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Find a food allergy dietitian near you
Food Allergy and Sensitivity Support: Safe, Evidence-Based Nutrition Care
Trying to manage food allergies, for yourself or your child, can be overwhelming.
If you’re struggling with a food allergy or sensitivity and feeling sick after you eat, you may be eliminating foods from your diet in an attempt to figure out what could be causing your symptoms. Eliminating all these foods from your diet often cause further issues and malnutrition.
When you’re introducing foods to your baby, it’s important to use a preventative approach so you’re minimizing your child’s risk of developing food allergies.
We help children and adults with the following:
- IgE-Mediated allergies: True food allergies involving the immune system that can cause immediate reactions like hives, swelling, difficulty breathing, or anaphylaxis. These require strict avoidance of trigger foods.
- Non-IgE Mediated allergies: Delayed immune reactions that may cause symptoms like vomiting and diarrhea hours after eating. These foods may sometimes be tolerated in processed forms or reintroduced over time.
- Food Intolerances: Non-immune reactions that cause digestive symptoms. Examples include lactose intolerance or gluten sensitivity (when celiac disease has been ruled out). These often involve threshold amounts that can be tolerated.
See a full list of specialized food allergies here.
Questions around food allergies or sensitivities
This is a crucial distinction that affects how you manage your symptoms and safety. Our ON Dietitians help you understand the difference between true food allergies (which involve the immune system and can be life-threatening) and food intolerances (which cause digestive discomfort but aren’t dangerous). We guide you through the proper testing and evaluation process with your medical team to get an accurate diagnosis and appropriate treatment plan.
Identifying trigger foods requires a systematic approach to ensure your safety and accuracy. Our food allergy specialists help you work with your doctor to determine whether you need allergy testing, and guide you through safe elimination and reintroduction protocols when appropriate. We never recommend self-diagnosing or eliminating foods without proper supervision, especially when allergies are suspected.
Current guidelines recommend early introduction of allergenic foods to potentially prevent allergies, but this can feel scary for parents. Our pediatric specialists provide evidence-based guidance on when and how to introduce common allergens like peanuts, eggs, and dairy. We help you understand the latest research and work with your pediatrician to create a safe introduction plan that’s right for your family’s situation.
Managing food allergies in social settings requires planning and confidence. Our ON Dietitians provide practical strategies for dining out safely, communicating your needs to restaurants, reading labels effectively, and handling social situations without feeling isolated. We help you develop the skills to advocate for your safety while still enjoying social experiences around food.
How Ontario Dietitians can help
Safely eliminate foods while ensuring you receive nutrients
- Implement medically-supervised elimination diets when appropriate
- Guide safe food challenges and reintroduction protocols
- Prevent unnecessary food restrictions that can lead to malnutrition
- Work closely with your medical team throughout the process
Support infant and child feeding
- Guide evidence-based early introduction of allergenic foods for allergy prevention
- Provide guidance on introducing allergenic foods around 6 months of age as recommended by Canadian Pediatric Society Food Allergy Canada
- Support safe feeding practices for children with existing allergies
- Ensure proper growth and nutrition
Educate and empower your family
- Teach emergency management and when to use epinephrine
- Provide practical tips for grocery shopping and meal planning
- Support school and daycare communication about food allergies
- Help family members understand cross-contamination prevention
Find your food allergy dietitian
Browse local dietitians with expertise in nutrition for people with food allergies. Each profile includes their specific areas of focus, location, and booking information.
Frequently asked questions
All allergy testing has to be done through your doctor and/or allergist. Allergy testing is mostly available for IgE allergies through skin prick testing and/or blood test. The results are taken into consideration with your symptoms to provide an accurate diagnosis. Please note that there are many allergy testing available on the market that are unvalidated and are not accurate.
Private practice dietitians are not covered by OHIP. However, many extended health benefit plans and insurance providers will cover a portion or all of the services provided by a Registered Dietitian (RD). Please confirm with your plan provider your maximum yearly and visit allowance.
Registered dietitians are authorized medical practitioners recognized by the Canada Revenue Agency.
If you pay out of pocket for your dietitian services, you can claim these expenses as medical expense for tax credit purposes.
A doctor’s referral is not necessary to book in with a ON Dietitian. While a referral is not needed to start your journey with us, we do appreciate connecting with your healthcare provider to coordinate care and provide a holistic and comprehensive care plan.
Food allergy dietitians typically have clinical experience working in allergy clinic that treat patients with diagnosed food allergies. These RDs will also partake in continuing education to stay current with the latest research, treatment guidelines, and best practices in food allergy management.
A food allergy dietitian can help you with the following :
- guide you through an elimination diet and finding alternatives that you can safely eat
- reintroduce foods and manage symptoms
- provide education around the different types of food allergies and guide you through the medical system to get an accurate diagnosis
- dispel misinformation around food allergies
- learn label reading and cross contamination risks
- optimize your eating and nutrition despite food restrictions and elimination
- decrease anxiety around eating and experiencing symptoms
- avoid unnecessary food restrictions
Yes, we do!
- Eosinophilic Esophagitis (EoE) – A swallowing disorder affecting the esophagus that may require elimination diets or elemental nutrition
- Food Protein-Induced Enterocolitis Syndrome (FPIES) – Causes severe vomiting and diarrhea 2-3 hours after eating trigger foods
- Allergic Proctocolitis – Typically affects infants and may present as blood and mucus in stool
- Multiple Food Allergies – Complex management requiring careful nutritional planning
We make it easy for your to find a specialized food allergy dietitian in ON.
Check out the dietitians listed on this page (or jump here), click on their profiles to read more about their qualifications, experience, and services.
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