Introducing Peanuts: A Guide for Parents

Allergy to peanuts is one of the most common food allergies. It tends to develop early in life and can persist through adulthood. Reactions can range from mild to life threatening. The current treatment for peanut allergy is avoidance and carrying epinephrine.

Research released in 2015 showed that early introduction of peanut-containing food to infants considered at high risk was beneficial. "High risk" is described as those with severe eczema, egg allergy or both.

Low risk for food allergy

If your infant has no eczema or any food allergy, then you can freely introduce peanut-containing foods into their diet around 6 months of age, as part of family’s diet and preferences.

Medium risk for food allergy

If your infant has mild to moderate eczema, they are encouraged to eat peanut-containing foods introduced into their diet around 6 months of age. This may be done at home or in the office setting, your health care provider will discuss this option with you.

Peanuts should be introduced when the family is comfortable introducing peanuts based family’s dietary preferences.

High risk for food allergy

If your infant has severe eczema, egg allergy or both, check with your PCP before feeding. They may either to do a blood test or send you to an allergy specialist for additional testing. The results will help determine if peanuts should be introduced into your infant’s diet. If the test results determine that it is safe, this may be done at home or it may be recommended to do it in an office setting. Introduction can occur at 4 to 6 months of age. If test results are high, then avoidance may be recommended at this time.

Infants should never be given whole peanuts due to choking hazard. Introduce other solid foods before trying peanut-containing foods.

Information provided by US Department of Health and Human Services