Should I Have My Child Tested for Allergies Even if They Don’t Appear to Have Them?

My children don’t seem to be allergic to any foods, but should I have them tested just in case?

Better safe than sorry, right? Not in this case. “Blood testing to screen for food allergies is not a good idea without a history of reaction to a food,” says Subhadra Siegel, MD, Pediatric Allergist and Immunologist, Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital at Westchester Medical Center.

That’s because the test results might show an allergy even if there isn’t one. “There is a 50 percent false positive rate with food allergy testing, so half the kids who eat a food without reaction would test positive even though they don’t have an allergy,” she explains. “Only get tested if there is reason to think a food is causing an allergic reaction.”

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Pediatric Pulmonology, Allergy, and Sleep Medicine

Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital at Westchester Medical Center