Introducing peanut or egg in infants as young as three months roughly halves the risk of developing an allergy to either food, a systematic review has confirmed.

UK doctors say there is high-certainty evidence to support this approach to cut the likelihood of IgE-mediated food allergy at 1-5 years of age.

Using data from some 13,700 participants in 23 trials, the Imperial College London-led team explored the association between the timing of allergenic food introduction — including peanut, egg, cow’s milk, wheat and soya — and later risk of food allergy.

Overall, they found that giving infants multiple allergenic foods between two and 12 months of age was linked to a 51% lower risk of any food allergy in early childhood, compared with the introduction of a single allergenic food.