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Tweetorial- Early introduction of foods to prevent food allergy is best done once complementary foods are introduced. Around 4-6 months is a good time to start. The foods you can use are listed below with the serving size nutrients and cost per week. 1/ https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1c86F_oKgA7hLE
This chart shows that the cost per week using conventional foods such as egg, milk, peanut butter is around $1. These foods would ideally be be given 2-3 times per week. The dose of foods such as peanut, and egg have generally been studied and shown to be effective. 2/
This chart shows the dose that could be used during infancy to try and prevent development of food allergies. I hear you saying, “but many foods have not been studied!” True. Which is why you should read the article. And why the table tells you what evidence there is. 3/
How did we pick the doses for foods like tree nuts that have yet to have published studies showing evidence of preventing food allergy? Remember, they are food. @VenterCarina and @GroetchMarion used infant nutrition principles to ensure the doses fit into a balanced diet 4/
How do you give a child so many different foods 2-3 times per week? Aren’t there so many different tree nuts? Yes, but you could combine the tree nuts into a relatively inexpensive mixed nut butter using the handy recipe we included from @VenterCarina 5/
Wow, that seems like a lot of work. Why doesn’t someone make a version of these foods that are premixed and measured and include all the different food allergens? When there is a market then someone will make that product- and many did. So we reviewed them in this chart! 6/
What you can see from the charts if your eyes can see tiny print is that each product has a different food allergen in them. And none has all of them at once. Probably peanut, egg, sesame, wheat, soy and tree nut in a baby food form wouldn’t be appetizing? Let’s review them. 7/
Each product has a different amount of the food in each serving. How did they come up with the dose? Well some clearly read studies and used those doses. Others... we couldn’t figure it out either. If you compare Table 1 doses to these doses, many have doses that are low. 8/
And if you look at the cost of using these products on a monthly basis they are most often significantly higher than could be achieved using conventional foods in store shelves. Also, the cost is widely variable between the products. So shop around! 9/
When comparing these commercially available products ( @HelloPeanut_ @LilMixins @MightyMeKids @_ReadySetFood @SpoonfulOne @gerber @HappyFamily)pay attention to the foods they contain, the dose they contain (and consider if the dose is “high enough”), and of course the cost. 10/
Why doesn’t someone compare commercially available products with conventional foods for early introduction of potential food allergens? We thought the same. So we did. 11/
Conventional foods can be cheaper, easier to get the right dose, can have higher nutritional value, and can be heated to desired temperature (especially important for egg). 12/
Why choose a commercially available early introduction product? I tell my patients that eating potentially allergenic foods early and often in any way you can is the goal. If you find these products to be more convenient or easier despite the cost then use them. 13/
Remember that when introducing a potential food allergen early, you cannot forget the often part. It is possible to become allergic to a food if it is not eaten frequently. So be mindful of the costs of these foods being needed for many months 14/
I want to thank you for listening and my partners @VenterCarina @GroetchMarion @DrDougMackMD in this project. All are fierce advocates for preventing and managing food allergies in both their patients and all children. https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1c86F_oKgA7hLE
