Uncover our advocacy efforts throughout completely different sectors together with foodservice, meals labelling, healthcare, educators, and camps. Plus, with the vacations arising and chocolate being extra current, take a look at our mythbuster on darkish chocolate and milk allergy.
Advocacy in motion: Making meals allergy a precedence in foodservice
Final month, we made important strides for the meals allergy neighborhood on the Canadian Institute of Public Well being Inspectors (CIPHI) Ontario digital Convention.
We delivered a presentation that emphasised how inspectors, who go to eating places, can promote our Assume Meals Allergy sources and instruments to strengthen allergen administration within the foodservice business. By empowering Public Well being Inspectors to share this important data, we’re serving to foodservice institutions to be higher geared up to satisfy the wants of the meals allergy neighborhood.
Whereas we proceed our long-term advocacy for standardized allergen administration practices, we’re taking motion now to make a distinction. Our efforts this 12 months are serving to to form a safer foodservice panorama, making certain Canadians with meals allergy can eat out with confidence.
Thanks to our business companions for his or her collaborations this 12 months on our foodservice agenda:
Take a look at our Assume Meals Allergy sources and share with foodservice institutions that you could be be visiting over the vacations.
From recipe templates and knowledge sheets to posters, and extra.
Take a look at our quick movies on ordering, preparation, and supply.
To construct consciousness of the significance of meals allergy and learn how to higher help this neighborhood.
Advocacy in motion: Strengthening allergen administration via business collaboration
Final month, we hosted our 3rd annual Meals Business Council assembly in Toronto—bringing collectively nationwide and worldwide leaders from the meals business, authorities, and academia to advance allergen administration in Canada. This engagement is a key a part of our work to drive stronger allergen labelling requirements and business practices that help safer, extra knowledgeable selections for Canadians with meals allergy.
Council members signify corporations throughout the Canadian meals sector, united of their dedication to enhancing allergen administration. This 12 months’s agenda featured consultants from Well being Canada, the Canadian Meals Inspection Company (CFIA), and world specialists who shared updates on present points, together with evolving discussions on precautionary allergen labelling (“might comprise” statements) and new rising meals allergens.
We had been honoured to welcome worldwide consultants corresponding to Dr. Paul Turner from Imperial Faculty London (UK), Jasmine Lacis-Lee from the Allergen Bureau (Australia) and Ben Remington with Remington Consulting Group BV (Netherlands). They joined our Canadian audio system, Michael Abbott from Well being Canada and Andrienne Kong with the CFIA. Their insights helped form productive discussions on present challenges and future pathways for clearer, extra constant allergen labelling.
Thanks to all Council members for his or her ongoing collaboration and management. Their engagement is important to driving significant progress for Canadians residing with meals allergy, empowering them to make protected and knowledgeable selections. We additionally prolong our appreciation to Maple Leaf Meals for internet hosting the assembly.
We stay up for constructing on this momentum as we proceed advancing the dialog round labelling and strengthening allergen administration throughout the Canadian meals business.
Thanks to all attendees from the next organizations:
Advocacy in motion: Elevating meals allergy and anaphylaxis amongst healthcare suppliers
With solely about 300 allergists throughout Canada and greater than 3 million Canadians affected by meals allergy, entry to specialised care is a big problem. That’s why we’re dedicated to reaching household medical doctors, paediatricians, nurse practitioners, and different frontline healthcare professionals with the knowledge and instruments they should higher help their sufferers. In 2025 alone, we offered over 23,000 sources to healthcare suppliers!
All year long, we additionally engaged instantly with healthcare suppliers at nationwide conferences, together with Pri-Med—one in all Canada’s largest gatherings of household physicians. There, our Government Director, Jennifer Gerdts, and Dr. Edmond Chan delivered an essential session on meals allergy immunotherapy, serving to construct larger understanding of rising remedy approaches.
We additionally ensured the affected person perspective was represented at main world and nationwide boards, such because the International Discussion board on Anaphylaxis and Meals Allergy (Ga2LEN) and the Canadian Society of Allergy and Scientific Immunology (CSACI) annual assembly. By sharing insights on the affected person journey and the necessity for remedy choices, we proceed to raise the realities confronted by Canadians with meals allergy.
By way of these efforts, we’re serving to to strengthen meals allergy consciousness, enhance scientific understanding, and in the end guarantee that Canadians prone to anaphylaxis obtain higher, extra knowledgeable care.
