Thanks to the growing influence of the Web, more information than ever is now available to help parents understand their child’s rights when it comes to schools making accommodations for students with food allergies and intolerances.

To begin with, it’s important to know that according to the U.S. government, public schools are not necessarily required to make an accommodation for children with celiac disease, and if a school does choose to make accommodation, the gluten-free substitution does not need to be identical to that of the non-gluten-free option.

Taking a step backward for a moment, in 1973, the United States Congress passed Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of physical or mental disability and states:

No otherwise qualified individual with handicaps … shall, solely by reason of her or his handicap, be excluded from the participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance…

To be protected under Section 504, a child must have a disability that is defined as a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities; has a record of such an impairment; and, is regarded as having such an impairment.

Sadly, celiac disease by itself does not qualify a student for special accommodations, even under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

In 1990, Congress passed the Americans with Disability act. Title II of the Act requires equal availability and accessibility in state and local government programs and services, including public schools. The U.S. Dept. of Agriculture oversees school lunch programs and requires public school systems to provide substitutions for “qualified disabled students” whose disability restricts their diet, but since many school systems are set up to follow the qualifications associated with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, celiac disease — because it isn’t defined as a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities — rarely qualifies for special accommodations.

It seems for now at least, parents of children with celiac disease must be extremely strong and vocal advocates for their kids. To learn more about what you can do to help your child and their school navigate the myriad of issues associated with celiac disease and back to school, visit the Celiac Sprue Association’s Getting Along at School web page.

Let’s pretend for a moment that we had been blogging since our establishment in July of 2000. If you had been following our blog, you would certainly remember the excitement we shared with you when:

1. We were chosen as Bike Magazine’s Nutrition Bar of the Year in 2004.
2. You would also recall the pride we expressed when we announced we were donating 20,000 PureFit Nutrition Bars to U.S. troops in Iraq through Operation Gratitude in August of 2007.
3. No doubt you would recall our enthusiastic support of the Best Friends Animal Society, Challenged Athletes Foundation, Celiac Sprue Association, and City of Hope.
4. You would have also read about new flavors, new reviews, new packaging, and wider distribution–we would have written about it all.

Many of you know that instead of writing blog entries, we were traveling. You saw us at more than 100 events around the country, but had we been blogging, many more of you would remember our blog entries chronicling the PureFit Team’s relentless travel schedule intended to get our bars into the hands of fitness enthusiasts, athletes, and the people who need them most, like celiacs and diabetics. We are, after all, happiest when we can be face-to-face with any individual committed to good health through nutrition and exercise.

You would of course also remember reading numerous blog entries about the exploits of Kilee and Pikachu (don’t worry, there will be much more to come about these canine PureFit pundits-they really do run the show!) and the rest of the PureFit Team.

In short, if we had been blogging over the past seven years, you would recall seven years worth of stories about bringing the best bar to market. Seven years of blood, sweat and tears in pursuit of the most nutritious energy bar available. Seven years of overwhelming pride in our product (and you would know we’re most proud of what our bars DON’T contain-no dairy, wheat, gluten, artificial sweeteners, hydrogenated oils, trans fats or sugar alcohols). Seven years of passion for educating you about how to achieve optimum health and fitness through nutrition and exercise.

In the final equation, while we are a company that makes a very competitive, award-winning product, which has traveled the world with some of the top performing athletes of the 21st century, we are really just people (and two dogs) who care about the well-being of other people (and dogs). That’s where our company began, and that’s what our blog is really all about. It is an opportunity to connect on a more personal level with you, for you are way more than just customers to us.

Welcome to the PureFit Blog-welcome to the PureFit family. The next seven years are going to be incredible.