Dr. Sarita Patil of the Allergy and Clinical Immunology Unit discusses food allergies.

Diagnosing & Treating Food Allergy

The Mass General Food Allergy Program offers a full range of diagnostic and treatment services for adults and children at the hospital's main campus in Boston, which includes Mass General for Children. Many of our services are also available at Mass General Brigham Healthcare Center (Waltham).

We focus primarily on the diagnosis and treatment of:

  • Immunoglobulin E-mediated (IgE-mediated) food allergy: immediate, potentially life-threatening reactions to milk, eggs, peanuts, wheat, soy, tree nuts, fish, shellfish and other foods
  • IgE-associated diseases: eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE), gastroenteritis, atopic dermatitis
  • Other food antigen-associated diseases: food protein-induced enterocolitis

The initial evaluation typically entails a detailed medical history and physical examination.

When appropriate, we also refer you for skin prick testing, blood testing, or occasionally a food challenge. A food challenge is the most definitive procedure for testing whether someone can tolerate a specific food; for safety reasons, this can only be performed in the Allergy Clinic.

Careful selection and interpretation of these various tests helps us pinpoint which foods may be causing your symptoms.

An important goal of evaluation is first to determine whether a suspected food reaction is indeed due to an allergic reaction. Next, we seek to identify the offending food using available evaluation methods such as skin testing. Finally, we choose the most effective treatment for you, either avoidance (the most common solution) or medical treatment. Treatment for food allergy usually consists of educating the patient on avoiding the foods causing the symptoms, including unintentional exposures. We will discuss whether you or your child is a candidate for available therapies to treat and prevent reactions to foods to which you are proven to be allergic. Available options include Oral Immunotherapy (OIT) and omalizumab. These options are available for select patients.

In some cases, suspected gastrointestinal allergic disease may be further evaluated by referral to MGH Gastroenterology.

In the case of an avoidance diet, we can refer you to work with dieticians to design a solution that provides optimal nutrition. We also offer guidance on avoidance of the foods we have identified as problematic, including a detailed treatment plan to manage unintentional exposures.

Based on results of studies regarding possible prevention of peanut allergy in children who would otherwise be at risk, we have recently opened a dedicated clinic at Mass General Brigham Healthcare Center (Waltham) once a week focusing on evaluation, management and prevention of peanut allergy in children.

Your entire care team is committed to educating you about your diagnosis and the various aspects of its management, which can be difficult to navigate (especially for children). We believe ongoing patient education is essential to optimizing long-term management of your food allergy. Throughout your relationship with us, we will be completely forthcoming about the limits of what we currently understand and what we believe to be the most promising areas of research.


Dr. Michelle Conroy discusses the role of food challenges in the assessment of food allergy.

A Commitment to Pioneering Research

Today, treatments for food allergy are largely limited to avoidance. At the Food Allergy Program, we are committed to conducting multidisciplinary research that furthers our understanding of food allergy. As proven new treatments emerge, they will help us provide the best possible care for all our patients.

Upcoming clinical trials at Mass General will explore:

  • The role of oral immunotherapy in peanut allergy (for children six to 21 years of age)
  • The natural history of eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) (for adults and children)
  • The efficacy of research laboratory tests for predicting allergenic foods in EoE (for adults and children)
  • The efficacy of elimination diets in EoE (for adults and children)

Browse online for open trials

Recipes for Food Challenges

An Experienced & Committed Team

Our multidisciplinary team includes allergists and other clinicians who have extensive experience in diagnosing and treating food allergies and incorporate the latest evidence-based research into treatment protocols.