Alpha-Gal Labeling Bill Returns to Congress Amid Rising Health Concerns

The U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., where H.R. 1178, a bill that would add alpha-gal to federal allergen labeling requirements, is currently under consideration.

On Wednesday, April 29, 2026, H.R. 1178, also known as the Alpha-gal Allergen Inclusion Act, will be on the agenda of the Subcommittee on Health of the U.S. House of Representatives. Introduced on September 10, 2024, by Congressman Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey’s 2^nd District, this legislation would alter the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act of 2004 (FALCPA) to add alpha-gal, a carbohydrate found in all mammalian products (meat, dairy, gelatin, etc.) and select outliers, as the tenth allergen that must be labelled on all FDA-regulated packaged foods. The original law identified eight major food allergens and was later amended by the FASTER Act to include sesame. The bill is currently in the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. It was on the Health Subcommittee’s agenda in June of 2025, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was unable to send a witness, so it was removed. Now, it is back on the agenda and has the opportunity to be reported to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, the next step in the process to become law.

According to Sharon Forsyth, Executive Director of the Alpha-gal Alliance Action Fund, alpha-gal meets the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) criteria for major allergens. The first criterion is evidence of an IgE-mediated allergy, which has been proven in the case of alpha-gal syndrome (AGS). As AGS is the tenth most common food allergy in the United States, affecting up to 6% of the population, it also meets the second criterion of prevalence. The third is severity – approximately 75% of AGS patients experience anaphylactic reactions, and AGS is the number one cause of anaphylaxis in adults.

A surprising number of foods contain hidden or poorly labeled ingredients that contain the alpha-gal carbohydrate. Some of the most common culprits are protein drink mixes and energy bars that contain whey (a dairy product) and gelatinous products, such as marshmallows and gummy bears. Dr. Collette Tilly, a Fellow at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, emphasizes the difficulty of managing AGS given its high potential for accidental exposure. She commented, “Not having… clear transparency is definitely difficult for our patients. They’re trying to do their best, but when they’re having repeat exposures… they’re trying to navigate what’s actually causing it as well.”

Forsyth says she knows many people who have ended up in the hospital due to trace amounts of alpha-gal that were not labeled on packaged foods. She added, “Not too long ago, I heard from a gentleman who ate a cough drop that he didn’t realize had alpha-gal in it, and he had such a severe reaction that not only did he end up in the… ICU, but he went into kidney failure and had to go on dialysis.” 

Explained the long-term effects of continued exposure, Dr. Tilly said “Some of these patients [who are experiencing regular accidental exposure] are on chronic steroids to help with swelling or hives, and we know that systemic steroids for prolonged periods of time do have their own risk factors as well, whether that be bone health or… blood sugar [issues].” While this has not yet been heavily researched, she also expressed concern about the long-term effects of alpha-gal exposure for people with AGS.

When discussing the bill’s reception in Congress, Forsyth emphasized its bipartisan support. “I think people really understand that it’s an emerging public health crisis.” Representative Van Drew has been an active advocate, promoting the bill among his colleagues. “Designating alpha-gal as a major allergen is a big step in the right direction for both food safety and allergy management,” he said in a statement that accompanied the bill’s introduction.

Congressman Morgan Griffith, the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Health, has AGS. The GOP Doctors Caucus met with AGS advocates, including the Alpha-gal Alliance Action Fund and Dr. Scott Commins, an expert on AGS at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “They were very excited by our presentations,” Forsyth said of the meeting with the Caucus that included a number of members on the critical Health Subcommittee.

The food allergy community has also been an avid supporter of this legislation, Forsyth says. “Every [major food allergy group] has supported our bill.” H.R. 1178 enjoys support from some of the biggest names in food allergy research and advocacy, including Food Allergy Research and Education (FARE), Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Connection Team (FAACT), Allergy & Asthma Network, and the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA).

There is still a lot to be done and very little time to do it. The bill must pass both the House and the Senate before the end of the 119^th Congress in December. The next steps are to get it on the House floor and to find Senate sponsors. Forsyth and her team are looking for two Senate sponsors – one Republican and one Democrat – to maintain the bipartisan nature of the bill. Forsyth also emphasized the work to be done after the bill is passed, commenting “[While working on this bill], I realized that… [the] transition between law and people in industry actually knowing how to implement law is quite important.” She anticipates that the AGS community will need to work with industry and the FDA to help them understand how to implement this bill, especially as AGS is a slightly different allergy from other IgE-mediated allergies.

Forsyth hopes that this bill will “result in… far fewer reactions. I’m hoping that people will not feel like they can’t eat.” She says she hears about people in the community who lose forty pounds when they are first diagnosed, simply because they cannot find safe food. “A lot of people… who don’t know how to cook or the only store near them is a Dollar General, and there isn’t a whole lot of fresh food there, and they have to buy packaged foods – all of those folks should be safe, ” she stated.

Passage of this bill would also reduce the burden on the health care system, as fewer people would be hospitalized due to trace reactions. Dr. Tilly tells me about her patients who are on prophylactic antihistamines and hopes that reducing accidental exposures will also reduce the costs these patients incur in paying for regular medication.

“I think it should save our society money, and it should save people with alpha-gal syndrome lots of pain and suffering,” Forsyth said.

In response to the recently confirmed death due to alpha-gal exposure in his state of New Jersey, Congressman Van Drew delivered a clear message: “We cannot wait for another tragedy before we act.” 

Discussing her motivations, Forsyth said, “There’s a million other things I could do with my time. I would love to be out there… looking for orchids and rare butterflies and plants and dragonflies.… That’s my passion. But it’s just… all the stories of all the people who’ve reached out to me from the emergency room in a state of complete desperation. They are having a heart attack [and] don’t know what medications are safe for them…. I’m just weighed down by the suffering of all the people that have contacted me… in a state of complete fear. That’s why I don’t quit.” With a laugh, she adds, “The orchids are just going to have to wait.”