My Nonprofit Reviews

FARE does more harm than good to those of us who have a medical history of life threatening reactions to any of the many foods FARE hasn't chosen to prioritize. One in ten Americans with a history of life threatening food allergies to unregulated food allergens, yet the only one of more than 160 unregulated food allergens that FARE currently advocates for is sesame.

The rest of us write to manufacturers urging them to list every ingredient by name in the fine print, only to get a boilerplate primer and a referral to FARE for introductory information--as if those of us who already know that US federal law allows manufacturers to change "natural flavors" formulations at any time without notifying the public were in need of a primer about what the top 8 food allergens are.

"A little knowledge is a dangerous thing," Samuel Johnson once wrote, and FARE specializes in providing just enough knowledge to stonewall the many people who slip through the cracks of existing regulation.

FARE has never published specific guidance for hospitals to accommodate unregulated food allergies in admitted patients, yet FARE finds the resources to turn the Empire State Building teal each year.

FARE has never urged food manufacturers to avoid vague phrases in ingredient labels such as "natural flavors" or "natural colors" or "spices," yet FARE finds the resources to promote teal pumpkins at Halloween.

FARE provides no guidance for food allergic mothers who are told to introduce their babies to potential allergens--even though adult onset allergies frequently occur in conjunction with pregnancy so those mothers may be newly diagnosed themselves.

FARE provides no specific guidance for geriatric care, even though adult onset allergies are frequently associated with menopause.

FARE currently endorses proposed legislation in Congress that allocates no funds for tracking the incidence of anaphylactic reactions to unregulated allergens.

FARE has refused accommodation requests from patients with a history of anaphylaxis to unregulated food allergens at FARE's own conferences.


This review gives a second star because FARE does do good for a certain type of food allergy patient. Yet this organization is more interested in controlling the conversation than in living up to its claim to represent all people with food allergies.

In reality FARE treats significant segments of that community like acceptable casualties.