Welcome to Episode 6 of the Allergy mom podcast an interview with Daniel Zakowski, founder of Ready. Set. Food!
Click here to listen on iTunes, Spotify, or Google Podcasts:
iTunes – Click Here
Spotify – Click Here
About Daniel: Daniel Zakowski is a serial entrepreneur and started one of his first businesses during college selling latex gloves to dentists and doctors. He eventually grew the business to supply a complete line of dental consumable products, and reached a peak revenue of $10M. He has also worked with top CPG brands at the Wonderful Company and received an MBA from UCLA. He and his wife Jackie have 3 children, with their youngest happily using Ready, Set, Food! He is CEO and co-founder of Ready, Set, Food!
About Ready, Set, Food!: Founded by a team of physicians, leading medical experts, and parents, Ready, Set, Food! is a groundbreaking solution to childhood food allergy prevention, making it easy for families everywhere to significantly reduce the risk of developing food allergies. As seen on Shark Tank, Ready, Set, Food! is recommended by more than 500 pediatricians and allergists with their evidence-based approach to early allergen introduction. Although food allergies are on the rise, Ready, Set, Food!’s goal is to help reverse that trend and give families everywhere a head start towards an allergy-free future. For more information on Ready, Set, Food!, visit www.readysetfood.com and follow them on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
Topics Discussed in this Episode:
- Research related to introduction of food allergens to infants
- Ready. Set. Food! A program to support parents with introducing common allergens to their infants to help prevent the development of food allergies
- Daniel’s reasons for founding Ready. Set. Food and how this program supports parents to take the findings of clinical research and apply them in their daily lives to prevent food allergies in children
- Daniel’s experience with appearing on Shark Tank – Watch a segment of his appearance on the show here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0r_JEwQp8M
Key Takeaways:
- Clinical research shows we can prevent up to 80% of allergies from developing in the first place through following a protocol of early allergen introduction (Examples of studies that support this include: The LEAP (Learning Early about Peanut) study focused on giving small amounts of peanuts to babies frequently and on an on-going basis; the PETIT (Two-step egg introduction for prevention of egg allergy in high-risk infants with eczema) trial – looking at egg introduction, and the EAT (Enquiry About Tolerance) trial – multiple different allergenic foods (peanut, egg, milk, sesame, fish and wheat) introduced early in a child’s diet to determine possible prevention of food allergies. More info on all three of these studies is available here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qw2tz8vVmvEdCVib3i_BRWaa-fwRVnbV/view
- Challenge is how to feed babies multiple allergens on a regular basis – there was a need to support parents in making this easier to follow the evidence of how to prevent 80% of these food allergies – that’s how Ready. Set. Food! was created and the idea was born to find a bottle-feeding solution to introducing food allergens to infants.
- Early allergen introduction is recommended at 4 months for now – hasn’t been studied for earlier yet so at this point this is the recommended time.
- According to U.S. guidelines, Pre-screening is recommended if your child has severe eczema or other diagnosed allergies before introducing allergens. In other countries there is not this recommendation. Even if you have a family history of food allergies, they are still advocating for early introduction of allergens apart from the recommendations for pre-screening above in the U.S. The reason for that being that severe eczema is a warning sign for development of food allergies.
- Delaying introduction of allergens to infants is the worst thing according to their findings. This is a complete 180 from the advice I was given when my children were infants!
- Ready. Set. Food! offers peanut, egg and milk dosing at this time. These common allergens seem to have the most profound impact on the quality of life at these times. Daniel acknowledges that they hope in the future to also have tree nuts, sesame or other allergens included in their offerings.
- Quiz to calculate your baby’s risk of developing food allergies: What is my baby’s risk quiz
- Children with eczema are at the highest risk of developing a food allergy and many do not know it.
- Recent research entitled “Age Differences in Food Reaction Severity During Oral Food Challenges in a Large Pediatric Population” retrieved from: (https://www.jacionline.org/article/S0091-6749(19)31863-9/fulltext) shares the findings Daniel speaks about in this interview that EVERY MONTH YOU WAIT poses increased risks for more severe reactions and that babies generally have more mild reactions. This research supports his suggestions that the earlier introduction the better for introducing allergens to your child. At this time they are recommending the age of 4 months in line with the protocols determined through their research.
- The Allergy Mom, Ready. Set. Food! and other partners have partnered up to support the launch of PreventAllergies.org – a non-branded website created as a separate resource to support doctors in providing education about food allergy prevention.
- Continued exposure to allergens is key to maintaining the preventative effects of early introduction of food allergens in preventing food allergies and maintaining tolerance throughout a person’s life.
That is Episode 6! Thanks for listening! Check out Ready. Set. Food’s website as well as PreventAllergies.org – which I have been happy to partner with to share the important research being done about preventing allergies in children.
Be sure to subscribe to the podcast – there are so many amazing interviews and topics coming out in the next few weeks that I don’t want you to miss including:
- Kyle Dine of Equal Eats
- Jennifer Roberge from Itchy Little World
- Lisa Gable from FARE!
Important Announcements:
I am setting up my private practice website for counselling. As a regulated health professional, I will be offering counselling in person and via online face-to-face, virtual counselling services. You can schedule a complimentary consultation to find out more or to ask any preliminary questions you may have through my online scheduling calendar here: https://calendly.com/choosinghealth/
Connect with me over on Instagram, @the_allergymom. It would also mean so much if you would leave a rating and review at any podcast platform that you’re listening on. Please send me a message to let me know if you have any constructive feedback for the show and/or content suggestions for upcoming episodes! I want this resource to be the best that it can be for you!
My one-on-one counselling appointments for individuals and/or families are on sale for 20% off – Book your first session now at http://theallergymom.com/contact/ to get started. If you’re looking for practical or emotional support following a new diagnosis, support with a particular issue or on-going counselling, I am here for you! Mention the code THEALLERGYMOMHELPS in your message to obtain this discount!
Where you can find me:
The Allergy Mom (Melissa Scheichl)’s LinkedIn
How you can work with me:
- One-on-One Allergy Counselling– Get 20% when you book an appointment today!
- Share your story (On an upcoming Blog Post and/or Podcast Interview)
- Brand and Organization Consulting – If you’re an allergy-aware business and need support to make your offering the best it can be for those suffering with Allergy, Asthma, Eczema or related health issues, I am available for consulting and can connect you with the people who can really inform your decision making, those who are affected every day! The patients! Contact me today to discuss!