Check out our impact in 2023 and discover how your donations are sparking change in 2024 and beyond! You are Canada’s food allergy future, learn how you can support our initiatives this year and years to come. Take our webinar survey and tell us what topics you want to hear more about this year and register for our winter session of Allergy Pals/Allies online mentorship for youth aged 7-15. Learn about a voluntary recall on infant formula, which impacts infants with cow’s milk protein allergy (CMPA) and discover Halton Healthcare’s innovative meal tray program. Find out about our 2024 community awards and how you can apply. Plus, read some helpful resolution tips to build confidence in the new year.
2023 year in review – Thank you for your support!
2023 was a busy year of providing educational and support programming and being your voice at the table with our advocacy initiatives. Take a look at our 2023 impact in numbers and read about some of our key accomplishments and the positive impacts made with your support.
Plus find out how you can support our initiatives in 2024 and beyond. Donate now, we can’t do our important work without your support.
2023 accomplishments
Empowering Canadians to know when and how to treat anaphylaxis
Since reactions can happen despite best efforts, it’s important to recognize the symptoms of anaphylaxis and know how to treat it. Prompt use of epinephrine to treat anaphylaxis improves health outcomes, yet only 1-in-5 children and less than 1-in-10 adults use it before they go to the hospital.
With our Know it. Treat it. campaign and your submitted stories, webinars, new videos on food allergy and anaphylaxis, and educational content on anaphylaxis management, we’ve helped instill confidence and knowledge in Canadians across the country. Plus, with our national campaign during Food Allergy Awareness Month in May, we helped to ensure all Canadians know how to recognize and treat anaphylaxis with over 96 million views!
2024 and beyond: Continue empowering Canadians and building confidence through awareness campaigns, educational tools and resources, and with our Know it. Treat it. campaign so every Canadian knows how to recognize anaphylaxis and how to treat it promptly with epinephrine.
Advocacy in action and being your voice at the table to improve quality of life
We’re continuing with our long-term advocacy efforts with food manufacturers focused on making “may contain” meaningful. Work with the foodservice sector has started where we are representing the community to make food allergy a priority, ensuring Canadians have access to accurate ingredient information. We aided in PEI gaining access to their first allergist, participated in six government consultations, and campaigned to have affordable specialized infant formulas.
2024 and beyond: We will be your voice at the table on matters that are important to you and your family. Our initiatives for clearer food labels with food manufacturing and our collaborations with industry, government, and other key stakeholders will continue. We will also help to make food allergy a priority with foodservice and advocate for greater clarity and transparency on ingredient information, regardless of where food is sold. We will focus on increasing access to proper diagnosis and treatments/therapies, giving Canadians options on how to manage.
Ensuring Canadians have a reliable source for information and guidance right from diagnosis and through life transitions
We have increased the confidence on managing food allergy in over 50,800 families, youth, and adults by empowering them through our webinars with medical experts, and with new content-rich resources. In 2023, we translated our care guide, a key resource for newly diagnosed families, to Punjabi, Simplified Chinese, and Traditional Chinese providing support to families in immigrant and vulnerable populations.
2024 and beyond: Providing Canadians with robust educational programming, resources, and support – particularly during critical life stages like when newly diagnosed, starting school, leaving home and more. We will also continue to expand the translations of our care guide into Arabic, Ukrainian, Tagalog, Spanish, and Indigenous languages.
Increased empathy and support so this medical condition is taken seriously, and people know how to support those impacted
In 2023, we launched a curriculum-linked student program so communities across Canada become knowledgeable and inclusive.
Our Halloween campaign #ShineATealLight has helped to bring awareness of food allergy and ensure holidays like Halloween are inclusive for all kids with over 100 million views across Canada.
We ensured schools are kept safe with over 250,000 AllergyAware.ca course completions since launch, ensuring teachers, school staff, and others are educated on food allergy and anaphylaxis.
We educated over 22,000 healthcare professionals on food allergy and anaphylaxis management through our direct mail and email efforts and conferences – ensuring patients, particularly in rural and remote regions, are better supported.
2024 and beyond: Promote our student program to educate communities on the seriousness of food allergy, increasing empathy and support and normalizing the condition. We will also educate and drive awareness across the country with targeted campaigns and through conferences.
Learn more about our key accomplishments in our 2023 impact in numbers and donate today.
Discover how donations from the community helped us make an impact in our 2023 impact in numbers illustration. You are Canada’s #FoodAllergyFuture, donate today and help make a difference in 2024 and years to come.
Survey: Tell us which topics you want featured in our webinar series
We want to know what food allergy-related topics you are most interested in learning more about this year. Your feedback will help inform our 2024 educational webinar programming priorities.
Are you interested in learning about the future outlook of therapies, how about oral allergy syndrome/pollen food allergy syndrome, or how to gain more control of your food allergy in terms of the role of treatment, diagnostic testing, and being able to assess risk? Do you want more information about anaphylaxis and why epinephrine is first-line treatment?
