Celiac Sprue Association Needs Your Help In North Carolina

This is for CSA members and friends living in North Carolina. You can help all celiacs! Contact your Senator! Your US Senator Richard Burr has yet to support adding barley, rye and common oats as hazards in a “Managers Amendment” to S. 510, the Food Safety Modernization Act. Allergen designation will only cover WHEAT. This bill is expected to come out of committee for a Senate vote very, very soon. PLEASE contact your Senator on the Health Committee. Urge YOUR Senator to agree to include the food hazards for those with Celiac Disease. It is your turn, we have done what we can on the national level.

Add WORDS TO THE LIST on page 129, line 9 of S. 510 - - -
Hazard Analysis – (A) “gluten as related to celiac disease.” This simple revision would mean food companies would be required to have information from ingredient suppliers on to presence of wheat AND also gluten sources of barley, rye, common oats AND risk of cross contact potential. Knowledge is the lifeblood of the lifelong management of celiac disease.

Please take the time NOW – THIS WEEK to contact your Senator and tell him how much this can help YOU and your family. Email or Fax your letter. Here is the link to the text of the bill posted on the CSA website. S510 Bill.

Webpage of Senator Richard Burr – United States Senator for North Carolina
To phone Senator Burr’s Washington Office: (202) 224-3154 His staff will carry your message.

SAMPLE LETTER BELOW
Scroll down copy and paste and personalize. Please share this with a friend. For more information call the CSA Office for Executive Director Mary Schluckebier. Thank YOU!

[Date]

The Honorable Senator Richard Burr, North Carolina
217 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING
WASHINGTON DC 20510

REF: S. 510, the Food Safety Modernization Act

Dear Senator Burr,

As your constituent, I am seeking your leadership and support for an amendment to S.510, the FDA Food Safety Management Act to include the hazards affecting the food choices of those with celiac disease.
S. 510, page 129, line 9 Hazard Analysis – (Add the words, such as)
“gluten as related to celiac disease.”

Celiac disease, is an autoimmune disease, thus excluded from the food allergy aspects of the bill. A Manager’s Amendment would recognize this hazard and protect the 1% of the population coping with this autoimmune disease. My family lives with celiac disease. The only treatment for celiac disease is a strict gluten-free diet.

It is not always possible to determine the RISK of a food being free of wheat, barley, rye, common oats, their crosses and their derivatives either directly as an ingredient or through cross contact. Such information is rarely available. The lack of documentation creates a health hazard for those requiring gluten–free foods and an unclear liability for food companies.

Please include our food hazard in this bill. At this time:
*No safe gluten threshold has been established for those with celiac disease.
*The FDA regulation for volunteer gluten-free food labeling is pending.
*The gluten–free segment of the food industry grew 74% between 2004 and 2009 and is projected to continue growing at a rate of 15–25% per year, according to the Nielson Company.

Thank you in advance for your leadership.
Sincerely,[Your Name]