FARE Launches Baby’s First: Reduce the Risk of Food Allergies

McLEAN, Va. (April 30, 2020) — Today, FARE (Food Allergy Research & Education), the world’s leading food allergy advocacy organization and the largest private funder of food allergy research, announced the launch of a new resource geared at raising awareness of the benefits of introducing a variety of new foods to babies and educating people on how they might be able to help reduce the risk of developing food allergies. 

“Food allergies affect 5.6 million children. The incidence of food allergies is increasing every day, and has doubled over the last decade,” said Lisa Gable, chief executive officer of FARE. “Parents want their babies to get the best nutrition but it’s not easy to know how exactly to go about that, especially given the abundance of information available to parents online. FARE created Baby’s First so new and soon-to-be parents have access to all the best information on introducing new foods, available in one place from a trusted source.”

Dr. Ruchi Gupta will serve as lead spokesperson for Baby’s First. Dr. Gupta is a Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine at Northwestern University, Clinical Attending at Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, and a mother to two children, one of whom has severe food allergies. Gupta also serves as FARE’s Medical Advisor for Policy, Education and Public Health. 

“For a long time, parents and doctors alike believed babies should not be exposed to certain foods in their first year but things have changed,” said Dr. Gupta. “Strong research and promising studies now show that introducing a variety of foods into a baby’s diet is recommended –and it may help lower the risk of certain food allergies like peanuts.  Of course, always discuss with your baby’s doctor first.  I am thrilled to be playing a part in FARE’s efforts to raise awareness around this important topic and look forward to helping parents all over the country as they embark on this new adventure.”

Published in 2015 and funded in part by FARE, the Learning Early About Peanut Allergy (LEAP) study transformed the guidance that pediatricians and allergists/immunologists give to parents about when to introduce peanut foods to children. The research led the American Academy of Pediatrics to endorse early introduction of peanut foods for infants at risk for peanut allergy. In 2017, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, published new guidelines for introducing peanut foods to infants. These recommendations vary depending on a baby’s risk of developing peanut allergy, which can be evaluated by the baby’s primary care physician or by an allergist/immunologist. Baby’s First brings together the latest expert advice to help guide how parents and families can put these recommendations into practice.

For more information on early introduction and Baby’s First, visit www.BabysFirst.org.