Portage company peanut allergy test OKd

KALAMAZOO, Mich. (WOOD) - Ever-present warnings about peanuts seem to be on nearly everything. Some studies say 3 million U.S. children have food allergies -- and the number of those with peanut allergies keeps growing.

One West Michigan company said its new test kit can be the key in determining just how allergic a child is to peanuts.

"There may be many patients who've been labeled as peanut allergic, contributing to this epidemic, as it's being called, who don't actually have true peanut allergy and who don't need to be considered part of the epidemic," said Dr. Rob Reihardt.

Reihardt works for Portage's Thermo Fisher Scientific , which said it has developed a new peanut allergy test called uKnow Peanut.

The FDA-approved test looks at a patient's blood and figures out what exact part of the peanut -- down to the molecule -- that a person is allergic to, 24 Hour News 8 was told.

"This kind of 'component protein testing,' as we call it, can shed light on that question as well as whether the patient is just allergic to peanuts, allergic to tree nuts, allergic to both or neither," explained Reihardt.

The part of the peanut determines how allergic someone is, unlocking the difference between a deadly reaction or a minor annoyance.  

"For families, obviously, it can help them perhaps free up some of their lifestyle in terms of being trapped in this kind of peanut-allergy bind that many of them find themselves in," said Reihardt.

But local doctors told 24 Hour News 8 the test is not a cure all and might not be for everyone. They said it should be used alongside a detailed allergy history and all results should be interpreted by a doctor, not by a parent.

A uKnow Peanut kit costs $300 and can be shipped to either you or your doctor.