How many people have food allergies? That is an argument for another day. But, the latest findings do show that infants with a milk or egg allergy may have an increased risk for developing a peanut allergy later in life.

The preliminary results are from a study by the Consortium of Food Allergy Research (CoFAR), supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), and reported in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. They studied over 500 infants, ranging from 3 to 15 months of age, with milk or egg allergies as confirmed by immunoglobulin E tests. None of the subjects had a known peanut allergy at the time of enrollment in the study.

However, further observation found that more of the infants had elevated levels of IgE antibodies to peanuts than anticipated, and that some of the infants had such high levels that they may already be allergic to peanuts without their parent’s knowledge.

The findings are still in the early stages as these children will be followed until they are 5 years old to see if their milk or egg allergy persists or resolves and if they fully develop an allergy to peanuts.

CoFAR was established in 2005 by the NIAID to develop new approaches for the treatment and prevention of food allergies. The consortium has five clinical sites: Mount Sinai Medical Center (New York), Duke University (North Carolina), Johns Hopkins Children’s Center (Maryland), National Jewish Health (Colorado), and University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (Arkansas).

Source: National Insitute of Health

Article by Alisa Fleming, author of Go Dairy Free: The Guide and Cookbook