Urge USDA to Equip Families to Prevent Peanut Allergies

The proposed rule for the?WIC?Food Package?update (the first in a decade)?has been published and, unbelievably, it does not include peanut foods for the under 12 month old participants. As a mother and as a registered dietitian who works in food allergies, I’m frankly shocked. The WIC program currently serves about 50% of infants born in the U.S. Importantly, research has shown that Black children and children who live in lower socioeconomic households are at greater risk for developing peanut allergies, however they may also be less likely to introduce peanut foods. Without access to peanut-containing foods and health education to safely introduce peanut foods, tens of thousands of infants may develop peanut allergies unnecessarily. While nearly 30% of children may outgrow their peanut allergy, the majority will have to manage it their whole life. For families already facing nutrition insecurity and limited access to healthcare, adding the burden of a potentially preventable peanut allergy seems incredibly unfair.

In the U.S. today, about 2% of children have a peanut allergy and up to 8% have some sort of food allergy. This amounts to more than 5 million children who must avoid specific foods in order to prevent potentially life-threatening reactions. For decades, scientists watched as rates of food allergies increased with no way to prevent them. Exactly why food allergies have been on the rise is likely due to multiple factors, including changes in the foods we eat, environmental influences, impacts on the microbiome, and vitamin/mineral status, just to name some. While we may not yet be able to identify all of the contributing factors that cause food allergies, we now know that there is a simple intervention for preventing peanut allergies – feed babies peanut-containing foods early and often.

The early introduction of peanut foods to prevent peanut allergies is solidly supported by science and endorsed by researchers and experts in the medical and food allergy community - and was included in the latest Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which are meant to guide government-funded nutrition programs.

The recommendations from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease and endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology, and American College of Allergy Asthma and Immunology, based on the LEAP (learning early about peanut allergy) study and other studies, recommend starting infant-safe peanut foods at 4-6 months and keeping it in the diet regularly. Most recently, it was also included in the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which WIC seeks to align with in through the proposed program updates. This is now the standard of care, with the potential to prevent most peanut allergies, and it has been since 2017.

Ensuring that children and their families have access to nutritious and protective foods, and the education to use them, is paramount for our nation’s approach to public health. WIC is one of the most successful of all federal nutrition programs. Importantly, there are some very positive changes proposed. I’m excited to see more flexibility for those who have existing allergies to access safe nutritious options. I’m very happy to see the value of the packages for older children and mothers increased thanks to the inclusion of more fruits and vegetables. It is appropriate to make seafood more accessible too. These are positive changes and they will serve WIC participants well, but they do not prevent peanut allergies.

To omit this important change could have a truly detrimental impact on so many children and does not bring the WIC Food Package into alignment with the standard of care promoted by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.?A simple way to do this is to add peanut butter along with education on introduction to the food package for infants 6-11 months. This would amount to approximately two jars of peanut butter per baby – a small cost for a huge potential benefit.

Please consider how you can help educate USDA on the importance of peanut allergy prevention. USDA needs to hear from people who care about the health of all children during the?public comment period, which is open through February 21. The agency will consider input received through this process before issuing a final rule.?Share your comments at?https://www.regulations.gov/commenton/FNS-2022-0007-0001.??

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