Byte-sized solutions: How tech is transforming life with food allergies 

Nine-year-old Addie Lao from California lives with severe allergies to peanuts, tree nuts, sesame seeds, and milk. 

As a toddler, Addie suffered a near-fatal allergic reaction when a restaurant waiter assured her mother, Robyn Lao, that Addie’s meal was nut-free. The hash browns, however, had been cooked in refined peanut oil, provoking a severe allergic crisis. Robyn described it as a “near-miss event.”

After months of campaigning by Addie and Robyn, their state mandated that large restaurant chains list common allergens for each dish on their menus.

From July 2026 onwards, California restaurants with more than 20 branches will be required to list nine common allergens — including milk, eggs, and nuts —on all physical and digital menus for each menu item.

Robyn Lao told a podcast that the change is “really exciting.”

“This passion project of ours that has now become this bill… I can’t even believe how far we’ve come,” she said. 

Despite such legislative progress, Addie is not alone. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the number of U.S. children with food allergies doubled from 2000 to 2018. Today, one in four children reports having seasonal allergies, eczema, or a specific food allergy.

The push for greater allergy transparency extends beyond the California State Government. On October 31, Food Allergy Research and Education (FARE), a funder of food allergy research, welcomed stakeholders to its annual summit in Washington, D.C., aimed at “accelerating progress toward addressing the unmet needs of patients living with food allergies.” 

Taking “guesswork” out of eating 

Listing allergens on menus will no doubt make the lives of thousands of Californian diners easier. Still, entrepreneurs at FARE and beyond are embracing cutting-edge technology to give allergy sufferers even greater control over their diets. 

Bryan Janeckzo, for one, launched ResetRx, an AI-driven mobile platform focused on health, wellness, and lifestyle management in September 2025. The company’s software analyzes individualized health data to inform and create personalized health plans aimed at improving and resetting physical and mental well-being. 

“AI can help people with food sensitivities finally take some of the guesswork out of eating,” he told The Sociable.

ResetRx’s AI can “spot patterns that trained experts might miss.” As a personal nutrition detective, the platform allows a greater understanding of personal sensitivities down to precise details.  

Equipped with such insights, allergy sufferers can fine-tune their diets down to individual triggers. 

The ultra-processed enemy 

Many allergens can be found in ultra-processed foods (UPF), such as soda, potato chips, candy, mass-produced bread, hot dogs, and chicken nuggets —all common in children’s diets.

In January, the European Academy of Allergy & Clinical Immunology said exposure to UPFs “seems to be associated with increased occurrence of allergic diseases such as asthma, wheezing, and food allergies.”

AI innovation might be the missing puzzle piece to help consumers avoid both UPFs and allergens.

Robomagister, an Italian start-up backed by investors with over €2.15 million, has developed Liffo, an autonomous cooking robot powered by AI that redefines convenience cooking. 

By opening a new market in the U.S., Liffo enables families to create meals with whole ingredients that retain their nutritional value, without the need for stabilizers or preservatives. 

Stefano Pedrazzi, Co-Founder at Robomagister, says Liffo can “automate complexity” to create a freshly prepared meal in minutes: “Technology replaces industrial processing, not food quality,” he said, while in conversation with The Sociable.  

Liffo is not just about quick, easy nutrition. As an AI-powered autonomous robot, it can learn from consumers’ eating habits to build personalized meal plans and menus, suggesting and cooking safe yet new and adventurous recipes for those with allergies. 

“Over time, Liffo can suggest meal plans that match your nutritional requirements, allergen sensitivities, flavor preferences, and then prepare those meals automatically,” noted Pedrazzi. 

Both ResetRx and Liffo leverage the power of AI to give allergy sufferers greater control and flexibility over their diets, pairing a stronger understanding of allergy triggers with personalized and accessible cooking.

The hypoallergenic formula 

Regardless, control over consumption feels like an uphill battle for many allergy sufferers and their loved ones. Data from Contemporary Pediatrics found that cow’s milk allergy (CMA) in children and babies is on the rise, which can upend parents’ breastmilk-based nutrition plans. Often, mothers themselves are advised to eliminate dairy from their own diets altogether.

As challenges become more widespread, other nutritional solutions are emerging to help families navigate them. Harmony, for one, makes allergy-friendly baby formula with reduced industrial sugars, designed to resemble breast milk. 

For Harmony, making life easier for those with CMA is at the forefront of their mission. Their formula is built from a unique, hydrolyzed protein blend that eliminates allergenic proteins found in cow’s milk, which could trigger an allergic reaction in thousands of children. 

But, Harmony wants to innovate further. 

“These products are so cutting-edge that the FDA still lacks an approved framework to allow bioactive ingredients in infant formulas,” the company’s CEO, Wendel Afonso, told The Sociable. 

“As the regulation evolves, it will pave the way for truly humanized formulas, ones that can replicate the form and function of human milk in ways the current cow’s milk-based products simply cannot achieve.”

“We believe human milk–protein–based formulas are the future of infant nutrition. They have the potential not only to treat allergies but to prevent them altogether, allowing babies to get the right nutrition from day one without having to go through the painful trial and error of testing cow’s milk–based formulas first,” Alfonso added.

A stress-free future

Advances in allergy science and AI could soon reshape what it means to live with food sensitivities. 

Developing kitchen-based AI means allergy sufferers can have a greater understanding and control over their diets, while pioneering hypoallergenic proteins can remove allergy risks for younger children. 

For people like Addie, this future might finally bring peace of mind and a worry-free plate.