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Food allergy prevention - early introduction, done with confidence.

Peanut and egg, introduced early and kept in the diet, cut a baby’s allergy risk dramatically - the LEAP evidence is emphatic. A consultant paediatric allergist risk-grades your baby, tests only where it helps, and hands you a plan you can actually follow.

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Indicative pricing

What private allergy prevention care costs in the UK.

Indicative ranges across our partner children’s allergy units.

In short

A full risk assessment with a paediatric allergist: £250–£450, most families need a single visit.

Procedure Indicative range
Paediatric allergy consultation £250–£450
Skin-prick testing (peanut, egg, panel) £150–£400
Specific IgE blood panel £200–£500
Supervised first introduction (in-clinic challenge) £400–£900
Dietitian weaning plan (allergy-focused) £120–£250
Follow-up review £150–£300

Prices vary by clinic and by how much the plan needs - most low-risk families require one consultation, while high-risk babies may add testing and a supervised first dose.

The problem

A prevention window measured in months - and waiting lists measured in longer.

Food allergy prevention fails through delay - frightened families postponing weaning, blanket avoidance advice, and NHS allergy waits that outlast the window. We fix the timing.

  • Delay is the risk, not the food

    Avoiding peanut and egg in infancy raises allergy risk. The evidence flipped a decade ago; feeding advice must flip with it.

  • Test the few, feed the many

    Only genuinely high-risk babies need testing before introduction. For everyone else, testing just delays the plate.

  • Eczema care is allergy prevention

    Sensitisation happens through inflamed skin. Treating eczema properly protects the gut’s chance to learn tolerance.

When it helps

Who benefits most from a prevention plan.

The families we see most, plus the one red flag that is an emergency rather than a prevention question.

  • Babies with early or severe eczema

    The strongest risk factor for food allergy - these babies gain most from early, deliberate introduction, sometimes with testing first.

  • Babies already allergic to egg

    Egg allergy multiplies peanut-allergy risk - LEAP showed these are exactly the infants early peanut helps most.

  • A sibling or parent with food allergy

    Family history raises anxiety more than it raises risk - usually a structured home plan, not a test-first pathway.

  • Parents afraid to start weaning

    Fear delays introduction, and delay increases risk. A clear written schedule - and a clinician behind it - breaks the deadlock.

  • Suspected reactions muddying the picture

    Rashes and refusals get mislabelled as allergy. Proper assessment stops unnecessary avoidance - itself a driver of true allergy.

  • Restricted maternal or infant diets

    Unnecessary exclusion during pregnancy, breastfeeding or weaning has no preventive value - we help families feed freely again.

  • Formula and milk questions

    Standard formula, partially hydrolysed claims, oat and soy drinks - we cut through the marketing with what the evidence actually supports.

  • Red flag: a real allergic reaction

    Hives, swelling, vomiting or any breathing change after a food is not a prevention question - it needs urgent assessment, and 999 if breathing is affected.

Procedure options

The prevention toolkit - and the myths it replaces.

What actually lowers a baby’s food allergy risk - and the well-meaning habits that raise it.

  • Early peanut introduction

    The LEAP trial cut peanut allergy by around 80 percent in high-risk infants introduced between 4 and 11 months. Smooth peanut butter or puffs - never whole nuts.

  • Early egg introduction

    Well-cooked egg from around 6 months lowers egg-allergy risk. Baked and hard-cooked forms first; raw and lightly cooked egg stay off the menu.

  • Weaning around six months

    UK guidance: introduce allergenic solids from around 6 months, and from 4 months in higher-risk babies on specialist advice - not before 4 months.

  • Keep it going once started

    Introduction is not a one-off. Regular exposure - roughly two to three times a week through toddlerhood - is what maintains tolerance.

  • Eczema control as allergy prevention

    Food sensitisation often happens through inflamed skin. Aggressive, confident eczema treatment is quietly one of the best prevention tools we have.

  • Risk-stratified testing

    Skin-prick testing before introduction only for the genuinely high-risk - severe eczema or existing egg allergy - so testing speeds feeding up rather than slowing it down.

  • Supervised first doses

    For sensitised or highest-risk babies, the first peanut or egg exposure happens in clinic with resuscitation facilities - then continues at home.

  • What does not work

    Maternal avoidance in pregnancy or breastfeeding, delayed introduction, and routine “allergy panels” on symptomless babies - none prevent allergy, and some make it likelier.

Safety and recovery

What to expect afterwards - honestly.

