In the near future, I plan to introduce two bills to help those with Celiac disease and other food intolerances or allergies to better identify products that contain major allergens. This package of legislation would require that food and medicine distributed in Pennsylvania that contains allergens be properly labeled as such.  

  

Celiac disease, an illness caused by an autoimmune reaction to gluten, affects about 1% of the United States’ population, while another 6% of the population has an intolerance to gluten, meaning over 900,000 Pennsylvanians who ingest gluten suffer from symptoms such as hives, skin rash, nausea, stomach cramps, indigestion, vomiting, diarrhea, joint pain, infertility, early osteoporosis, bloating, and low blood counts.  

  

Under federal law, food products containing wheat must be labeled to identify its presence. However, gluten can be found in grains other than wheat, including barley, oats, and rye. Without properly labeling all products that contain gluten and other major food allergens, we put many of our fellow citizens at risk of developing severe reactions to the food and medicine they ingest.   

  

Please join me in support of this effort to help those who have been diagnosed with Celiac disease and other food allergies or intolerances to better identify food and medicine that could be harmful to them.