The worldwide incidence of allergic diseases has been continuously increasing, and up to one in every five people are currently affected by these medical conditions. Although seldom fatal, allergies have a profound impact on children's growth, development, and quality of life, besides being associated with heavy healthcare costs and resource utilisation. In this context, a group of experts in nutrition, paediatric gastroenterology, allergology, and neonatology joined forces to discuss the role of infant formulas in the primary prevention of allergies in infants for whom breastfeeding is not an option and who are at risk of developing allergies. The topics discussed included the assessment of risk, the impact of the microbiota on the modulation of immune tolerance, and the added value of certain formula characteristics, namely, protein integrity (hydrolysed protein vs. intact protein) and the addition of prebiotics, probiotics, or synbiotics. This article describes the latest evidence on each of the above-mentioned points, as well as a number of recommendations made by the experts to guide counselling of parents in the choice of a formula for infants at risk of allergy. Overall, the experts highlighted family history and dysbiosis-promoting factors (namely, caesarean delivery and antibiotic use) as two of the most important risk factors for allergy development. Moreover, in line with international guidelines, the panel advocated that intact protein formula should be offered to all bottle-fed healthy infants, irrespective of their allergic risk (with the exception of short-term bottle feeding of otherwise breastfed babies in their first week of life, for whom a hydrolysed formula may be advisable). Finally, the experts agreed that the use of prebiotic-, probiotic-, or synbiotic-enriched formulas should be considered in infants at risk of developing allergies.
Keywords: hydrolysed formulas; prebiotics; primary prevention of allergy; probiotics; synbiotics.