Durbin, Fischer Introduce Protecting Children With Food Allergies Act
The legislation would prepare school personnel to respond to potential food-related allergic reactions
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Deb Fischer (R-NE), who are both members of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, today introduced the Protecting Children with Food Allergies Act. The legislation would ensure school food personnel receive essential information about food allergies as part of their existing annual trainings, so that they are better equipped to prevent, recognize, and respond to allergic food reactions.
Food allergies are a growing public health concern. Over the past two decades, the number of children with food allergies in the U.S. has more than doubled. Now, eight percent of children, about two students per classroom, have food allergies, and more than 16 percent of them will have an allergic reaction while at school. Further, 20 percent of all epinephrine shots administered in schools are given to children who have undiagnosed food allergies—which makes it even more important for school food personnel to understand how to recognize and respond to an allergic reaction.
“When parents drop their kids off at school, they should have the peace of mind knowing that their children are in a safe environment with personnel who are trained to look out for their child’s food allergies. And students should be focused on their schoolwork, not if they’ll have a potentially deadly allergic reaction at lunchtime,” said Durbin. “Today, I introduced the bipartisan Protecting Children with Food Allergies Act with Senator Fischer to ensure that school food personnel will be well-equipped when a child is experiencing an allergic reaction.”
“America’s parents have enough on their plate—they shouldn’t have to worry about whether their kids’ schools can respond to serious allergic reactions. Nebraska has already led the way as the first state to require schools to stock epinephrine, but we need more national solutions to protect our children. Our bipartisan legislation will ensure that food personnel in schools across the country receive proper training to respond to allergic reactions,” Fischer said.
USDA offers annual trainings to school food personnel who work under the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and the School Breakfast Program (SBP). These trainings include modules in nutrition, health, and food safety standards and methodologies. However, federal law does not require information about food allergies to be included as part of these annual trainings. The Protecting Children with Food Allergies Act would add “food allergies” to the list of training modules to ensure that school food personnel receive essential information about food allergies as part of their existing annual trainings.
The Protecting Children with Food Allergies Act of 2025 has endorsements from: Food Allergy Research & Education (FARE), Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA), American Academy of Allergy Asthma & Immunology (AAAAI), American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), American College of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology (ACAAI), and School Nutrition Association (SNA).
“FARE supports this legislation that will improve protection of the nearly four million children with life-threatening food allergies, which translates to about two children in every classroom in the U.S. The risks are immediate and significant when school food service personnel lack adequate food allergy training so it’s critically important that school staff have the training needed to recognize and prevent cross-contact during meal preparation and respond effectively when life-threatening emergencies occur,” said Sung Poblete, PhD, RN, and CEO of FARE.
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