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If you answer “Yes” to any of the questions below, please call the allergy service on 0191 282 5984 option 1 or email [email protected]

Do they have an acute illness such as cold, sore throat, rash or infection?
Are there other allergic conditions like eczema or asthma under control?
Does your child have any symptoms of hayfever at the moment?
Has your child taken any antihistamine or cough syrup in 5 days before their challenge?
Has your child taken their blue inhaler in the 3 days before the challenge?
Have they reacted to the food since they were last visiting clinic?
Have they eaten the food being challenged with no problems since they last came to clinic?
Is your child a fussy or selective eater?
Will it be difficult to introduce/reintroduce the food into your child’s diet on a regular basis

What is a food \ supervised feed?

A food challenge is always performed in hospital as it is the safest way of finding out if your child reacts to a food or not.

If your child is taking antihistamine medicine (eg: Piriton©, Zitek© or Clarityn©) they will need to stop taking them for five days before they come for their appointment as they will interfere with the food challenge/supervised feed. Please be aware that some cough and cold remedies (such as Benylin© and Medised©) contain antihistamine.

It is important that your child continues to take other medication such as asthma inhalers, nasal sprays or other medicines.

Please bring your child’s antihistamines, asthma inhalers and, if prescribed, adrenaline autoinjectors (JEXT or Epipen) to the food challenge/supervised feed appointment,

How is a challenge performed?

You and your child will be admitted to the children’s clinic. The nurse who looks after your child will challenge a food in increasing doses until a top dose is successfully eaten/ swallowed.

If your child is having a food challenge, the food will be given in increasing doses every twenty minutes. Your child will be checked for signs of an allergic reaction prior to each dose of food being administered.

If your child is having a supervised feed, they will be given a normal portion of the food to eat within 30 mins and then monitored.

Once all the doses have been eaten you will need to stay on the ward for a minimum of 1 to 2 hours to ensure there is no delayed reaction to the challenge.

If there is no reaction within that time your child is no longer allergic.

You will be given further information on the day about introducing this into your child’s diet.

It is a long day, so please come prepared. We have a play area however you may wish to bring toys / activities to keep your child (and yourself!) entertained.

If your child is having a food challenge, we will provide the food being challenged however we will contact you in advance if we are unable to supply.

It is a good idea to bring foods your child likes which we could use to disguise the food should they not like the food being challenged. You can find a list of the foods used for challenge are below.

Bribery treats are always useful if we are having difficulties, or your child is a fussy eater!

If you think your child may have difficulties with eating the food being tested, you can contact our allergy nurse specialist in advance to discuss ideas.

The foods we use commonly in the challenge.

Cow’s milk	Full fat milk
Baked milk	Digestive biscuits
Egg	Scrambled egg
Baked egg	Cake (family need to prepare in advance). A recipe for the cake will be sent with appointment letter
Soya	Soya milk
Peanut / treenut	Nuts / Nut butter (under 4yrs)
Wheat	Weetabix
Fish	Steamed / grilled fish with no coating or seasoning
Sesame	Tahini paste
Shellfish	Prawns (cooked but cold)
Oat	Oat biscuits

Meals for your child

Unfortunately, due to the vast range of multiple allergies we encounter we are unable to provide your child with a meal. Therefore, we ask that you bring a packed lunch / meal or snacks for your child. Unfortunately, there is no microwave on the unit. Please make sure that your child has eaten this food before, and it does not contain any of the food being challenged or they are allergic to.

Allergic reactions

Food challenges can cause an allergic reaction, involving the eyes, nose, mouth, skin, and gut. Anaphylaxis is a more severe form of these symptoms and can involve the airway, breathing and/or circulation.

Your child will constantly be assessed throughout the challenge and any symptoms will be monitored and treated as necessary. Anaphylaxis is very unusual during a food challenge but should this occur our team are experienced in coping with such situations.

After the challenge

If your child has reacted to the food during the challenge, he or she should not do strenuous play, activities, or exercise for the rest of the day as this could bring on a delayed reaction. A delayed reaction can happen up to 48 hours later.

If your child has not reacted to the food during the challenge, he or she should not eat the food until the following day in case of delayed symptoms.

It is important to introduce the food into your child’s diet at regular intervals of at least once or twice a week, once they have passed the food challenge.

Short notice waiting list

Unfortunately, there is a long wait for challenges however we do get cancellations and an earlier appointment may become available.

If you wish to be added to the short notice waiting list, please email [email protected] and provide your child details and a mobile number. We would contact you by text if an earlier appointment becomes available.