Peanut allergy study finds babies should be retested. Here’s what parents should know.

November 5, 2026 / 12:26 PM EST / CBS News

It's one of the most common hardships for parents with young kids — policing what their children eat when they are diagnosed with a peanut allergy.

About one in 50 kids in the United States has a peanut allergy. But a new study from Australia shows parents should consider having their kids retested.

More than one-third of babies thought to have a peanut allergy could safely have the diagnosis removed, according to research from the Murdoch Children's Research Institute and the National Allergy Centre of Excellence, published this week in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

Infants in the study had recently had a reaction to peanuts and then tested positive for a peanut allergy. However, 34.8% of those infants who tested positive were then found not to have an allergic reaction when given slowly increasing doses of peanuts under strict medical supervision, according to the study.

Oral food challenges aren't being used enough, according to those who conducted the study, as most parents rely on testing alone.

"Oral food challenges are not currently used routinely for every infant with suspected peanut allergy," National Allergy Centre of Excellence Director…

Original source: https://www.cbsnews.com/healthwatch/