For families of children with food allergies, every snack or birthday party can feel like a minefield. But a pair of new studies presented at the 2025 Annual Scientific Meeting of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI) offer fresh hope, showing that carefully supervised oral treatments can not only build tolerance to allergens but also ease the daily anxiety that often comes with them.
In one study, researchers followed 74 children, ages 12 and under, who underwent oral immunotherapy (OIT) for common food allergens including peanuts, tree nuts, sesame, egg and milk. During treatment, tiny, precisely measured amounts of the allergen were introduced under medical supervision to retrain the immune system’s response. Parents completed detailed surveys about their family’s quality of life before and after therapy.
The results were striking: nearly two-thirds of the children could freely eat the allergen after completing treatment, while the rest maintained “protective doses” that guard against accidental exposure. Parents reported dramatic improvements in confidence and peace of mind, with 88% saying their families felt less anxious about meals, school lunches and social situations.
“The burden of food allergy goes beyond physical health — it affects mental well-being and can involve social engagement,” said Dr. Lamya Jaigirdar, lead author of the study. “Seeing such clear improvements is encouraging for the whole family.”
A second case report presented at the meeting described two high-risk infants, just 6 and 10 months old, who achieved full tolerance to peanuts through an innovative, medication-free protocol that started with raw peanuts before gradually moving to roasted peanuts. At three-year follow-up, both children could eat peanuts daily without symptoms, a first-of-its-kind success that may pave the way for future research in early-life desensitization.
“We know that early introduction of peanut reduces allergy risk, but there are no protocols for treating confirmed peanut allergy in infancy,” said Dr. Rachel Kado, an allergist and study co-author. “The raw-then-roasted peanut protocol offers a promising new approach and should be considered in early immunotherapy strategies for high-risk allergic infants.”
Together, the findings highlight how oral food challenges, long used as diagnostic tools, are becoming cornerstones of treatment strategies that help children safely outgrow allergies. They also emphasize that these procedures should always take place in clinical settings, not at home, where reactions can’t be safely managed.
Peanut and other food allergies affect roughly 6 million children in the United States, and rates continue to rise. For many families, these emerging therapies represent more than medical progress; they offer a path toward normalcy.
The research was supported by participating institutions and the ACAAI; no commercial sponsors were involved in study design or analysis.