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With over 32 million Americans battling food allergies, health advocates and officials are looking for the root cause — which includes looking into microbiomes.
The Food Allergy Fund (FAF) hosted a forum on Monday in Washington, D.C., with HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, FDA Chief Martin Makary and NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya.
In an interview with Fox News Digital, Makary shared how the function of microbiomes has evolved over time.
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The intestine hosts over a billion different types of bacteria, which normally live in balance, according to Makary.
The doctor added, “but when it’s altered by the modern-day diet and by antibiotics and other exposures … that disequilibrium can cause inflammation, it can cause health problems, and it may be implicated in food allergies.”
“Gut health is central to overall health,” Makary emphasized. Some beneficial microbes may be missing in modern populations due to dietary and environmental changes, which could play a role in the rise of food allergies, he added.
Researchers at Siolta Therapeutics are testing this theory. Their oral microbiome therapy, STMC-103H, has shown promising results in a Phase 2 trial involving 238 newborns with a family history of allergies.
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Early data suggests the therapy could reduce the risk of developing food allergies by 77%, indicating that improving gut bacteria early in life could prevent allergies before they start.
Final results are expected in early 2026.
Ilana Golant, FAF founder and CEO, told Fox News Digital “food allergies may be the canary in the coal mine for a much larger health crisis tied to the microbiome.”
FAF launched its Food Allergy Fund Microbiome Collective in New York City to further investigate how gut bacteria could help prevent or treat not only allergies, but also autoimmune and neurodegenerative diseases.
“Gut health is central to overall health.”
“Solving allergies could reveal how to prevent and treat a range of diseases — from autoimmune disorders to neurodegeneration — that impact millions of lives,” said Golant.
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Food allergies are widespread, affecting one in 10 adults and one in 13 children, according to FAF. Every three minutes, someone in the U.S. is treated in the emergency room for a severe allergic reaction.
Peanut allergies are among the most prevalent food allergies in the U.S., with new research showing that early peanut introduction could significantly reduce childhood allergies.
Secretary Kennedy observed at the FAF conference that food allergies — particularly involving peanuts — appear to be far more common among children today than when he was growing up.
“When I was a kid, I never met anyone with a peanut allergy,” Kennedy said. “I had 11 siblings and about 71 first cousins, and I didn’t know a single person in my schools or at any of the camps I went to who had one.”
“There may be many causes, or there may be just one — we don’t know yet.”
One of his sons has severe anaphylactic allergies to peanuts, tree nuts and several other foods, he shared.
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“By the time he was 2 years old, we’d been to the emergency room about 22 times,” Kennedy said.
“At first, I focused on how we were going to treat it and keep him safe. But my mind quickly went to the bigger question — why is this happening? I have five of my seven children with allergies,” he said.
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“There may be many causes, or there may be just one — we don’t know yet,” Kennedy continued. “But we’re going to study it. We’re going to break that omertà, end the taboo and find out what’s causing it.”
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