CHICAGO, October 21, 2025 — The number of pre-school-aged children with an allergy to peanuts dropped by 43% between 2017 and 2020, a result of introducing the legume into the youngsters’ diet as soon as they could consume solid foods, according to a groundbreaking new study.
The study upends the longstanding assumption that children should not be allowed to eat peanuts or derivatives like peanut butter until age 3.
Researchers noted that the dramatic drop in the prevalence of a peanut allergy among children under age 3 came quickly in a clinical trial of the early-exposure approach. Tests of the Learning Early About Peanut Allergy (LEAP) theory did not begin until 2015. Within just a few years, the method of prevention was validated by the steep drop in allergy incidences, from a rate of about 0.79% in 2012-2015 to 0.45% in 2017 through 2020.
The numbers pencil out to 60,000 fewer children harboring a peanut allergy as of age 3. The prevailing wisdom had been to prevent children from even trying peanuts until that age because of the allergy risk.
The research revealed that the early-exposure approach appears to be effective in averting allergies to other foods as well, though with significant variation. Allergies to milk declined, while no change was seen in sensitivities to eggs, for instance.
Food allergies are a major top-of-mind-issue in the food-away-from-home (FAFH) industry because even a trace of an allergen can trigger an extreme or even lethal reaction in someone with an extreme sensitivity. Some sufferers are so vulnerable that airlines have largely ceased handing out packets of peanuts as an inflight snack because minute airborne particles could endanger someone with an allergy.
California recently enacted a law that will require chain restaurants and other multi-unit FAFH operations to flag items on their menus that contain allergens. The first-in-the-nation measure takes effect July 1.
The research report released Monday was principally authored by Dr. David Hill, an allergist with the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
Other researchers pointed out that more research is needed to pinpoint some of the variables that come into play in the early-exposure approach to preventing peanut allergies. For instance, how big of a peanut serving should be presented to toddlers? Exactly how old should they be?
The early-exposure approach has already been espoused by the National Peanut Board, the trade group for peanut growers and marketers. It estimates that up to 86% of peanut allergies can be averted by what it calls eary peanut introduction.
As Managing Editor for IFMA The Food Away from Home Association, Romeo is responsible for generating the group's news and feature content. He brings more than 40 years of experience in covering restaurants to the position.
Cover image courtesy: Closed Loop Project