Low-dose hazelnut food challenges in children with hazelnut allergy
What it found
In 43 children allergic to hazelnut, most could eat up to 2.5 grams without serious problems during a supervised test.
Reactions were mostly mild mouth symptoms.
What they found
Studies in people
Reaching the full dose
Twenty-eight out of 43 children (65.1%) managed to eat the full 2.5 grams of hazelnut during the test.
Types of reactions
Twenty children had no reaction at all. The other 23 had 55 reactions in total. Most were mouth itching or tingling (34 cases), followed by rash (8), stomach pain (6), hives (2), swelling (2) and breathing trouble (3).
Eczema linked to reactions
Children who had eczema were more likely to show symptoms during the feeding test than those without it. This was the only clear difference between the two groups.
Allergy test results
Before the feeding test, skin prick tests showed an average wheal size of 7.2 mm. Blood tests for hazelnut antibodies averaged 25.3 kU/L.
What the authors conclude
- They say this low-dose hazelnut feeding test was well accepted by children and produced only mild reactions, mostly limited to the mouth.
- They suggest the test could improve quality of life for children with hazelnut allergy.
- They recommend using this approach more widely when treating hazelnut allergy.
How it was done
Hazelnut allergy affects about 0.2% of people in Europe. Doctors use feeding tests to find the smallest amount that causes symptoms, so children do not have to follow overly strict diets.
Doctors looked back at records from 70 children referred for hazelnut allergy at a hospital in Italy between January 2015 and December 2016. Forty-three children took part in a feeding test where they ate small amounts of hazelnut until reaching a total of 2.5 grams.
What it can’t tell you
- This study looked back at medical records rather than randomly assigning children to different groups, so it cannot prove cause and effect.
- It only included children seen at one hospital in Italy, so the results might not match what happens everywhere.
- The test used a maximum dose of 2.5 grams, so it does not show what happens when children eat larger amounts of hazelnut.
Who paid
- Authors work at
- University of Florence, Florence; University of Florence, Italy; University of L'Aquila, Italy
The paper
- Title
- Low-Dose Oral Food Challenge with Hazelnut: Efficacy and Tolerability in Children
- Type
- Study
- Evidence
- Studies in people
- Summarised from
- Full text
- Cite
- Barni S, Mori F, Piccorossi A, et al (2019). Low-Dose Oral Food Challenge with Hazelnut: Efficacy and Tolerability in Children. International archives of allergy and immunology. doi:10.1159/000493019Free full textPubMed 30261506DOI
Summary written 30 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error