On behalf of the more than 878,000 Virginia residents with potentially life-threatening food allergies, including the more than 140,000 children 18 and under, FARE (Food Allergy Research and Education), based in McLean, the nation’s leading non-profit engaged in food allergy advocacy as well as the largest private funder of food allergy research strongly supports Elijah's Law, named after a three year old boy, Elijah Silvera, who passed away in New York because his childcare center did not have epinephrine on-hand to save his life after feeding him a sandwich containing his allergen.

Elijah’s Law, SB737/HB1328, was signed into law by Governor Youngkin on April 11, 2022, and requires employees at the state’s licensed childcare facilities to be trained in recognizing and preventing anaphylaxis from occurring in the children they are supposed to protect. In addition, the law also requires that these facilities carry epinephrine auto-injectors and as a result, meets the requirements of § 22.1-289.059 of the Code of Virginia.

In addition, FARE offers a free, certified training video that lasts about thirty minutes and is used in other states to comply with Elijah’s Law called “Protecting a Life: Recognizing & Responding to Anaphylaxis.”

As you may know, life-threatening food allergies are on the rise as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that over the past 20 years, the rates of children with food allergies has increased by more than 50% and for children with a peanut or tree nut allergy, it has tripled. Life-threatening food allergies and the risk of fatal anaphylaxis are growing at an even faster rate among Black and Asian-American children. Finally, the CDC also found that 8% of all children have food allergies which is the equivalent of two children in every classroom.

It is hard to fathom but using July 2022 census data, Virginia’s food allergy population is bigger than the combined populations of Newport News, Richmond, and Virginia Beach.

In addition, while food allergies are on the rise nationally, a 2020 study found that children on Medicaid were less than one-tenth as likely as children on private health insurance to be diagnosed with a food allergy. This is especially troubling in Virginia as 31% of the state’s children rely on Medicaid/CHIP for their health care.

As you may know, there are no cures for individuals with life-threatening food allergies and the only way to stop an anaphylactic attack is through the quick administration of an epinephrine auto-injector. When an anaphylactic attack happens, time is of the essence, meaning there is often not time to wait for an ambulance to arrive.

Furthermore, once or every ten seconds or roughly 3.4 million times a year, a food allergy reaction sends someone to the hospital or emergency room.

With daunting statistics like these, it is only a matter of time before a young child or toddler, who through no fault of their own lack the ability to speak or share their discomfort, are exposed to an allergen that could take their life. We need to make sure the state’s childcare providers know what to do when that moment happens, and Elijah’s Law offers Virginia parents and children the best and safest path forward.