Back to Post Listings

Oral Food Challenge (Cupcake)

Date Posted: 10 May 2023

Child's age in this post: 22 months old

The events in this post took place in: mid 2022

---

When the paediatrician mentioned, "We will give you a recipe and instructions for a cupcake food challenge," I admit I was a bit confused, as I didn't know what a food challenge was at that time.

In this post, I'm sharing our experience with an Oral Food Challenge for our child's dairy allergy. It was a mix of hope and anxiety but ultimately gave us a definitive answer regarding the severity of her dairy allergy.

TLDR:

1. An Oral Food Challenge can provide a definitive test of your child’s allergy and the severity of the allergy.
2. Consult your doctor before attempting one.
3. Don't try it at home unless your doctor gives the go-ahead.

The Challenge

So, what happened? Our challenge involved home-baked cupcakes, following a specific recipe from the hospital. It was a way to test my kiddo's reaction to cooked dairy, which we were secretly hoping she would tolerate.

The challenge typically involves feeding small quantities of foods containing the allergen over an extended period of time. Additionally, the child/testee must be perfectly well at the time of the test (so their body is strong enough to combat any adverse reactions) and should not have taken any antihistamines 1-2 weeks prior for the accuracy of reactions.

Usually, food challenges are conducted in hospitals so healthcare professionals can monitor your child for any serious adverse reactions, but our doctor gave us the green light to try it at home, provided we strictly followed the instructions.

Here are the rough instructions we were given:

1. Start with ¼ of a teaspoon
2. Observe for any reactions for the next 15 minutes
3. Log timings, feed quantity, and any reactions
4. Increase quantity by another ¼ of a teaspoon and repeat

The first feed and 15 minutes went by without any observed reactions. The same for the second feed. However, just as I was about to offer the third feed, my daughter started rubbing her eyes, and the surrounding areas (under-eye area/eyelids) began to swell to the point where I could barely see her eyes!

Soon after, hives began to appear on the rest of her body and face. It was a frightening moment, confirming that even small quantities of cooked dairy were off-limits. We were hoping her dairy allergy was only to "live dairy protein," but this test sadly debunked that theory. We quickly administered antihistamine and stopped the test, noting all these observations in our log.

Overall, the Oral Food Challenge proved useful as it gave us a definitive understanding of the severity of her dairy allergy. It's worth talking to your doctor about such tests if you're interested. But remember, don't try this at home unless your doctor recommends it.

Back to Post Listings