A note before we start: allergy and intolerance are not the same thing. An allergy involves the immune system and can be serious; an intolerance (to lactose, say) usually causes digestive discomfort. Here we mostly talk about allergies, where most of the research is, and about what can be done in the kitchen. This is not medical advice: with an allergy or a suspicion of one, start with a specialist.
Three reasons for hope
1. Introducing foods early can prevent allergy. The LEAP trial (New England Journal of Medicine, 2015) followed 640 infants at high risk of peanut allergy (severe eczema, egg allergy or both). Infants were randomly assigned to eat or avoid peanut until age 5, and those who ate it had far fewer allergies: in the group with a negative skin test, 1.9% versus 13.7% for those who avoided it; and among those already skin-test positive, 10.6% versus 35.3%. Serious adverse events did not differ between groups.
2. A medicine that lowers accidental reactions. On 16 February 2024 the FDA approved omalizumab (Xolair) to reduce the risk of reactions, including anaphylaxis, after accidental exposure to one or more foods, in people aged 1 and over with IgE-mediated food allergy. In the phase 3 trial (168 participants), 68% of those on the drug tolerated a 600 mg dose of peanut protein without moderate or severe symptoms, versus 6% on placebo.
3. Cooked egg, one step at a time. Many children with egg allergy tolerate well-baked egg (in a muffin, for instance) and, under supervision, climb the "egg ladder" until they tolerate ordinary egg. A review cited in the latest protocol published in Frontiers in Allergy (2025) reports baked-egg tolerance of 70 to 97%, and a 2024 meta-analysis found 69% tolerated raw egg using the ladder (with a wide confidence interval, 50 to 85%, and only 193 children). That protocol is, in fact, an ongoing trial in Poland comparing two ladders: there are no results yet.
Why it is good news
For years the advice was "avoid and wait". Today science is starting to offer alternatives: prevent through timely introduction, lower the risk of an accidental scare and, in some cases, win foods back gradually. None of it replaces an allergist, but it changes the mood in which many families approach the table.
Back to the kitchen, without myths
We live surrounded by products with long ingredient lists, and it is no surprise that more people want to go back to simple: few ingredients, recognisable, made at home. Cooking for yourself has a concrete advantage for anyone living with an allergy or intolerance: you know exactly what goes in what you serve, and you can change it.
Without falling for the myth, though: "natural" does not mean "safe" (peanut, egg and wheat are natural and are allergens), and homemade does not replace reading the labels of what you buy or following your doctor's guidance.
Our fortune cookie recipe is a good example: egg whites, wheat flour and oil, nothing but pantry ingredients. If there is an egg allergy, the recipe itself suggests swapping the whites for aquafaba (the liquid from cooked chickpeas), giving slightly more fragile cookies. Other variants, such as gluten-free flours, we have not tested and do not want to promise a result: try them calmly and, with coeliac disease, check that every ingredient is certified gluten-free.
What we still do not know
- Omalizumab is not a cure: the foods must still be avoided, it is not an emergency treatment, it carries a boxed warning for anaphylaxis and must be started in a facility prepared for it. It was tested in people allergic to peanut and other foods.
- Early introduction was studied in high-risk infants within a clinical trial: do not try it on your own if your baby has severe eczema or egg allergy, ask first.
- The egg ladder still has no standardised protocols and should not be done at home without a specialist's go-ahead: reactions can happen.
- Intolerances (lactose, non-coeliac gluten sensitivity) work differently and have fewer trials like these; we have not covered them here.
This story's fortune cookie
Every story comes with a cookie from its category, "Proverbs". This one says:
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
Open this cookie More proverbs sayings
Sources
- FDA Approves First Medication to Help Reduce Allergic Reactions to Multiple Foods After Accidental Exposure. U.S. Food and Drug Administration, .
- Randomized trial of peanut consumption in infants at risk for peanut allergy (LEAP). The New England Journal of Medicine, .
- Efficacy and safety of a 4-step versus a 5-step egg ladder in children with IgE-mediated hen's egg protein allergy: protocol for an open-label randomized controlled trial. Frontiers in Allergy, .
- Receta de galletas de la suerte caseras. La galleta de la suerte (esta web).
More good news
-
Chile, El Salvador and others in the Americas eliminate diseases
In one year, five countries and territories in the Americas received WHO recognition for eliminating diseases such as leprosy, trachoma and mother-to-child HIV transmission.
-
Personalized mRNA vaccine cuts melanoma relapse risk by 42%
An mRNA therapy designed from each patient's own tumor cut the risk of relapse or death by 42% in people who had surgery for melanoma. It is the first phase 3 trial to show this.
-
Christmas is close: bake fortune cookies with printable messages
The holidays are near and it is a good moment to prepare something different: homemade cookies with a Christmas message, and slips to print.