Any one heard of the "FOOD ALLERGEN LABELING BILL"

[mle_ii]

I was searching for gluten free candy and I came accross this page:
http://www.connceliac.com/candy.htm

Which led me here:
http://www.connceliac.com/newhaven.htm

Where I read the following:

DR. FASANO’S STUDY HELPED TO MAKE POSSIBLE THE PASSING OF THE "FOOD ALLERGEN LABELING BILL" WHICH WAS SIGNED INTO LAW BY PRESIDENT BUSH ON AUGUST, 2004 AND WILL BE IMPLEMENTED STARTING JANUARY 2006. THIS WILL IMPROVE THE LIVES OF CELIACS AND OTHERS WITH FOOD INTOLERANCES IMMESASURABLY!

Anyone heard of this bill? Where can I find more info?

From this statement it sounds like it could help us here a lot. :)

Thanks,
Mike

PS. See the power of candy!

[kate_ce1995]

It was talked about back on the old board some. I can't remember the specific details, but basically as of 06 they have to list I think its 5 common allergens if their food contains them (wheat, dairy, soy, nuts, ????I'm blanking)...you've probably seen these on some food packaging already at the end of the ingrediants list as many companies started well before the 06 deadline. I believe in 07 it goes up to 8? allergens including gluten. I find it very helpful already, even though wheat doesn't cover all gluten sources.

I'm sure others remember more.

Katy

[starfire]

I remember that discussion, Katy, but I can't remember the details either.

Mike, you could probably do a search on the "other board".

Love, Shirley

[Marsha]

Dear Mike,
Isn't that the Dr. Fasano that Carrie knows?

[Lucy]

Polly has communicated with Dr. Fasano, and apparently he's interested in us as well. He's at U.of Maryland, and is the one who did the big prevalence study for celiac disease -- much more common in the USA than most people had expected.

What's happening is that companies will now have to list the top most common allergen ingredients right there on the labels of their products. This is especially important as it will prevent deaths from anaphalactic shock in those with regular allergies. Also, it's hoped to prevent the many trips to the emergency room that highly allergic folks have to make, and thus save lots of $$.

Think there's a provision somewhere that gives exact specifications (sometime AFTER 2006 -- another year) as to how many parts per million of an allergen can be present and still qualify to declare a product gluten free. This should really help US as it will tell us more than just about the wheat gluten...barley, rye, oats, spelt.

Hope this makes sense..it's late. Yawn! Yours, Luce