False Positives Prevalent in Food Allergy Testing

Moral of the story: Lots of allergy testing is done either by blood tests or patch skin tests, both of which are NOT reliable.  Challenge tests are the best way to make sure you actually have to worry about your children eating peanuts.

Source: AMA Morning Rounds 7/23/2010

Study highlights prevalence of false positives in food allergy skin, blood tests.

The Chicago Tribune (7/24, Munz) reported, "Food allergies are often misdiagnosed, leaving many parents needlessly worrying about dangerous reactions and painstakingly monitoring food, said Dr. Leonard Bacharier, director of pediatric allergy and immunology at Washington University School of Medicine." One "key reason, he said, is many parents rely solely on the results of blood or skin tests, which are increasing in use because of easier access," yet, "experts agree blood and skin tests are not reliable." In fact, a recent study published in Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology found that 66 of "79 children who had positive skin or blood tests for peanut allergy" were actually not allergic.