Like many Western nations, several decades ago, Australia blundered down the path of advising parents to withhold allergenic foods, like eggs and peanuts, from weaning babies.

Our country held the distinction of having one of the world’s highest paediatric allergy rates — one in 10 children — when researchers began to question the validity of the prevailing dogma.

It had been thought that allergen introduction should be staggered because the immaturity of the infant gut mucosal barrier might increase the risk of sensitisation.

But by 2008, the Australasian Society for Clinical Immunology and Allergy had decided to amend its guidelines on introduction of allergens with a small but significant wording change: “Don’t delay.”