Food Allergy Prevention: More Than Peanut

Abstract

Given an apparent increase in food allergies worldwide, the focus on prevention strategies has intensified. Following the Learning Early About Peanut study, there is now a widespread acceptance that peanut should be introduced promptly into the diet of high-risk infants. However, most food allergies are caused by triggers other than peanut and additional prevention strategies are being evaluated. The appreciation of the role of an impaired skin barrier in the process of food sensitization and subsequent allergy has led to a spectrum of dermatologically orientated studies. Other prevention strategies address the role of the microbiome, dietary components, and other modifiable risk factors. With regard to early introduction of foods other than peanut, studies are heterogeneous in design and governmental and professional society response to the early introduction trials has varied, ranging from new guidelines confining advice specifically to peanut, to ones recommending prompt introduction of a broad spectrum of allergenic foods. Much remains to be determined with regard to the acceptability and uptake of the new guidelines and their impact on infant feeding behavior and food allergy outcomes. This review discusses the panoply of prevention approaches, their promise, and limitations.