Samenvatting van de NHG-Standaard ‘Voedselovergevoeligheid’

Conflict of interest: none declared. Financial support: none declared.

• October 2010 the Dutch College of General Practitioners issued a revised version of their previous practice guideline of 1995 on food hypersensitivity in infants.

• If patients suspect either themselves or their child of having a food allergy, this is usually not demonstrated in subsequent investigation.

• Wrongly prescribed elimination diets may have adverse effects.

• Examination of serum specific IgE levels has no place in the diagnosis of food allergy in general practice.

• An open elimination challenge is especially suitable in order to exclude a food allergy.

• A sure diagnosis of food allergy can only be made by a double-blind placebo-controlled food challenge.

• There are no proven effective measures that can prevent food allergy.