SOLVING THE PEANUT PROBLEM

GIVING BACK

24

BuckHaven Lifestyle | October 2020

PHOTOGRAPHY MARY CLAIRE STEWART & SARA HANNA ARTICLE BUCKHAVEN LIFESTYLE STAFF

CATHERINE AND JJ JAXON OF BUCKHEAD KNEW

HOW

LIFE-CHANGING

FOOD

ALLERGIES COULD BE AFTER THEIR OLDEST DAUGHTER DEVELOPED A SEVERE NUT ALLERGY AS A BABY. But there was really good news when their third child came along in 2015, thanks to groundbreaking research that proved most peanut allergies could be prevented by starting babies on peanut foods in the first year of life. Determined to make peanut allergy prevention accessible, the Jaxons partnered with the pediatric allergist who led the research, Dr. Gideon Lack, and together they launched a new food product, Mission MightyMe Proactive Peanut Puffs. Dr. Lack’s research served as the basis for the new medical guidelines. “We’re on a mission to help end the food allergy epidemic by making it easy and enjoyable for parents to follow the new guidelines,” says Catherine.  The USDA released their 2020 Dietary Guidelines, which (for the first time) addresses infant health and recommend peanut introduction in the first year of life to help prevent peanut allergies.  This  is big news, and adds to the growing number of organizations (including the American Academy of Pediatrics and National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases) that now recommend peanut introduction in infancy to prevent peanut allergies.  This study only comes out every five years and dictates what much of the country eats, serving as the cornerstone  for federal nutrition programs and policies. However, despite the massive change in guidelines, there are still very few options for consumers who want to incorporate these recommendations in their children’s diets to help prevent food allergies. We sat down with Catherine,