More than one in three Australian babies thought to have a peanut allergy can actually eat the nuts safely, according to a study published in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice.
The research shows that standard allergy tests and clinical histories alone are frequently insufficient for diagnosing infants. Led by the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and the National Allergy Centre of Excellence in partnership with 10 pediatric public hospitals across Australia, the study evaluated 1,275 infants under 18 months of age between April 2024 and October 2025.
Australia holds one of the highest reported rates of childhood food allergies in the world, with peanut allergies impacting approximately one in 30 children. The recent findings emerged from an evaluation of the Allergy Development to an Accelerated Pathway to Tolerance Peanut Oral Immunotherapy Program, known as ADAPT, which launched in 2024.
The initiative represents the first nationally standardized model of care for peanut allergy treatment and the first program of its kind offered in Australian public hospitals outside of a clinical trial setting.
During the study, 778 infants underwent supervised oral food challenges to determine their true allergy status. Participating hospitals included major facilities such as the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne, the Children’s Hospital at Westmead, and Sydney Children’s Hospital. Researchers discovered that 35 per cent of the infants showed no reaction at all during the hospital assessments.
Under the protocol evaluated by the research team, infants were given up to seven gradually increasing doses of peanut protein, ranging from 15 to 1,300 milligrams, administered every 15 minutes under strict medical supervision. Eligibility for the program required a previous Consortium for Food Allergy Research grade 1 or 2 reaction to peanut alongside sensitization, such as a positive skin prick test of at least 3 millimeters or specific IgE thresholds.
“A supervised oral food challenge should be routinely considered to confirm the diagnosis before an infant starts oral immunotherapy,” said Professor Kirsten Perrett, leader of MCRI’s Population Allergy Group, director at NACE and lead of the ADAPT programme.
Infants who passed the challenge had their allergy labels removed, sparing families from burdensome dietary restrictions and unnecessary allergen avoidance. For families like Leah and her infant son Arthur—who was referred to the ADAPT program and subsequently passed his challenge—the change brought relief from the uncertainty of managing a suspected allergy.
While 35 per cent of the infants tested tolerated the peanut protein, about 65 per cent did experience an allergic reaction during the challenge. Among those who reacted, 12 per cent experienced anaphylaxis.
“This is not something to try at home — 12% of those babies had anaphylaxis,” said Dr. Tania Elliott, a CBS News medical contributor and immunologist, as quoted by CBS News. “OK, so this needs to happen in a monitored setting in the doctor’s office, where they’re given small amounts of peanut to determine if they’re still allergic.”
Medical teams successfully managed every adverse event during the hospital trials. Infants who reacted during the oral food challenges embarked on oral immunotherapy, a treatment involving daily doses of peanut to build tolerance.
“Being able to identify those children early allows them to avoid an unnecessary allergy label and the burden of avoiding peanut,” said Dr. Timothy Brettig, a pediatric allergist at the National Allergy Centre of Excellence in Australia and senior research clinician at MCRI.
Readers with questions regarding an infant diagnosis or potential food allergies should consult a qualified allergist or pediatrician rather than attempting any food challenges at home.