Oral Food Challenge Testing in the UK – Evidence-Based

Could your symptoms be linked to what you’re eating? Find out!

From a detailed clinical assessment to specific dietary advice and even a supervised oral food challenge test (OFC), our specialist-led clinic is the UK’s most trusted facility for evidence-based testing:

  • Trusted by families and individuals throughout the UK and internationally

  • Exclusion of causes of adverse reactions to foods, both IgE and non-IgE mediated

  • Expert dietary advice and support

  • Oral Food Challenge (OFC) under medical supervision if necessary

★★★★★

“Dr du Toit is a fantastic specialist, my son and I both very much respect and value his expertise. We have seen many doctors over the years and Dr du Toit is one of those special doctors that can really make a difference in a person’s life.”

Image shows a glass bottle of milk, two containers of cheese, and a thick slice of yellow cheese. Dairy and lactose are common causes of food issues. An OFC test can diagnose this.

Does My Child Need an Oral Food Challenge?

An oral food challenge (OFC) is a supervised test where your child eats a food in a safe and supervised setting to see if they can safely tolerate it. It’s considered the gold standard for diagnosing or ruling out a food allergy. Depending on the risk profile, and clinical question being asked, the OFC can be done in small dose increments, or as a supervised feed, or as a supervised elimination-reintroduction diet. Placebo doses may be required in certain cases.

Common Reasons for an OFC:

  • Unclear clinical history and allergy test results — allergen yet to be eaten, or eaten with mild or atypical symptoms and skin or blood tests are inconclusive

  • Suspected outgrown allergy — Like milk, eggs, soy, or wheat. Also commonly performed after a course of OIT, with or without a period of allergen avoidance.

  • First-time introduction of a more common allergen — Especially with early-onset severe and persistent eczema, multiple food allergies, or anxious family where early introduction is important for allergy prevention.

  • Mild or questionable past reaction — To confirm if it was truly an IgE-mediated allergy or intolerance.

  • Ongoing symptoms without a clear cause — Such as rashes, stomach issues, or hives.

💡 Why It Matters

Avoiding foods unnecessarily can compromise nutrition and cause stress. An OFC provides clarity—and the freedom to safely expand your child’s diet. Best of all, it’s done under expert care with your child’s safety as the top priority.

Professor George Du Toit is wearing a dark blue scrub shirt with a v-neck. His arms are around a nurse and nurse practitioner who are wearing sweaters and are smiling. One is wearing glasses. This is the expert team that administers the OFC test.

Why Choose Us for Your Child’s Oral Food Challenge in the UK?

Getting clear answers about your symptoms starts here — with expert Nurses, Doctors, Dietitians and Psychologists. We provide the most accurate and personalised Oral Food Challenge test UK patients can access.

✔ Expert-Led, Evidence-Based Testing

We only use tests that are clinically backed, including elimination-reintroduction diets and oral food challenge (OFC), with full supervision by allergy Dietitians.

✔ Personalised, Patient-Centred Care

Every test is matched to what your child is experiencing — bloating, fatigue, skin issues, cow’s milk colitis, FPIES, IBS symptoms, toddlers’ diarrhoea … we are experienced and widely published in many of these areas.

✔ Trusted by Patients Across the UK

Patients from across London and the UK tell us they finally got answers here.

Whether you're searching for answers after years of discomfort or misinformation and want to rule out specific trigger foods, we're here to guide you every step of the way. We focus on children but can refer on to adult-focused clinicians where needed

Sketch of developed heads of wheat in blue. Gluten is a common cause of food allergies and can be tested for with the oral food challenge test. - oral food challenge test, best oral food challenge london

Oral Food Challenge —Process

Step 1: Consultation

What Happens:
You’ll meet with an expert (in person or virtually). We’ll go over your child’s symptoms, dietary history & and general health history.

What You’ll Get:
A clear understanding of what might be going on medically, plus a pathway forward, which may or may not include an oral food challenge.

Outline sketch of a carton of milk. "MILK" is written across the front. Milk commonly causes food allergies and can be tested for with the ofc test. - oral food challenge test, best ofc London

Step 2: Testing

Depending on the clinical picture and risk assessments, an Oral Food Challenge may be recommended.

OFC’s can vary in their design, setting, and time commitment:

Elimination-reintroduction diets - typically supervised by a Dietitian, usually undertaken at home and over a more extended period, e.g. days to weeks

Supervised feeds - undertaken in or close to a medical setting when the risk of a reaction is deemed to be low. The allergen is usually eaten as a single age-appropriate meal.

