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When Redwood City resident Min Ho’s son Tiberius was just over 1 year old, he broke out in hives by licking a speck of sesame oil — one of several foods he was born allergic to. Today, at age 3, he can tolerate eating microdoses of the same food he once needed an EpiPen for, after undergoing oral immunotherapy at Latitude, a food allergy clinic in Redwood City.
“Once we finished OIT for his allergies, knowing that he was not going to react to small amounts of sesame oil was very helpful,” Ho said.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 1 in 3 U.S. adults and more than 1 in 4 U.S. children reported having a seasonal allergy, eczema or food allergy in 2021. Latitude, a clinic focused on treating people of all ages with such food allergies, uses oral immunotherapy, or OIT, as one of its primary treatment methods. OIT is a process designed to help a person’s body stop reacting to foods they are allergic to. Tiberius is just one of the many patients who benefited from this treatment.
Tiberius was diagnosed with multiple food allergies when he was 6 months old, including eggs, dairy, sesame, zucchini and various nuts. After being told to avoid all allergens, Ho was referred to Latitude by Tiberius’s primary allergist. There, he underwent multiple oral food challenges and outgrew two of his allergies: dairy and eggs.
Dr. Zahida Rani Maskatia, medical director at Latitude, explained that food allergy testing is prone to false positives because people with overactive immune systems — especially those with conditions like eczema — tend to produce higher levels of IgE antibodies, which are markers for allergic reactions. These antibodies can show up in test results even when the person is not truly allergic, leading to unnecessary food avoidance. To reduce this risk, Maskatia conducts thorough evaluations using a combination of allergy tests and in-office food challenges, where the patient consumes the suspected allergen under medical supervision.
“It’s very frightening and overwhelming when your child has their first allergic reaction, and it greatly impacts the entire family’s quality of life,” Maskatia said. “So being evaluated by a food allergy specialist is so important, and it can greatly change the trajectory of your child’s life with food allergies.”
Ho explained that Tiberius underwent oral food challenges to determine whether he was truly allergic to certain foods. He passed challenges for baked egg and baked milk, indicating he could safely consume those foods when cooked at high temperatures. After confirming his remaining allergies — sesame, peanut, cashew and pistachio — he began OIT in September of the previous year.
Maskatia said OIT involves giving a person very small, carefully measured amounts of the allergen, starting with doses so tiny they typically don’t cause a reaction. These amounts are gradually increased in a safe and controlled manner. The goal is to desensitize the immune system so the person can eventually eat the food without having an allergic reaction.
The next phase is reaching maintenance — a stable dose of the allergenic food that the patient can eat regularly without needing to increase the amount further. Maskatia said a typical maintenance dose for peanuts is around 1½ peanuts, enough to provide immune protection and reduce anxiety around accidental exposure, dining out or travel. However, maintenance can vary depending on family goals. Some may opt for higher doses, such as enough peanut butter for a full sandwich. Reaching maintenance typically takes six to 12 months.
In Tiberius’s case, the process began with small doses — like four sesame seeds — administered at the clinic, followed by daily dosing at home with gradual increases every few weeks. Now, he consumes one cashew and two peanuts daily as his maintenance dose.
One of the biggest benefits of OIT, according to Maskatia, is protection against accidental exposure and cross-contamination.
“Even in families who are extremely careful, these mistakes unfortunately happen,” she said. “So if you’re already eating a peanut and a half a day with no problems, if you accidentally eat a peanut in a cookie, you should be totally fine.”
Maskatia noted that while OIT is highly effective in helping people tolerate foods they were once allergic to — often in large amounts — it is not officially considered a cure. When OIT first began, patients were told they would need daily doses for life. However, recent studies show that after a few years of daily treatment, many can reduce the frequency to a few times a week or a month, Maskatia said. The exact long-term maintenance schedule is still being studied.
Latitude was co-founded in 2018 by three mothers — Kimberly Yates, Debbie Chizever Taback and Julie Bitler — whose children had severe food allergies. But the clinic’s story began long before that.
In 2009, Yates grew frustrated with repeated advice to “just avoid” allergens after her daughter Tessa had four near-fatal reactions. She connected with Dr. Kari Nadeau at Stanford, and Yates said they launched the first clinical trial for multi-allergen OIT together. She added that she helped raise funds while Nadeau focused on the research and treatment. Tessa became the first patient to be treated for multiple allergens simultaneously in the trial.
Later, Taback’s and Bitler’s children also joined the trials. All three mothers described the treatment as life-changing, as their kids gradually became desensitized to foods that once posed serious risks.
The families supported one another during the process, celebrating milestones like their children’s first restaurant meals and summer camps. They ultimately created a space where families could receive treatment and support in a community setting.
“We wanted to create what we wish existed while we were going through this on our own,” Bitler said.
Since opening their first clinic in Redwood City, Latitude has expanded to multiple locations in the Bay Area, Los Angeles and New York.
Knowing that Tiberius is protected against accidental exposure gives his parents a new sense of relief and confidence in his safety.
