Her Life’s Mission: Ending Food Allergies

Meenal Lele is the founder and CEO of Lil Mixins, an early food allergen introduction solution.  When her 10-month-old son erupted in hives and his lip swelled after he ate an egg, she and her husband were baffled. All signs pointed to an allergic reaction, yet their baby had just been tested for food allergies and the results were negative for egg.  One week after her son’s first food allergy reaction, the results of the Learning Early About Peanuts (LEAP) Study was released and showed that feeding foods in infancy can reduce their risk of developing a food allergy to that food.  She knew she could do better to help her second son and wanted to help prevent the onset of food allergies in all children, so set out to develop Lil Mixins.  This episode is a wealth of information about the early introduction of foods, gut microbiomes, allergy testing, and food challenges.