Biden Signs Law That Makes Sesame The Ninth Major Food Allergen

By Staff Reporter
Posted on 04/26/21 | News Source: Washington Post

President Biden on Friday signed into law a new measure that designates sesame as the ninth major food allergy and ramps up allergy research, enacting a bipartisan attempt to address marked growth in certain deadly allergies.

The Food Allergy Safety, Treatment, Education and Research (Faster) Act passed the Senate in March and the House of Representatives this month. It received bipartisan support.

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In the past two decades, life-threatening childhood food allergies have risen steadily, growing by about 4 percent per year to afflict 32 million Americans, according to research by Northwestern University, McKinsey & Company, and Food Allergy Research and Education, a nonprofit. Studies estimate that the costs borne by American families — for medical bills, buying special foods or forgoing full-time employment to care for a child with a food allergy — total $24.8 billion annually.

Read more at Washington Post.