Australian study finds some babies may no longer have peanut allergy
05 Nov 2026
Researchers from the Murdoch Children's Research Institute (MCRI) and the National Allergy Centre of Excellence (NACE) studied infants who had previously experienced a reaction to peanuts and received a positive allergy test.
The study, published in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice, involved 1,275 infants under 18 months of age across 10 paediatric hospitals in Australia.
The assessments took place between April 2024 and October 2025. All participating babies had been diagnosed with a peanut allergy before reaching 12 months of age.
Researchers used supervised oral food challenges to check whether the infants still reacted to peanuts. Each baby received a small amount of peanut flour, followed by gradually increasing amounts over 90 minutes if no reaction occurred.
The maximum amount was one teaspoon in a single dose and two teaspoons in total. Babies who showed no reaction were monitored for another two hours to check for delayed symptoms.
Of the 1,275 infants initially assessed, 778 completed the oral food challenge. The remaining families did not proceed for reasons including access difficulties, age restrictions and concerns about exposing their babies to peanuts.
The results showed that 35% of babies who completed the challenge did not experience an allergic reaction. However, 65% still reacted, and 12% of those who reacted experienced anaphylaxis.
Dr Tim Brettig, Senior Research Clinician at MCRI, said the results were unexpected, with researchers surprised that more than one-third of the infants no longer showed a reaction during testing.
He said the findings may change how specialists assess peanut allergies in young babies.
Researchers have not yet identified why some infants stopped reacting to peanuts. However, one possible explanation is that early childhood may provide a period when some food allergies are not yet firmly established.
Almost all infants who reacted during the challenge went on to start peanut oral immunotherapy. The treatment was successfully started in 97.5% of these babies, with doses guided by their challenge results.
Dr Brettig said the findings highlight the importance of reviewing suspected peanut allergies rather than automatically accepting an initial diagnosis as permanent.
He encouraged GPs and maternal and child health nurses to refer children to specialist centres for further assessment when appropriate.
The researchers say supervised allergy testing can help identify children who may no longer react to peanuts and could avoid unnecessary long-term food restrictions.
Australian study finds some babies may no longer have peanut allergy
Source: Murdoch Children's Research Institute (MCRI) and National Allergy Centre of Excellence (NACE), published in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice.