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For parents of a baby diagnosed with a peanut allergy, the label changes everything: every meal checked, every birthday party negotiated, an adrenaline injector carried everywhere. Now a landmark Australian study suggests that for more than one in three of those babies, the label itself may be wrong.
The research, from the Murdoch Children's Research Institute and the National Allergy Centre of Excellence, assessed 1,275 infants under 18 months old across 10 paediatric hospitals in Australia between April 2024 and October 2025. Every baby had reacted to peanut before the age of 12 months and tested positive for the allergy. But when 778 of them were given gradually increasing amounts of peanut powder under strict medical supervision — a test called an oral food challenge — 271 showed no allergic reaction at all. That is 35%: more than one in three could have the diagnosis removed and start eating peanuts regularly.
Why the result surprised even the researchers
The team expected some babies to outgrow the allergy, but not this many. "We didn't have exact [expected] numbers, but definitely nowhere near a third," senior research clinician Dr Tim Brettig told Australia's Royal Australian College of General Practitioners. The findings were published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice.
Scientists suspect some babies may have a temporary allergy that fades within months, or a window in infancy before the allergy is fully established. "Our theory is that there is a period in the infancy where you've got this concept of whether it's a bit more of a transient allergy, or there's a window where we might be able to get in before the food allergy is really established," Dr Brettig said. The researchers stress there is no clear answer yet.
The other side of the numbers
The result is good news — but only with a firm warning attached. Of the babies who took the food challenge, 65% did react, and 12% suffered anaphylaxis, a potentially life-threatening emergency. Every reaction was safely managed by the medical teams running the tests, and almost all of the babies who reacted — 97.5% — went on to start peanut oral immunotherapy, a treatment of daily peanut doses that builds tolerance.
That is exactly why experts insist parents must never test this at home. A child who has previously reacted to peanut should only be given the food again under specialist medical guidance, in a setting where anaphylaxis can be treated immediately. The study's message is not "peanut allergy is overblown" — it is that a diagnosis based on history and a skin or blood test alone is not always the full story, and a supervised food challenge should be routinely considered before a family commits to years of avoidance.
What should parents do?
If your baby has been diagnosed with a peanut allergy, the practical step is to ask your allergist about a supervised oral food challenge and a re-evaluation plan as your child grows — not to experiment at home. Removing an unnecessary label spares a child years of food avoidance, anxiety and treatment; keeping a real one, properly confirmed, keeps them safe. The difference between the two is a test done in the right place, by the right people.
This article is general information only and is not medical advice.
Sources: FemaleFirst, The Independent (via Hometown Post). Internal: Blood Pressure Drug Recall: 3,744 Bottles Pulled, People Were Getting High 2,800 Years Ago — The Siberian Tomb That Proves It.