Edited August 5, 2013, 12:00pm.

By Kelli Swensen, Dietetics Student, Sargent College

Every Wednesday this semester we will be posting about a new blog or cooking website that we love! The internet is filled with food websites, and our goal is to arm you with the “Best of the Food Web”!

http://foodallergyfoundation.org/yahoo_site_admin/assets/images/FAF_-_Big8food-allergens.34290002_std.jpg

Run by Food Allergy Research & Education (FARE), FoodAllergy.org aims to educate the public on food allergies and provide valuable tools and resources for anyone with or who may come into contact with someone with a food allergy.

According to the website, up to 15 million people in the US have food allergies.  This statistic indicates just how relevant and important it is for the public to have a basic understanding of food allergies including the symptoms and ways to keep public places safe for those affected by allergens. This information is conveyed in the two major sections of the site: “About Food Allergies” and “Tools & Resources.”

http://www.foodallergy.org/

The “About” section starts very basically, answering what a food allergy actually is, then has options for delving deeper into allergens, anaphylaxis, and allergy symptoms. For those who think they or a family member may have a food allergy, this section also contains information on how allergies are tested for and diagnosed, how to treat and manage reactions, and how to live with food allergies. Each section is extremely thorough with helpful summaries to make sure you catch the key points. I strongly encourage you to check out “About Anaphylaxis,” especially if you know of a family member, friend, or colleague with a risk for anaphylaxis. Looking for food intolerances, Celiac disease, or oral allergies? Check out the “Related Conditions” page.

http://www.foodallergy.org/tools-and-resources/getting-started

The “Tools & Resources” section is very easy to navigate. Locate a resource by either browsing by topic or finding resources for specific people. Topics included are advocacy, bullying, emotional and social issues, and laws and regulations. Parents and teachers especially can benefit by reading the information on bullying. The “Resource For. . .” section gets very specific, dividing into categories: newly diagnosed, parents, kids, teens, college students, adults, healthcare providers, schools, child-care facilities, camps, colleges & universities, food manufacturers, and restaurants.

FARE also teamed up with The Discovery Channel to create a documentary about food allergies in America. If you missed it, you can catch it online or on iTunes by visiting here.

The amount of information contained in the website is impressive and impossible to fully cover in this post.  Definitely do yourself and those around you a favor by spending a couple minutes looking over the website and sharing it with friends, family, and coworkers! Passionate about this topic? FoodAllergies.org has ways for you to get involved and support FARE’s mission, including local walks and events.

Disclaimer: The Sargent Choice blog includes links to other websites only as information to consumers, not as medical advice. When you access an external website, keep in mind that Sargent Choice has no control over its content.  Sargent Choice is not responsible for the content found at any of the sites, nor do any links imply endorsement or promotion of the company/organization, its content, services, therapeutic treatment options, or products. Accordingly, you visit any site at your own risk.  Sargent Choice is also not responsible for the policies and practices of these sites, such as their Privacy Policy, use of “cookies”, etc. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of each site that you visit through a link on our website