Quick Summary:
The ADINA Act (Allergen Disclosure in Non-food Articles Act) is a proposed federal bill that aims to require clear, plain-language labeling of the top nine major food allergens and gluten in all medications.
Bottom Line:
This legislation is designed to improve patient safety by giving individuals with food allergies, Celiac disease, and gluten sensitivities the essential information they need to avoid life-threatening allergic reactions from hidden ingredients in their medicine.
Why Do We Need ADINA?
When you are a person who happens to also have food allergies, you can count that most of the time when you pick up a product, you can see right on the label if the ingredients include one of those items that you cannot eat. Now try doing the same thing when you go grab some ibuprofen or cold medicine. Well good luck, today there is no law requiring that the medication label specifically call out that they include an ingredient that could cause an allergic reaction.
This is exactly the reason for the creation of the ADINA Act (Allergen Disclosure in Non-food Articles Act), which would require that major allergens are called out on the packaging for all drugs. You may be asking yourself, why can’t my doctor or pharmacist look at the ingredient list and just tell me if there is an allergen in there. Well it gets tricky, since the majority of these allergens are related to the inactive ingredients in medicine. These inactive components make up the majority of the pill or capsule that you take, where the actual medicine could be a tiny part. The other piece is that many of these inactive ingredients are actually derived from a major allergen or a gluten containing grain like wheat, barley, or rye. This reason makes it difficult to identify, even for well trained health care professionals. Here are a couple of examples:
| Food Allergy | Inactive Drug Component |
|---|---|
| Peanuts | Lecithin |
| Milk | Lactose |
| Eggs | Albumin |
This law would ensure that drug labels call out the specific major allergens. Since labels are already highly regulated and updated regularly, the adding of this information would not require a significant effort from the drug manufacturers.
Wait this is a no brainer, when was it approved by the government?
As of December 2025, the ADINA act has not been approved. The ADINA Act was introduced as a bipartisan legislation in multiple Congresses, first in 2023 and more recently being reintroduced in June 2025. It was referred to a committee for review and that is where it sits now. Even with significant support from members of both the House and Senate, little progress has been made in moving the bill along for approval.
What can I do?
You can contact your representative to discuss this bill and garner support to move it forward. A wonderful place to learn more about the ADINA Act and take action is https://www.adinaact.com/.
