Grant: CAAIF/CIHR-III/CIHR-ICRH Food Allergy Research Grant

The problem: In order to prevent an allergic reaction, people with food allergy must avoid the food to which they are allergic. Prior to the pandemic, we showed that the cost of food is about $200 more per month for families with food allergy, compared to families without food allergy. With recent food price increases and overall inflation, the number of people accessing food banks in Canada is at an all time high. Food banks are working extra hard to support their growing number of users. However, families with food allergy have few supports as food banks are ill equipped to provide allergy-friendly options, which are generally more expensive. Not surprisingly, the prevalence of food insecurity has increased faster in families with, vs. without food allergy. The overall goals: The overall goals of our project are to address the food allergy affordability gap for both allergy-friendly food and medicine ("epinephrine") that should be used to treat an allergic reaction; and, to use this information to help support families managing food allergy. We will share this information with healthcare providers, food banks, and patient groups, who are all active partners in this project. We have three main aims in our project: 1. We suspect that, although Canada has 11 priority allergens, the allergy-friendly foods most commonly needed by food banks will be limited to those free of milk, peanut and/or wheat. Therefore, we will describe the allergy-friendly foods missing from food banks. 2. We suspect that, in light of increased food costs, health professionals (including but not limited to Allergists, nurses, and dietitians) are faced with an increasing number of patient encounters that include concerns regarding food costs and food insecurity, but that they lack relevant patient-facing materials. Therefore, we will describe what materials health professionals need in order to support their patients with affordable options for food allergy management. 3. We will create mechanisms to promote food security for families managing food allergies, and for health professionals who support them. This will be achieved through already-established relationships with health professionals, researchers, patient organisations and food banks. Such mechanisms will help make informed decisions about health policies, programs, and/or practices. Proposed methods: Partnering with representatives from two large food banks, and the largest food allergy patient organisation in Canada, our project will involve discussions with experts in allergy, medical education, food security, patient advocacy and philanthropy. We will collect information, via questionnaires, from food banks, health professionals, and families managing food allergy. This information will help us understand what types of allergy-friendly foods are needed in food banks; what challenges families managing food allergy are facing; and, what resources health professionals need to support families managing food allergy. Using all of this information, we will create materials in English and French to support affordable food allergy management, to provide allergy-friendly food directly to families in need and develop a sustainability plan that will long exceed the life of this project.