What Are Complimentary Food Allergens in Your Baby?

Once your baby turns six-months-old, it is important for you to introduce complementary foods in his/her daily diet to meet the growing needs of your baby. However, this needs to be gradually taken care of because the complementary foods should match the digestive capacity of your infant. This will also reduce the chances of allergic reactions in your infant due to any complementary food. Food allergies are becoming prevalent in India with around 6-8% of children suffering from it. (Source: Journal of scientific and industrial research; SV Gangal & B K Malik).

You may be wondering, why food allergy in my baby? A food allergy occurs when certain food (allergen) causes an immune reaction – which means, it causes the production of immune antibodies and symptoms like hives, swelling of lips, eyes or face, vomiting and wheezing come to surface.

Mild to moderate symptoms of food allergy include:

•  Swelling of face, lips and/or eyes
•  Hives or welts on the skin
•  Abdominal pain and vomiting

Signs of a severe allergic reaction (anaphylaxis) to foods include:

• Difficulty in breathing or noisy breathing
• Swelling of tongue, tightness in throat or hoarse voice
• Wheezing, persistent coughing or