Tag Archives: Food Allergies

Find Food Allergy Aware Colleges and Universities

by Eliot Dill

For so many of us in the food allergy and celiac community, the word college stirs up a strange mix of excitement and fear. On one hand, it’s the launchpad for independence, learning, and lifelong friendships. On the other, it’s a minefield: navigating dining halls, dorm kitchens, late-night study snacks, and campus events where food is everywhere.

Until now, figuring out how supportive a school would be for students with food allergies or celiac disease meant hours of research, countless phone calls, and often relying on word of mouth. But that just changed in a big way.

FARE (Food Allergy Research & Education) has launched the Food Allergy College Search — the first and only tool that lets you search U.S. colleges and universities by their food allergy and celiac accommodations. You can explore it right now at college.foodallergy.org.

This is huge news for students, caregivers, and educators. Let’s break down why this matters, what the directory offers, and how you can use it to make smarter, safer college choices.

Why Choosing the Right College Is Extra Hard with Food Allergies

Picture the typical student heading off to college: new dorm, new roommates, late nights in the library, weekends exploring campus life. Now add the reality of severe food allergies or celiac disease. Suddenly, normal college stress collides with life-or-death questions like:

  • Will the dining hall have safe options I can eat every day?
  • What if my friends order pizza to the dorm—can I trust that it’s safe?
  • Does the health center know how to respond to anaphylaxis?
  • If I need epinephrine, will campus staff know what to do?

For many families, these questions overshadow everything else about the college search. Academic programs, scholarships, and sports teams matter, of course. But if you can’t eat safely, it’s hard to focus on calculus or creative writing.

Until now, families often had to call each school individually, hoping to connect with someone in dining services or student accessibility. Some schools had robust programs, while others barely understood the needs. It was a patchwork, with no central place to compare.

That’s why this new tool from FARE is such a breakthrough.

What Is the Food Allergy College Search?

Think of it as a one-stop directory for food allergy and celiac awareness on U.S. campuses. Here’s what it brings to the table:

1. Searchable Database

You can browse colleges and universities across the country and filter by the accommodations that matter most to you. Instead of starting from scratch at every campus website, you can now compare schools side by side.

2. Dining Options

Learn how each school’s dining services handles food allergies and celiac disease: dedicated kitchens, allergen labeling, cross-contact prevention, gluten-free options, and staff training.

3. Emergency Protocols

Does the campus have clear procedures for anaphylaxis? Are staff trained in epinephrine administration? How close is emergency medical support?

4. Student Services

Find out what offices or departments support students with dietary needs, from disability accommodations to peer support groups.

5. Consistency Across the Map

This tool creates a level playing field for students. Instead of guessing, you can see which colleges take allergies and celiac seriously, and which may need more advocacy.

Why This Matters for Students and Families

Peace of Mind for Parents

Sending your child off to college is emotional enough. Add severe allergies, and it can feel terrifying. This directory offers a starting point for confidence: you’ll know whether the school has systems in place before you write the deposit check.

Empowerment for Students

For teens with allergies or celiac, the transition to college is a crash course in independence. Having a trusted resource means students can take ownership of their search, ask informed questions on campus tours, and advocate for themselves.

Support for Schools

This isn’t just about families—it’s about campuses too. Schools can use the directory to benchmark their policies, see how they compare, and identify gaps in student support. The more schools that engage, the better the future looks for everyone.

A Day in the Life: Imagining the Difference

Let’s put this in perspective with two scenarios.

Without the FARE directory:
Maya, a high school senior with severe nut allergies, spends hours researching colleges. Each website feels vague. She and her parents cold-call five schools, getting transferred from admissions to housing to dining to health services. Some staff are helpful, but others don’t seem to understand her questions. By the end, Maya feels exhausted and uncertain.

With the FARE directory:
Maya plugs her preferences into the Food Allergy College Search. Within minutes, she’s narrowed her list to ten schools with strong dining safety protocols and trained emergency staff. She brings the list to her college counselor, who helps her evaluate academic fit alongside allergy safety. When she tours campuses, she already knows what questions to ask and which offices to visit.

Same student, totally different journey.

How to Use the Directory in Your Search

Here are a few practical steps if you or your student are starting the college process:

  1. Visit college.foodallergy.org
    Explore the database and bookmark schools that stand out.
  2. Make a Two-Column List
    On one side, jot down your academic “must-haves.” On the other, list your food allergy or celiac “must-haves.” Use the directory to see which schools hit both lists.
  3. Prepare Questions for Tours
    Even if a school looks great on paper, in-person conversations matter. Ask dining staff about cross-contact, or the health center about epinephrine response.
  4. Connect with Current Students
    If possible, talk to students who are already managing food allergies or celiac at that school. They’ll give you the inside scoop.
  5. Don’t Be Afraid to Advocate
    If your dream school isn’t perfect yet, use this tool as a conversation starter. Sometimes schools improve when they realize how much prospective students care.

Looking Ahead

FARE’s Food Allergy College Search is more than just a directory. It’s a milestone in recognizing that food allergies and celiac disease are serious medical conditions that deserve structured, transparent accommodations.

The more families use this tool, the more pressure schools will feel to improve—and the more confident students will feel about leaving home. In time, we may see stronger national standards for allergy and celiac safety across higher education.

For now, this is an incredible step forward.