Incremental food challenges, undertaken in a safe, supervised, and experienced medical setting, usually take half a day to complete.

In a blinded incremental challenge, the placebo doses can be mixed into the sequence of doses or given on separate days.

Blue outline sketch of a cup of coffee. - oral food challenge test, best ofc london

Step 3: Results + Next Steps

Your Family’s Diagnostic Pathway:
We will review all the results and your response to your child's dietary plan or OFC outcome at a follow-up appointment. We will refer to expert colleagues if further input is needed.

Diagnostic Goal:
Safe, expert, multi-disciplinary real-time insight into how your body responds to one or more foods, an unequivocal answer to your specific medical question.

For most patients, we can safely expand or, if necessary, restrict their diets and reassure their families.

We Commonly Perform OFCs for These Foods

  • Image shows two brown eggs. Eggs are a common cause of food allergies. An OFC test can diagnose this.

    Milk, Egg &Wheat

    Those food allergies that are commonly outgrown include milk, egg, and wheat.

  • Two peanut shells. One shell has exposed peanuts. Peanut allergies are seldom outgrown and can be tested for using OFCs.

    Peanut, Tree Nuts & Seeds

    Those food Allergies that are seldom outgrown include peanut, tree nuts and seeds.

  • A bag of flour with whole kernels of wheat below it and wheat sheaves above it. Wheat is a common allergen, and can be tested for with an Oral Food Challenge.

    Shellfish, Soya, Wheat & Pulses

    Those food Allergies, where testing is known to be less reliable (e.g. shellfish, soya, wheat, and pulses).

  • Image shows a glass bottle of milk, two containers of cheese, and a thick slice of yellow cheese. Dairy and lactose are common causes of food issues. An OFC test can diagnose this.

    Baked Milk vs. Fresh Milk & Baked Egg vs. Runny Egg.

    Those foods where the form of the food influences allergies (e.g. baked milk vs. fresh milk & baked egg vs. runny egg).

A platter of mixed foods: fish, eggs, legumes, nuts, milk, bread, grains, lettuce, and broccoli. Some of these foods are the source of food allergies, and many people complete an OFC test to determine the cause of their physical symptoms.

  • If you feel off after eating — bloated, foggy, tired, itchy — it’s worth checking. Especially if you can’t figure out what’s causing it.

  • OFC = Oral Food Challenge. We give you small amounts of a food — slowly, safely — to see how your body responds. It’s done in-clinic, with a specialist watching.

  • Absolutely. We work with children & teens all the time (in a calm, supportive setting).

  • No — and that’s a good thing. Most online blood tests aren’t very reliable. We test based on symptoms, reaction & science — not just numbers on a chart.

FAQ

Our Locations – Accessible Clinics Across London & Surrey

We provide expert allergy care at multiple locations, ensuring convenient access to specialised treatment for food and airborne allergies. We also offer home-based allergy testing (finger-prick blood collection) with remote consultation.

Image shows the clinic that offers the best oral food challenge test in London. The building is cream-colored with a bold yellow accent. A red bus is passing the front. -

The Portland Hospital – Marylebone

📍 Address: 205-209 Great Portland Street, London, W1W 5AH

Logo of the ENT4Kids clinic in London. An elephant and giraffe are on the left. Colored blocks are behind the name of the clinic where oral food intolerance testing is done in London.

ENT4Kids – Wimpole Street, London

📍 Address: 61 Wimpole Street, London,
W1G 8AH

Large, white 3-story building that houses the clinic for oral food intolerance testing. Paned windows overlook the street where a black car is parked.

The Allergy Centre Of
Excellence

📍 Address: 10 Duchess Str, Marylebone,
W1B 9AB

Clinic in Surrey that offers oral food intolerance testing. The building is brown with white trim. A road is in front of the building, and green grass is to the side.

Surrey – New Malden Diagnostic Centre

📍 Address: 171 Clarence Avenue, New Malden, KT3 3TX

Ready to find out what’s really going on?

You shouldn’t have to guess what’s causing your child’s symptoms.

If food is impacting your child's growth, if there is blood in their stool, if they have colic and gut discomfort, or just non-specific symptoms (e.g. loose stools and chronic abdominal pain) — it’s time to get answers.