Early introduction is the safe path - but it deserves doing properly. Here is what to understand about reactions, textures and testing.

  • Early introduction is the safe option

    The counterintuitive truth: for most babies, giving peanut and egg early and often is safer than avoiding them. Delay - not exposure - is what drives allergy risk up.

  • First doses rarely cause serious reactions

    Reactions on first introduction in infants are usually mild - a rash around the mouth, mild hives. Severe first reactions in babies are rare, and clinic supervision covers the highest-risk few.

  • Choking is the other safety rule

    Whole nuts before age five, globs of thick peanut butter, and undercooked egg are the genuine hazards. Texture matters as much as timing.

  • Do not test without a reason

    Broad allergy panels on well babies produce false positives, needless avoidance and - perversely - more allergy. Testing is targeted or not done at all.

  • Know what a reaction looks like

    Hives, facial swelling, vomiting shortly after a food, coughing or wheeze. Every family leaves clinic with a written plan for exactly this - including when antihistamine is enough and when it is 999.

  • Red flags during introduction

    Any breathing difficulty, floppiness, repeated vomiting or widespread hives after a food - stop, call 999 if breathing is affected, and the clinic reviews the plan before the next step.

Reading your baby’s allergy plan

Your baby’s allergy plan in four parts. Read the last one first.

Whether your baby was low risk or needed testing first, the plan your allergist sends keeps to the same shape.

A UK paediatric allergist explaining an introduction plan to parents

A quiet reminder

Wheal sizes and IgE numbers frighten parents needlessly - we translate them for you.

If you would like us to talk you through the test results and the schedule before you start, just ask.

  1. 01 Header

    Risk category and rationale

    How your baby was risk-graded - eczema severity, existing allergies, family history - and why the plan follows from it.

  2. 02 Technique

    Tests done, if any

    Skin-prick wheal sizes and specific IgE values, interpreted properly - sensitisation on a test is not the same thing as allergy on a plate.

  3. 03 Findings

    The introduction schedule

    Which foods, which forms, what dose, how often - a fridge-door schedule for peanut, egg and the other main allergens.

  4. 04 Impression

    The safety net and next review

    Read this first: the written reaction plan, when antihistamine is enough versus 999, and when the plan is next reviewed.

Recognised by major UK insurers

BupaAXA HealthVitalityAvivaWPACignaHealixBupaAXA HealthVitalityAvivaWPACignaHealixBupaAXA HealthVitalityAvivaWPACignaHealix

Consultations and allergy testing are usually covered when clinically indicated; purely preventive visits vary by policy.

Frequently asked

Quick answers on early peanut and egg, the LEAP evidence, testing, timing, cost and NHS waits.

  • What is paediatric food allergy prevention?

    A deliberate, evidence-based approach to introducing allergenic foods - especially peanut and egg - early and regularly in a baby’s diet to train tolerance and reduce the chance of food allergy developing. For higher-risk babies it adds targeted testing, supervised first doses and aggressive eczema care.

  • Does early peanut introduction really work?

    Yes - this is one of the best-evidenced interventions in paediatric allergy. The LEAP trial found early, regular peanut consumption in high-risk infants cut peanut allergy by around 80 percent compared with avoidance, and the protection persisted years after. UK guidance now firmly supports early introduction.

  • When should I introduce peanut and egg?

    For most babies: from around 6 months, alongside other solids, in safe forms - smooth peanut butter thinned into puree, well-cooked egg. For higher-risk babies (early-onset or severe eczema, existing egg allergy), introduction from 4 months can be considered with specialist advice, sometimes after skin-prick testing. Never before 4 months, and never whole nuts before five years.

  • Does my baby need allergy testing before trying peanut?

    Usually not. Testing before introduction is reserved for genuinely high-risk babies - severe eczema or an existing food allergy - where a skin-prick test decides between home introduction and a supervised first dose in clinic. Broad allergy panels on well babies cause more harm than good.

  • How much does private allergy prevention care cost in the UK?

    A paediatric allergy consultation is typically £250–£450, skin-prick testing £150–£400, and a supervised in-clinic first introduction £400–£900. A dietitian-built weaning plan adds £120–£250. Most low-risk families need only a single consultation.

  • What is available on the NHS?

    NHS paediatric allergy services exist but are heavily oversubscribed - routine waits of several months to over a year are common in many regions, which sits badly with a prevention window measured in months of infancy. Health visitors and GPs advise on standard weaning; specialist risk assessment and supervised introduction are where families most often go private for speed.

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