Advocacy in motion: Constructing information and inclusion in lecture rooms
This 12 months, we superior our mission to make each classroom safer and extra inclusive for college students with meals allergy. Our fall consciousness marketing campaign was proven greater than 1.6 million occasions, spotlighting how our All About Meals Allergy pupil program empowers educators to construct assured, inclusive studying environments.
We strengthened our presence within the training sector by partaking key training influencers, partnering with main training publications, and reinforcing our experience via nationwide media interviews. These efforts are serving to be certain that meals allergy training turns into an ordinary a part of classroom studying.
We additionally launched a strong new video that includes educators and college students sharing why this program issues—and why it belongs in each classroom throughout the nation. Watch it now!
Hear instantly from educators concerning the affect of this program:
Sarah is a science educator, specializing in STEM. Watch her video the place she talks about the advantages of our program and the way it creates affect.
Margaret is an elementary college instructor who offers educators with sensible sources. Watch her video the place she speaks to the significance of this program and the way academics can drive inclusivity.
Advocacy in motion: Making camps safer and extra inclusive
In 2025, we launched an initiative to create lasting change within the camp panorama throughout Canada—serving to to make sure camps and leisure applications are safer and extra inclusive for youngsters and employees with meals allergy.
This 12 months, we started collaborating with the Ontario Camps Affiliation to have interaction camp administrators and leaders in significant discussions about meals allergy security and inclusion. Collectively, we’re creating a complete useful resource information, in addition to sensible instruments and coaching supplies to help camps in embedding allergy administration into day by day practices and insurance policies.
Along with working instantly with camps, we’re partaking with Members of the Provincial Parliament to form coverage that helps safer camp environments..
By combining direct collaboration with camp leaders and advocacy with authorities, we’re serving to to create environments the place kids can take part totally and confidently.
Waiting for 2026, we are going to launch a pilot program in Ontario to place these sources into observe, consider their affect, and refine methods for increasing safer, extra inclusive camp experiences throughout the nation.
Analysis: New Canadian EoE consensus assertion to information scientific observe
Eosinophilic Esophagitis (EoE) is a situation that impacts the esophagus, the tube that carries meals from the mouth to the abdomen. It may be triggered by various factors and generally, it may be a delayed allergic response to sure meals.
A new consensus assertion has come out that offers proof and skilled opinion-based suggestions for offering take care of adults and youngsters with EoE. It’s optimistic information to now have Canadian centered greatest observe suggestions to help the care of EoE sufferers.
Study extra about EoE
Go to our EoE part for a complete overview.
Learn two articles, one by Canadian paediatric allergists and one other from an grownup and a youth who’re navigating this situation.
Obtain our 1-page sheet for a fast overview for your self or to share with others.
Webinars
Watch our webinars: one for EoE in adults and the opposite in children.
Mythbuster: Is darkish chocolate protected for somebody with milk allergy?
With vacation treats in thoughts, we’re resharing a mythbuster about darkish chocolate and milk allergy.
FACT: No, not essentially. Whereas pure darkish chocolate is meant to be made with out milk or milk merchandise, not all darkish chocolate is taken into account pure or produced in the identical manner. Plus, darkish chocolate could also be produced in the identical facility or on the identical gear that makes milk chocolate, and cross-contamination can happen. All the time learn the listing of substances and any “might comprise” statements for milk on all darkish chocolate merchandise you’re fascinated with shopping for. Moreover, contact the producer with any questions you might have about how merchandise have been made.
Be aware for these allergic to exploit and contemplating vegan choices: Pure darkish chocolate could also be applicable for vegans, as by definition it’s speculated to be made with out milk/milk merchandise. Nevertheless, not all darkish chocolate merchandise could also be protected choices for these with a milk allergy, and could also be labelled with a ‘might comprise milk’ assertion. Bear in mind to learn the listing of substances and “might comprise” statements and get in touch with the producer with any questions.
Study extra
Study milk allergy, together with attainable sources of milk, learn how to keep away from milk, and what you are able to do to be allergy-aware.
Discover extra ideas for studying meals labels, and learn to do the triple verify.
Avoiding cross-contamination
Learn to scale back the chance of cross-contamination, and skim our 10 straightforward methods to keep away from cross-contamination.
Assist us educate your communities and share this mythbuster with them! Discover extra mythbusters at foodallergycanada.ca/mythbusters.
Tags: advocacy, All about meals allergy, camp, darkish chocolate, EoE, Meals Business Council, foodservice, healthcare advocacy, milk allergy, mythbuster, Analysis
