The complex nature of allergic disease exposes infants to an increased risk of nutritional inadequacies. Allergic
inflammation requiring extensive dietary regimens may underlie the poor growth frequently reported. Nutritional management is directed towards the prevention of explicitly diet-related deficiencies, the mainstay of treatment of
food allergy being strict avoidance of offending
antigens in the diet. The advantage of elimination diets lies in silencing the specific allergic
inflammation induced by the food responsible, the effect thus being
antigen-specific. Concomitantly, food may also contain immunomodulatory factors, and indeed research into the management of allergic disease is evolving from passive
allergen avoidance to the invention of novel dietary compounds with specific effects in alleviating the immunoinflammatory reaction and stabilizing the gut mucosal barrier. Active schemes include supplementation of nutrients, particularly
fatty acids and
antioxidant vitamins, and probiotics with properties influencing immunoregulatory pathways. However, the conceivable joint effects of a range of nutrients and other potentially active components in the subject's habitual diet cannot be ruled out. Prior to implementation of these concepts in management regimes or products for infants, further exploration of their effects and mechanisms, including both short- and long-term safety evaluation, is called for.