Trial food elimination: Suspected foods are removed from the diet to see if signs and symptoms of food allergy improve or resolve. For infants, this can mean continuing to feed with breast milk while mom avoids suspected food(s) from her diet under medical supervision, or a change in formula. (Mom doesn’t always have to avoid dairy: the doctor will advise if this isn’t needed.)
Oral food challenge: Some of the suspected allergen is fed to the patient, often in the doctor's office for safety, to see if a reaction occurs. A food challenge is "open" if the parent and/or patient know what the food is, or "blinded" if they don't know whether it's a safe food (“placebo”) or the suspected allergen.
Blood tests: Some tests use a patient's blood to see if a food is likely to cause an allergic reaction. It’s important for these tests to be given and read by a board-certified allergist. These can tell an allergist if a patient is sensitized to a food but aren’t guaranteed to predict a true allergy in every case.
Skin prick test: The skin is pricked to introduce a small amount of the potential antigen under the skin (in close contact with the immune system). Multiple foods can be tested in a row. During an office visit, the allergist monitors to see how the skin reacts over short period of time.
Atopy patch test: A small amount of the potential allergen is placed in a cup against the skin. Several potential allergens can be tested at the same time, often across the back. An allergist checks whether any of the samples cause inflammation.
When a doctor suspects an infant might have a cow milk allergy, the trial food elimination is used most often. It may be followed by an oral food challenge to confirm that there is a food allergy.
Cow Milk Allergy Products
Talk to your healthcare provider to determine which Neocate products are right for you.
