The safe introduction of peanut and other food allergens to infants is being monitored as part of a new nationwide GP project to promote best practice in reducing allergy.

The project — which trials a text message reporting system called SmartStart Allergy — is making a “real difference”, says its instigator, Perth GP Dr Alan Leeb, who founded the similar SmartVax vaccine safety program.

In 2016, infant feeding guidelines were changed to advise introduction of allergenic foods before the age of 12 months, but parental uptake of the advice had been slow, Dr Leeb said.

He collaborated on the allergy project with the National Allergy Strategy and Perth Children’s Hospital Foundation, and presented preliminary data at the RACGP conference in Adelaide last month.