appropriately included in school activities.
US CDC Food Allergy Management Toolkit for School Nutrition Professionals
This guide for school nutrition professionals offers basic tips on how to handle allergens appropriately in a school food service setting, and how to provide safe food and/or a safe eating environment for students with food allergies.
US CDC Food Allergy Management Toolkit for School Transportation Staff
This guide for school transportation staff provides information on how to keep students with food allergies safe while they travel on school provided transportation.
US CDC Food Allergy Management Toolkit for School Mental Health Professionals
This guide for school mental health professionals offers tips on how to support the mental health of students with food allergies by addressing the emotional needs of students with food allergies and working together with students, parents, and school staff to prevent bullying, exclusion, and discrimination.
US CDC What Schools Need to Know Presentation
This is a PDF version of a slideshow presentation by the CDC that gives a quick overview of basic facts school administrators and staff should know about food allergies, plus information why the CDC food allergy management guidelines for schools were created and how they are helpful to schools.
Asthma Resources
The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA) is a not-for-profit organization that works to help improve the lives of people with asthma and allergies and their families through advocacy, education, and direct assistance.
The St. Louis Chapter of the Foundation, AAFA-STL, manages a local program, BREATH, that provides assistance to children and young adults with asthma who need help accessing life-saving asthma medications. AAFA-STL also works to ensure that local schools have access to stock emergency asthma medications for students.
Gateway FEAST is an AAFA recognized support group.
Allergy and Asthma Network (AAN) is a nonprofit patient education and advocacy organization. AAN offers education kits to doctors for use with newly diagnosed asthma patients, and publishes Allergy and Asthma Today magazine, which covers allergy and asthma related news and is available to healthcare providers and to AAN members. They also work to raise public awareness online by publishing easily shared, informative infographics about allergies and asthma.
The American Lung Association, as part of their mission to improve lung health, supports research on asthma prevention and treatment, supports legislative initiatives to improve air quality, and provides basic educational information on asthma management.
Eczema Resources
The National Eczema Association (NEA) is a nonprofit organization that works to improve the lives of people with eczema through research and education. Their website offers a plethora of eczema education materials including illustrated, step-by-step instructions for commonly recommended at-home eczema treatments like soak-and-seal baths and wet wrapping.
The NEA Seal of Acceptance program highlights skin care products and over-the-counter medications that are suitable for people with eczema according to the NEA’s standards.
The American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) offers a variety of educational information for parents of children with eczema on a section of their website called the Eczema Resource Center.
AAD also sponsors Camp Discovery, a no-cost camp option for children with chronic skin conditions, where children with severe eczema can participate in fun activities with medical support from doctors and nurses, and can spend time with other kids who manage similar health issues.
Recursos en español
Guía práctica de alergias alimentarias – FARE