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Halloween should be full of costumes, jack-o’-lanterns, and fun — not scary ingredient surprises. That’s why we’re excited to announce this year’s Halloween Editions of the Safe Snack Guide, our extensive catalogs of allergy-friendly and gluten-free foods relied upon by thousands of schools and tens of thousands of families nationwide.

A study published in Cellular and Molecular Gastroenterology and Hepatology suggests that vulnerability to peanut allergy may begin partly with problems in the lining of the small intestine, not just with an overactive immune response. To find out what might be happening before an allergic reaction ever occurs, researchers created a detailed map of individual cells in the intestinal lining of mice prone to peanut allergy and compared them with mice that were resistant.

You read the food label three times. You check the bag for two EpiPens before leaving the house. And when a birthday invitation arrives or Halloween is around the corner, the first feeling isn’t excitement. It’s dread. Because the real fear was never the food. It’s the one mistake you didn’t catch: the mislabeled package, the shared knife, the moment you weren’t there. So you ask the question every food allergy family eventually asks: do we have to live like this forever?

Children taking the medication dupilumab for conditions like eczema or asthma may show dramatic declines in allergy-related antibodies even though their food allergies persist.

DBV Technologies has officially submitted a Biologics License Application (BLA) to the US Food and Drug Administration for its investigational VIASKIN® Peanut Patch. The regulatory filing targets young patients aged 4 through 7 years who suffer from peanut allergies, offering potential relief for a demographic with significant unmet medical needs. Alongside the submission, the French biopharmaceutical company requested a Priority Review from the agency to expedite its regulatory evaluation.

Australia’s medical regulator, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), has officially removed the popular herbal extract Andrographis paniculata from its permissible ingredients determination for new listed medicines. Effective September 17, 2026, the botanical—long marketed for immune support and cold relief—can no longer be included in new medicines listed under Australia’s lower-risk therapeutic framework due to mounting evidence of life-threatening allergic reactions.

The earliest clues indicating whether an infant will develop eczema accompanied by food sensitization or food allergy may reside within the microscopic ecosystem inhabiting their skin, according to a study published in the journal Allergy. Led by researchers at Washington State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine in collaboration with international institutions, the investigation found microbial differences months before these allergic conditions were diagnosed.

Peel Regional Paramedic Services (PRPS) has launched a pioneering medical drone pilot program designed to dispatch vital emergency treatments directly to bystanders before ground ambulances can arrive. Serving the community of Bolton, Ontario, the initiative aims to shave critical minutes off response times during acute, life-threatening incidents where immediate intervention can mean the difference between life and death.

US Senator Mark Warner of Virginia has introduced two pieces of legislation aimed at strengthening the nation’s response to tick-borne diseases while providing new protections for people living with alpha-gal syndrome (AGS). The proposals would expand federal research and surveillance efforts and, in a significant change for the food allergy community, add alpha-gal to the federal list of major food allergens, requiring clearer labeling of packaged foods.

Peanut allergy remains one of the most severe and unpredictable food allergies, capable of triggering life-threatening anaphylaxis from very small exposures in some individuals. In a promising new study published in Food Chemistry, researchers from the Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences and Wroclaw Medical University found that a natural plant enzyme isolated from the figleaf gourd (Cucurbita ficifolia) can significantly decrease the immunoreactivity of major peanut allergens.