Can children grow out of food allergies? Here's what the experts say

Living with a food allergy can mean anything from annoying rashes to carrying an auto-injector everywhere you go.

Understanding whether a reaction is an allergy or an intolerance is important, because some food allergies – like cow's milk and egg – can be outgrown.

Symptoms of a food allergy can appear straight away or days later. They include:

Other symptoms – like rashes and itchy skin, diarrhoea and sickness – can overlap with intolerances, which is why it's important to get professionally diagnosed.

Alexandra Santos, paediatric allergy professor at King's College London, says it's more common for people to report a food allergy than to have it confirmed after a proper assessment.

Still, anyone experiencing breathing difficulties, throat swelling or any other symptoms of anaphylaxis should seek urgent medical help.

The good news is babies often grow out of some allergies, says Clare Mills, professor of molecular allergology at Manchester University. These include:

While it is possible to have a cow's milk allergy as an adult, it's very rare, says Mills.

"We ran a birth cohort study across Europe with many thousands of children enrolled. When we did the school age follow-up, there wasn't a single cow's milk allergic child left. But we had about 1.5% when they were babies."

Unfortunately, other food allergies tend to be persistent or lifelong, says Santos. These include:

A food intolerance is when your body reacts badly to certain foods, but unlike an allergy, your immune system isn't involved.

Lactose intolerance and gluten intolerance (not to be confused with coeliac disease) are classic examples.

An intolerance, external can cause:

"They tend not to be life-threatening, but they can be debilitating," says Mills.

The most common type of food allergy is an IgE-mediated allergy, where your immune system reacts to proteins in foods it deems unsafe.

IgE antibodies normally fight things like parasites but for some of us, we develop them in response to pollen or food, says Mills.

While for many the allergic response is relatively mild, for others it can quickly become life-threatening.

What's more, for some people, only a tiny amount is required to trigger a reaction – that's why food allergies can be so dangerous and why you see warnings on packaging like 'may contain traces of nuts'.

Young children with severe eczema, external can be at higher risk.

When the skin barrier is broken, allergens can slip in and "sensitise" them before they develop a tolerance, says Amena Warner, head of clinical services at Allergy UK.

"Don't be surprised or scared if the GP thinks it might need steroids to get it under control – the longer you leave eczema, the higher the probability is that it could lead to developing food allergies."

Children with eczema – and those with egg allergies, external – might also be more at risk of developing a peanut allergy, she adds.

Having a family history of allergies is also a risk factor.

New research suggests, external introducing common allergens like peanut and egg to a baby's diet from around six months could help reduce the risk of developing allergies.

So you shouldn't avoid common food allergens when weaning unless there's a history of food allergies in the family, external (in which case you should get medical advice).

And the NHS says, external, unless you're allergic yourself, you don't need to avoid common allergens when you're pregnant, either.

"The body needs that immunological recognition," explains Warner.

Experts stress that allergy testing should never be done at home, whether or not you think you've outgrown the allergy.

Mills is very clear: "You should never experiment with any of this at home. It's just not safe."

The safest way is an oral food challenge where patients try tiny, increasing amounts of the food under strict medical supervision, says Santos.

Scientists are definitely making exciting progress.

Palforzia, external, a treatment for peanut allergy, has been approved and while it's not a cure, it can reduce sensitivity, says Mills.

There are also therapies being developed for milk, egg and tree nuts, she adds.

Food allergies can change over time, particularly during childhood, but experts say that any suspected allergy should be assessed properly by doctors.

While some children will eventually be able to eat foods that caused reactions when they were younger, only medical testing under professional supervision can tell you if an allergy has really gone away.

Originally published March 2022, updated August 2026.

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