Food allergies in babies and the latest medical advice for parents

By Dr. Mariam Chaalan, co-founder of Taste Bubs

There is a lot of misinformation and overwhelm out there around food allergen introduction for our babies.

Early introduction of food allergens doesn’t need to be a stressful event in a parent’s life – you’ve already got enough on your plate!

In 2015, I was a junior doctor practising medicine. At that time, how we thought about food allergens changed forever. Back then it was recommended that the introduction of the common allergy causing foods, allergens, should be delayed until after 12 months of age.

As I was starting my career, allergy guidelines and the way doctors recommend allergen introduction was about to change, in Australia and around the world, thanks to a landmark study published in the New England Journal of Medicine called the Learning Early About Peanut Allergy (LEAP) study.

The LEAP study showed that in babies thought to be at high risk for peanut allergy, peanut consumption three times per week achieved an 81% reduction in the prevalence of peanut allergy at 5 years of age. And in the group that didn’t consume any peanuts, they had six times higher rates of peanut allergy at 5 years of age.

Prior to the LEAP study, many doctors had been recommending that parents delay introducing allergenic foods.

Little did they know, delaying the introduction of these foods into an infant’s diet was contributing to the skyrocketing rates of food allergy around the world. This was especially true in Australia, where we have the highest rates of food allergy in the world.

Today, one in 10 babies have a food allergy. Allergies have been estimated to cost the Australian economy about $7 billion per year (yes, billion).

Research tells us we can reverse the trend of food allergies within Australia with early introduction, so what can we do as parents?

Three tips for introducing allergens

1. Start and plan early

The rule of thumb is that babies should start eating solids around four to six months. If you’re not sure if your baby is ready, it’s a great time to check in with your GP or early childhood nurse.

Once your baby has started solids it’s a good time to start thinking about introducing the common allergens.

2. One allergen at a time

We recommend introducing allergy causing foods one at a time. That is because, if your baby has a reaction, it is easy to identify the culprit.

The majority of reactions occur within minutes to one to two hours after eating the allergen. These reactions can be mild, such as a rash, hives, subtle swelling to the face, tummy pain or vomiting.

When the reaction is severe, we call it anaphylaxis and this may include difficulty breathing, swelling of the tongue, difficulty swallowing, severe tummy pain, vomiting, looking pale or causing a change in level of consciousness.

Fortunately, nothing a parent would ever miss, and the instructions are simple, call 000 or seek medical attention as quickly as possible.

3. Keep going

We know from research that continuing to eat the common allergens is very important in reducing the risk of lifelong allergies. That means that just because your baby has tolerated a food once, does not mean you should stop giving it to them.

Keep going, make sure your baby is regularly eating the common food allergens to reduce their risk of food allergies, lifelong.

As a doctor I know the research, I know the guidelines. But as a mum I know how hard it can be. And that’s why GPs like me are always happy to help.

The most common food allergies are to:

• cow’s milk
• eggs
• soybeans
• peanuts
• tree nuts like cashews, pistachios, walnuts, pecans or hazelnuts
• sesame
• wheat
• fish
• shellfish

Dr. Mariam and Dr. Rob are the co-founders of Taste Bubs’ Allergen Starter Pack, a first-of-its-kind Australian innovation set to tackles Australia’s high child food allergy rates.

The hassle-free, four-week cycle program is a first of its kind in Australia, designed to safely and conveniently introduce seven of the most common food allergens to babies.

Each pack contains 28 powdered allergen sachets – with no additives or sugars – that can easily be mixed into age-appropriate baby food (purée, mash, cereals etc.).