Food allergy can be worrying, and cutting out foods you don't need to avoid makes daily life harder. We help work out which foods are a genuine risk, which are safe to eat, and how to stay safe.
Common food allergens
Many children outgrow milk, egg, wheat and soy allergy. Peanut, tree nut, fish and shellfish allergy are more likely to last.
Two kinds of reaction
Quick reactions
Can be severe. Hives or welts, swelling of lips, face or eyes, tingling mouth, vomiting or stomach pain, wheeze or hoarse voice, and in young children, becoming pale and floppy.
Delayed reactions
Mostly affecting the gut or skin. Repeated vomiting 1 to 4 hours after a food, diarrhoea, blood or mucus in a baby's poo, reflux or feed refusal, and eczema flares. Skin prick tests are often negative.
How we work it out
History
Which food, how much, how quickly symptoms started, and which foods you eat without problems.
Tests
Skin prick or blood tests, only for foods your history points to.
Food challenge
When the answer is still unclear, a supervised challenge shows whether the food is safe.
Your plan
Foods to avoid or keep eating, an ASCIA action plan, and autoinjector training if needed.
Oral food challenges
You (or your child) eat small, gradually increasing amounts of a food in our clinic while our doctor and nurse monitor you closely, following standard ASCIA protocols. It's the most reliable way to confirm an allergy or show one has been outgrown. Some higher-risk challenges need to be done in hospital; your doctor will advise.
Before the day
We'll tell you if you need to bring the challenge food. Pause medicines only as advised. Plan to stay about half a day.
On the day
You must be well, with no fever, cold or cough, and stable asthma. Bring your autoinjector if you have one.
Afterwards
If no reaction, keep eating the food regularly. If there is one, we manage it and update your plan. Your GP gets a report either way.
For children: talk about it beforehand and let them know they'll be looked after quickly if they react. Bring books or games, as challenges take time. We may ask you to bring a food your child likes to mix with the challenge food. If more than one child is being challenged, please bring an adult for each child.
Follow-up skin prick testing
Many children outgrow food allergies such as milk and egg allergy. Your doctor may recommend repeat skin prick testing, usually every 6–12 months, to check whether the allergy is resolving and whether an oral food challenge may be appropriate. The timing depends on the food, your child's age and their test results, and your doctor will advise what is right for you. Repeat testing is charged at the standard skin prick test fee, together with an allergy review consultation (see Fees).
Before your appointment
- Food allergy questionnaire: adults
- Food allergy questionnaire: children
- ASCIA: food allergy ↗
- ASCIA: food allergy testing ↗
Ready to find your triggers?
Allergy appointments can't be booked online. Email your completed ASCIA Clinical History Form or call us, and our doctors will review it and contact you within 7 business days.