Primum non nocere-first do no harm. And then feed peanut.

The Addendum Guidelines for the Prevention of Peanut Allergy in the United States-Report of the NIAID-Sponsored Expert Panel were developed to build on previous food allergy guidelines after several key studies demonstrated the benefit of early introduction of allergenic foods. These landmark studies including the Learning Early about Peanut (LEAP), LEAP-On and Enquiring about Tolerance trials created a paradigm shift in food allergy prevention. The "take home" messages of this guideline include that peanut should be introduced early in the first year of life, and for the majority of infants, peanut can be introduced at home. The only group of infants for which medical assessment is recommended is those with severe eczema, egg allergy or both. Here we summarize the Guideline recommendations, endorsed by the Canadian Society of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, and highlight important aspects relevant to Canadian practitioners.

Dietary exposures and allergy prevention in high-risk infants: a joint position statement of the Canadian Society of Allergy and Clinical Immunology and the Canadian Paediatric Society.

Allergic conditions in children are a prevalent health concern in Canada. The burden of disease and the societal costs of proper diagnosis and management are considerable, making the primary prevention of allergic conditions a desirable health care objective. This position statement reviews current evidence on dietary exposures and allergy prevention in infants at high risk of developing allergic conditions. It revisits previous dietary recommendations for pregnancy, breastfeeding and formula-feeding, and provides an approach for introducing solid foods to high-risk infants. While there is no evidence that delaying the introduction of any specific food beyond six months of age helps to prevent allergy, the protective effect of early introduction of potentially allergenic foods (at four to six months) remains under investigation. Recent research appears to suggest that regularly ingesting a new, potentially allergenic food may be as important as when that food is first introduced. This article has already been published (Paediatr Child Health. 2013 Dec;18(10):545-54), and is being re-published with permission from the original publisher, the Canadian Paediatric Society.