The Myth That Allergy Testing Can Predict What Foods to Avoid Although the current guidelines sound straightforward, some parents still worry that their child will have a potentially life-threatening allergic reaction. For reassurance, some parents will ask for food allergy testing to screen or predict what foods they should avoid feeding their baby. Food allergy tests, however, are not designed for this. Testing for multiple foods before they have ever been introduced can lead to unnecessary food avoidance. Food allergy tests are not a simple “positive” or “negative,” but require careful interpretation that includes what happens after eating the food. If the food has never been eaten, or if the food has been eaten many times with no reaction, then the results mean nothing and can lead to unnecessary avoidance. In fact, in children with eczema, the risk of a false positive food allergy test is between 50-90%. Skip the Commercial Food Sensitivity Tests Parents should also avoid purchasing commercial “food sensitivity” home testing kits. These tests can be bought online and identify multiple food-specific IgG antibodies in the blood. But a normal immune system makes IgG to foods that you eat - it is a marker of food exposure and Testing a child without a history of a reaction to a food turns a diagnostic tool into a source of medical misinformation, leading to unnecessary panic and the dangerous elimination of safe, nutritious foods from a child’s diet. 106 Hawaii Parent NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2026
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