NSW Primary Industries Minister Katrina Hodgkinson was exactly right when she recently said that society plays a vital role in managing food allergies.

There is a current movement by Australian food manufacturers and suppliers to increase the amount of gluten allowed in ‘gluten-free’ foods, essentially making them ‘gluten-low’ instead and if you’re a Coeliac disease sufferer or have related food allergies you take your chances. The most effective treatment for Coeliac and gluten sensitivity is the same as the treatment for food allergies-total avoidance of the offending substance.

The Australian Food and Grocery Council is asking Food Standards Australia New Zealand to ease its current standard, which states there must be no detectable gluten in foods labeled ”gluten-free” by raising it to contain up to 20 milligrams of gluten per kilogram, in line with British and European standards.

As one of the many concerned groups heading an initiative that deals on a daily basis with food allergy sufferers, as far as we can see, these proposed changes won’t assist sufferers in any way and if anything they will almost certainly compound the challenges faced with living with these medical conditions- in particular increasing the level of confusion over food labels.

Further studies on acceptable levels are urgently needed before any widespread or lasting changes are made to the current standards adhered to in Australia.

Manufacturing and testing costs are sited as primary driving factors for these proposed changes, but these are not acceptable health related reasons for the changes- in fact, as far as we can see other than monetary gain tied to many of those supporting these changes any change without further studies makes no sense.

With the increased amount of sufferers in our community it is imperative that we all share in the duty of care in assisting with the management of this medical conditions, particularly the food industry. It is paramount they accept their duty of care and start to place ‘health before wealth.’

‘Gluten-low but possibly still harmful’ does not equal ‘Gluten-free.’

Please share your thoughts. Thank You.

Today marks the first anniversary of the launch of our TRIGGER campaign.

What started out as a simple plan to make a film that was accessible to everyone in the hopes of raising awareness to help teachers- like my daughter’s kindergarten teacher (Mrs. E) who inspired the idea for the project – and families struggling to protect their children diagnosed with food allergies has put us on an awareness journey we could never imagined.

Launching TRIGGER, seeing the amazing response, experiencing some of the roadblocks has opened our eyes to the very real need to raise awareness and keep an honest, open dialogue going so we can all learn as much as possible.   Throughout this first year we have been blessed with many highs including acknowledgment via the World Allergy Organization, We were equally blessed and humbled to be acknowledge on the floor in the Australian Federal parliament. Thank you to Senator Fiona Nash and other politicians who recognized the importance of this project.

There were many other moments of support that gave us hope and inspired us to continue our efforts, We would like to thank every organisation who has helped us along the way including FREEDOM FOODS, The PTA (U.S), Early Childhood Australia, our friends in the media and the list goes on.

Finally, we would like to thank every single person who has helped us along the way- from our inner circle who go beyond the call of duty every day (Jo, BC, Malary, Monny, Angela, Vee ) to active parents/community members and of course – You, who are reading this now.

We want you to know that it is your likes, your emails and your passion that drives us harder on days when we are exhausted or have been deflated. These experiences have shown us the real need to have FREE information available to all.

Moving forward, We remain committed to providing FREE independent films and FREE resources until a Cure for Food Allergies is found.

Again, Thank You.

Grace

It was once believed that stomach ulcers were caused by too much acid, stress or even eating too much spicy food.

In the 1980s, Dr. Barry Marshall and Robin Warren discovered that ulcers were caused by a bacterium and thus, could be eliminated by antibiotics . In 2005 they won a Nobel Prize for their work.

Fast forward to today and Dr. Barry Marshall is currently Clinical Professor of Medicine and Microbiology at the University of Western Australia and the 61-year-old WA professor has completed successful studies on mice, and is now giving doses of the bacteria to humans in an attempt to eliminate food allergies.

We hope the professor is just as successful with this research so that people will be free from the dangers of food allergies.

Today we are excited to announce the launch of our TRIGGER school posters, which are available FREE to school systems in Australia and New Zealand.

The posters are designed to assist schools and teachers in providing safety tips on how to help keep food allergy sufferers safe at school.

Among the tips included is the importance of students washing hands after eating and why it’s vital that they NEVER share food with other children.

Our mission here at TRIGGER is to raise awareness by providing helpful FREE resources to assist the community.

We would like to express a heartfelt thank you to FREEDOM FOODS who have partnered with us and have been instrumental with the creation of the posters. Additionally, we want to thank Karen Boyes and her team at Spectrum Education for their efforts in supporting this campaign.

The ‘TRIGGER’ posters will be available to schools in Australia and New Zealand to start with and then we will hopefully expand to the U.S., U.K. and other territories. If you believe you can assist us with the distribution of these free posters or would like them for your child’s school please contact us at info@triggerallergy.com