We want to know what topic is most important for you and your family regarding food allergy, let us know! Plus, you have the opportunity to include topics that are of most interest to you if you don’t see them on our list.
Your feedback is instrumental in helping us serve you better! Please take a few minutes to complete our short survey.
Register now: Allergy Pals/Allies – winter sessions start soon
The free 8-week online mentorship program will begin on January 28! Sign up your 7-15-year-old now, so they don’t miss out on an amazing experience connecting with other children with food allergy.
These online sessions are fun, engaging and have received outstanding feedback from previous participants. Learn more about this amazing program and the important impact it has on participants and their families.
Applications are open for our community awards
Enter to win or nominate others for our awards! Learn more about them below and discover last year’s inspiring winners. Apply early and please share with others who may be eligible. All applications close April 1, 2024.
Robyn Allen Leadership Award
For an individual who has exemplified extraordinary leadership and dedication in the advancement of food allergy awareness and education.
Sabrina Shannon Memorial Award
For students entering their first year or continuing their studies at a post-secondary institution. Students can apply for a chance to receive one of two awards valued at $1,000 each. Applicants do not need to have food allergy to be eligible for the award.
Meet our 2023 winners, Benjamin Cruickshank and Christian Kennedy.
Allergy Alert: Voluntary recall of Nutramigen infant formula
Reckitt/Mead Johnson Nutrition has voluntarily recalled from the Canadian market a single batch of Nutramigen A+ with LGG hypoallergenic infant formula, which may be used for babies with cow’s milk protein allergy.
The recalled product batch code is ZL3FVY (561g can) with a UPC code of 056796904985 (4-Pack case) 056796004982 (Can UPC) and “Use By Date” of “01-JA-2025”. You can check the bottom of the can to identify whether you have a product with an affected batch number.
The recall is due to a possibility of bacterial contamination. Although this is not an allergen-related recall, we wanted to ensure those in the community who may be using the product are aware of the information.
No other Canadian distributed Nutramigen batches or other Reckitt products are impacted.
If you have purchased this product and have the impacted batch code, you can contact Enfamil Canada for a refund.
Learn more about the recall at enfamil.ca, or contact 1 866 534-9986 or consumer.relations@reckitt.com.
This safety update is a part of our Allergy Alerts service, which includes food recalls, allergen changes from food manufacturers, labelling updates, and more. You can count on our Allergy Alerts service to ensure you are kept informed on food safety issues that impact you.
#FoodAllergyChampions: Halton Healthcare’s meal tray delivery program supports patients with food allergy
Halton Healthcare’s “Tray in Motion” program streamlines meal distribution across its three Ontario hospital sites and utilizes positive patient identification to ensure optimal health and avoid errors with patient meal tray delivery. Helping to support good hospital nutrition and patient safety, it has recently been recognized as a leading practice by the Health Standards Organization.
“From a patient safety and quality perspective, meals must be prepared very carefully according to each individual’s needs,” said Marianne Katusin, Director, Support Services, Halton Healthcare. “This includes diet orders noting any restrictions, food allergies, and needs regarding the texture of food. In our busy hospitals we need to provide an efficient and timely food distribution system that ensures each patient gets the right meal to avoid adverse food reactions.”
The automated system works as follows: When a patient’s diet order is received, a meal ticket is printed with the specific menu items and a unique bar code. When the meal is ready for delivery, a foodservice team member uses an iPod to scan the barcode on the meal ticket and the patient’s wristband. Scanning the wristband provides a form of patient identification to confirm the tray is delivered to the correct patient with the right diet.
Halton Healthcare’s innovative program emphasizes nutrition and safety to support all patients. If you or a member of your family has food allergy and are staying in a hospital, be sure to tell the hospital staff of your food allergy.
We encourage you and everyone within the food allergy community to help create awareness of Halton Healthcare’s program to your local hospitals. With your voice, you can help drive change.
New year’s resolutions for 2024
The new year is here, and we want to help you and your family realize your goals for 2024 when it comes to food allergy management. Whether you want to refresh your skills, learn and exercise new practices, or help others gain food allergy knowledge, check out our resources below to help you manage the year with confidence!
Learn the science behind the condition and what happens to your body. These videos teach you why it’s so important to use epinephrine promptly to treat anaphylaxis.
Now available in multiple languages, this care guide is a key resource in understanding the basics in managing food allergy.
Refresh your knowledge and share our helpful sheets so everyone can identify the signs and symptoms of anaphylaxis and know how to treat it.
Do you know how to do the triple check? Learn more about reading ingredient labels.
Sign-up now for our Allergy Alerts safety service, which includes food recalls, allergen changes, labelling updates, and more.
You can count on our Allergy Alerts service to ensure you are kept informed on food safety issues that impact you.
Tags: advocacy, Allergy Alert, Allergy Pals, Anaphylaxis, Awards, education, Food allergy champion, impact in numbers, webinar