When my foot hurts, I see my podiatrist. When my hay fever is peaking, I see my allergist. When I read something related to food allergies with a legal twist, I anxiously await to hear the thoughts from the Allergy Law Project. Today, Food Allergy Research and Education (FARE) shared, what I believe, is a fantastic must-read guest post, “The UK Restaurant Food Allergy Trial – Implications in the US”, by Mary Vargas, one of the masterminds behind the Allergy Law Project. Together, with fellow lawyers, Laurel Francouer, and Homa Woodrum, who are food allergy focused attorneys, help us regular everyday kind of people understand some of the legal stories or issues taking place in our world. I don’t want to give away details as the best impact and education is reading the short article online about how one restaurant owner was just sentenced to six years of jail time for the peanut allergy death of a customer, but…
As this trial unfolded, I was concerned about this food allergy restaurant story for several reasons:
- Did the owner knowingly not disclose ingredients for profit?
- Was Mr. Wilson’s death truly a tragic accident, or could it have been avoided?
- Can this happen here in the US? What role does the FDA Play?
- Can harming someone with an allergen be considered a criminal offense?
- Will restaurants here in the US panic and avoid serving individuals with food allergies?
- How much responsibility does the restaurant hold, the patron, and the server?
I have so many questions I could keep on typing. Then, after reading this well-written piece by Mary Vargas, I realized that this is exactly how our food allergy world rolls. There are no absolutes, there are no clear cut yes and no answers or solutions. Managing and living in this food allergy world requires time and effort for sufferers and those interacting with people who have life-threatening food allergies. One size still does not fit all and working together is our resolve.
At the end of the day, the need to continue educating ourselves and others regarding the serious nature of this disease. Within our own community, I’m stunned when I discover people who do not label read, carry epinephrine or have an emergency plan in place. Educating is simply needed.
Perhaps, if the restaurant owner truly believed food allergies were serious, a family would not be grieving today.
Disclaimer: Mary Vargas is a friend, a brilliant lawyer and just an amazingly wonderful human being who makes our world better. Yes, I am very biased and am thrilled to talk about her. I’m also a HUGE fan of FARE and their good work to educate and provide free and useful information, materials, kits, videos, etc. for our world. Yup, more bias over here. So, what I am saying is that I am very proud of Mary’s post and of FARE for giving her the platform to share her ideas and I am hoping you read and share the article too! I was not paid or asked to talk about this article-I just want to share!
One of the hardest things I find about managing both life threatening food allergies and asthma is talking to others. I hate to be the one that might be perceived as demanding, pushing or for asking too much. What I now know, fourteen years later, is that honest, clear information presented with kindness works!..