Allergy & Asthma Law Explorer
Verified statutes, regulations, and official guidance for food allergies, anaphylaxis, asthma, and respiratory conditions across schools, childcare, transportation, restaurants, venues, and airlines — with equity flags for Black and underserved communities.
Directs the Secretary of Health to update anaphylaxis guidelines. It requires schools to maintain an anaphylaxis policy and plan, and clarifies that schools may maintain a stock of epinephrine autoinjectors via a standing order.
- • No stock epinephrine required in schools
While it improves guidelines, it still stops short of mandating that schools keep the medication on-site, leaving student safety dependent on local school board discretion and funding.
A federal bill to fund and support school programs that manage student food allergies and asthma — including staff training, emergency response plans, and access to epinephrine and inhalers.
Requires clear labeling of barley, rye, and oats as major food allergens on all packaged foods, so Americans with celiac disease can easily identify whether a food is safe to eat. Brings U.S. labeling standards in line with 87 other countries that already require this.
If passed, New Jersey food service businesses (restaurants, cafes, delis, coffee shops, convenience stores, grocery stores, food trucks, movie theaters, cafeterias) would have to list the major food allergens in each menu item — either on the menu itself, via a QR code linking to a website, or on separate written materials like a chart or booklet.
Requires restaurants and other retail food facilities in Pennsylvania to post food-allergy-awareness posters in employee areas and to warn customers on menus about allergens used in the facility, asking customers to inform staff of their food allergies. Also updates the state Food Code to the 2022 FDA edition.
A pending Massachusetts bill that would require restaurants to designate an allergy-knowledgeable server liaison for allergic customers.
Proposed legislation to provide civil liability protection for entities and individuals that maintain and use stock epinephrine in emergencies, expanding the scope beyond schools to public places including aircraft.
- • Immunity/liability gaps
- • No venue/stadium stock epinephrine
Expanding stock epinephrine to all public transport and venues reduces the mortality risk for underserved individuals who are more likely to have undiagnosed allergies or lack personal injectors.
Proposed legislation to allow schools to maintain a stock supply of albuterol and other asthma rescue medications for emergency use by students experiencing respiratory distress.
- • no_stock_albuterol_in_schools
- • Rural access barrier
Black and Latino children in Massachusetts have significantly higher asthma hospitalization rates; the current lack of stock albuterol mandates exacerbates these health inequities.
A pending bill intended to further codify and potentially expand the ability or requirement for schools to maintain a stock supply of epinephrine auto-injectors.
- • Underfunded implementation
The bill aims to standardize stock supply across districts, which would help close the gap for students in districts currently lacking the resources to purchase non-prescribed stock medication.
Pending New York legislation (S.5381 / A.6558A) sponsored by Senator Pete Harckham and Assemblymember Lunsford that would require allergen labeling to help protect consumers with food allergies and celiac disease.
Pending New York legislation (S7810) sponsored by Senator Cordell Cleare.
If passed, Michigan food service establishments would have to give consumers a written notice listing the major food allergens present in each unpackaged food item they serve or sell (via menus, brochures, table tents, deli-case notices, or other written means).
If passed, beginning January 1, 2028, Illinois restaurant owners must put clear notices on menus and online menus identifying which menu items contain a major food allergen, with $500 fines for violations and possible shutdown after repeated inspection failures.
Requires clear labeling of barley, rye, and oats as major allergens on packaged foods, and orders federal health studies on celiac disease prevalence and treatment.
Requires school districts to allow students to self-carry and self-administer medication for asthma or anaphylaxis if they have a treatment plan and have demonstrated the necessary skill level to the school nurse.
- • No language-access provisions
Requirements for written treatment plans and nurse demonstrations can create barriers for families with limited English proficiency or those lacking consistent access to primary care physicians to provide documentation.
Proposed legislation to allow childcare facilities to stock undesignated epinephrine and train staff to administer it in emergencies, similar to the existing school laws.
- • No protections in childcare settings
- • Immunity/liability gaps
This bill is essential to closing the safety gap for infants and toddlers. Its failure to pass in previous cycles leaves a major health equity void for families who cannot afford individual epi-pens for their children in daycare.
While we strive for accuracy, information may change over time. Always double-check and verify against official sources before relying on it.