Final Thoughts

If you’re a student with food allergies or celiac disease—or the parent of one—the college journey no longer has to be such an uncertain leap of faith.

With the Food Allergy College Search, you can compare schools not just by their academics and sports teams, but by the safety, dignity, and peace of mind they offer every day in the cafeteria, dorm, and classroom.

Big news? Absolutely. Game-changer? Without a doubt.

Start your search today at college.foodallergy.org, and take one giant step closer to a safer, more empowering college experience.

Tiny Tech, Huge Hope: MIT’s Implanted Epinephrine Could Transform Life with Food Allergies

by Eliot Dill

I’m excited to share a truly promising breakthrough that feels like it was made just for us—families, individuals, and caregivers navigating life with food allergies. In July 2025, MIT researchers unveiled an implantable device roughly the size of a quarter that can deliver life‑saving epinephrine during an allergic emergency—all without needing to fumble with a syringe or auto‑injector. In this edition, we’ll explore how it works, why it matters, and what it could mean for our community.

What Did MIT Actually Develop?

A Sneaky Little Lifesaver

  • Engineers at MIT designed a coin‑sized implant, about the diameter of a quarter, that sits under the skin and stores powdered, stable medications like glucagon or epinephrine .
  • Instead of a fragile liquid that degrades quickly, the drug is stored in powder form, which dramatically enhances its shelf‑stability over long periods—super important for emergency medications that must stay potent until the moment they’re needed SnackSafely.com.

Smart Release Via Heat + Wireless Signal

  • The magic lies in a 3D‑printed polymer reservoir sealed with a nickel‑titanium shape‑memory alloy. When heated to about 40 °C (104 °F), the alloy physically changes shape—curling from flat to U‑shaped—and releases the medication.
  • An antenna inside the device receives a specific radiofrequency signal—from a handheld activator or connected sensor (like a continuous glucose monitor in the case of glucagon)—to heat that alloy and trigger release.

Tested in Mice—Results Were Impressive

  • In diabetic mice, triggering the device released glucagon, stabilizing dangerously low blood sugar within 10 minutes.
  • In parallel tests, when implanted with powdered epinephrine, it elevated epinephrine levels and raised heart rates within the same timeframe—showing it’s effective for rapid delivery in emergency settings.
  • The device functioned even after scar tissue formed around it—a key hurdle for implants—and worked reliably for at least four weeks. The team aims for a lifespan of one year or more, with clinical trials targeted in the next three years.

Why This Feels Like a Game-Changer for the Food Allergy Community

No More Relying on Grasping for a Pen in a Panic

One of the biggest anxiety triggers with severe food allergies is the “what if I can’t get to my auto‑injector in time?” scenario: seizures, confusion, being away from home, kids left alone, or being incapacitated during a reaction.

This implant offers a future where epinephrine is already in place, ready to deploy—automatically or with a simple remote signal—eliminating the moment‑by‑moment panic. That peace of mind? Priceless.

Smart Integration Possibilities

Imagine pairing this implant with future wearable sensors (allergy‑reaction monitors, heart‑rate or breathing pattern detectors, etc.). In theory, they could alert and deploy epinephrine without anyone needing to do a thing. It’s a comforting thought that, one day, tech could watch over us nearly invisibly.

Less Bulk, More Safety

Instead of carrying spare auto‑injectors in backpacks, purses, cars, classrooms, summer camps, etc., individuals might rely on a discreet in‑body backup that remains immediately accessible at all times—no lost pens, no expired EpiPens, no sweat over “did I remember one?”

Challenges Ahead for Our Lives

Of course, as hopeful as this is, there’s a path to walk before implementation:

  • Human trials are still 2–3 years away.
  • Implant duration needs extending safely to ~12 months or more.
  • There’s the question of cost, accessibility, insurance coverage, and training to replace and maintain the implant.
  • Families and medical providers will need to trust that wireless triggers are fail‑safe and that activation can’t happen accidentally or late.

But the fact that the device held up against scar tissue and worked continuously in animal models is already a huge step forward for implantable tech.

Peer into the Future (Let’s Dream Together)

  • Annual Appointment for Renewal
    One model could be a yearly clinic visit to swap out the implant—like an annual shot, but far more automated.
  • School-Friendly Safety Net
    For kids, a back-up implant would be an absolute godsend if they’re unable to handle an epi-pen during gym class, cafeterias, or playground emergencies.
  • Inclusion in Ecosystems of Care
    If the implant is integrated with other medical tech—like CGMs, smart rings, or allergy detection wearables—it could become part of a full “safety network” for at-risk individuals.
  • Cultural Impact
    This could change how schools, airlines, camps, and public spaces consider allergic risks. With an implant, extra layers of protection become possible—lowering stigma around carrying bulky emergency medicine.

A Few Hopeful Words to Close

This isn’t just another gadget. For so many of us, the looming fear of accidental exposure to peanuts, tree nuts, dairy, shellfish, or unknown cross-contamination isn’t just theoretical—it’s entrenched in every birthday party, cafeteria, or snack table.

This quarter-sized implant whispers a new possibility: what if help could always be within you, patient and ready, even before you press the auto-injector?

That’s not just innovation—that’s a reminder that science, when done with vision and care, can hold us close even when allergic reactions threaten to pull us under.

Stay hopeful, stay safe, and let’s keep watching this space together.

With you (and hoping for more subtle epinephrine soon).