Peanut Allergies: A Changing Approach

As a peanut butter company, we hear it all the time: “Why do so many kids have peanut allergies now? No one was allergic to peanut when I was a kid!”

We wish we knew. While most scientists agree there is an environmental cause for the increase in food allergies, we may never know the exact reason they’re on the rise. The rate has more than doubled in the past few decades—meaning more than 5.9 million American children are now diagnosed with food allergies. Recent therapies, however, are giving hope to the millions of families struggling to keep kids safe from dangerous allergies.

The newest approach for treating peanut allergies in kids is an approach called oral immunotherapy, in which children are given microscopic doses of peanuts (always while being closely monitored in a doctor’s office or hospital setting.) The dose is increased slowly over time, enabling the child to become desensitized to the peanuts, and eventually, to consume peanuts safely. A study in the medical journal The Lancet has shown that the therapy is effective in 99 percent of peanut allergy sufferers. (If you suspect your child may have any sensitivity to peanuts or other foods, talk to an allergist immediately.)

Here at PB Crave, we hope that someday every child can safely enjoy the nutritional benefits of peanuts and peanut products like PB Crave.