Safety Measures Needed for College Students with Food Allergies
February 10, 2025
Contact:
Candace Archie, Communications & Public Relations Manager
carchie@aaaai.org
(414) 272-6071
College dining halls lack ingredient labels and emergency epinephrine, leading to higher risk of food allergy exacerbations and anaphylaxis
Milwaukee, WI – Many colleges lack food allergy labeling and epinephrine autoinjectors needed to prevent food allergy emergencies, according to new research being presented at the 2025 AAAAI / WAO Joint Congress in San Diego, CA later this month.
“While the general literature surrounding food allergies on college campuses is limited, data analyzing adolescent risk-taking behavior and low rates of EAI carriage suggest that university dining halls can be a high-risk environment. For many students, college is their first introduction to managing meals without family support. As food-allergic students learn to become their own advocate, it is imperative to have reliable systems in place to prevent and address allergic reactions on campus,” says lead author Preena S. Shroff, student researcher at Northwestern University.
In this study, 217 verified schools on the FARE College Search site were investigated for various measures of food allergy accommodation in dining halls during the summer of 2024. The presence of labeled ingredients, allergy-friendly stations and undesignated stock epinephrine were documented for small, medium and large institutions of higher education.
Of the universities with an undergraduate enrollment under 5,000 students, 10% posted full lists of ingredients in their dining halls and only 2.9% had epinephrine auto-injectors available for public use. At dining halls of institutions with 5,000 to 15,000 students, 12% posted full ingredient lists and 2.6% stocked undesignated epinephrine auto-injectors. The research found that for large schools with over 15,000 undergraduate students, 16% labeled all ingredients and 10% had epinephrine auto-injectors available at dining halls. Of the 217 schools examined, approximately 76% had food allergy-friendly stations, while 42% did not label any ingredients. Over 95% of college dining halls, and two-thirds of campus emergency responders, lack epinephrine on-hand in case of emergency.
The results found that, although many schools provide food allergy-friendly alternatives in dining halls, the lack of ingredient labeling and access to emergency epinephrine auto-injectors may result in delayed epinephrine administration, putting food-allergic students at a higher risk of anaphylaxis. By appropriately labeling allergenic foods and increasing epinephrine auto-injectors access, major improvements can be made for the health and safety of students during their college experience.
Visit aaaai.org to learn more about allergies in college settings. Research presented at the 2025 AAAAI / WAO Joint Congress, February 28 – March 3 in San Diego, CA, is published in an online supplement to The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (JACI).
The American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (AAAAI) is the leading membership organization of more than 7,100 allergists, asthma specialists, clinical immunologists and other professionals with a special interest in the research and treatment of allergic and immunologic diseases. Established in 1943, the AAAAI is the go-to resource for patients living with allergies, asthma and immune deficiency disorders.