Studies have shown that in the twenty years since the World Health Organization recommended parents delay starting solids until six months, food allergies have increased by 300–400 per cent but only in English-speaking countries. Every year in Australia, about 9000 children develop peanut allergy. This results in costs (such as EpiPen), inconvenience (such as food choices at home and school), and a small but significant mortality rate from anaphylaxis. In recent years, there has been increasing evidence that there is a period of oral tolerance where a baby’s gut is most capable of recognising
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