FDA warns of false negative results for food allergies after skin test recall

All skin tests doctors commonly use to check for food allergies can provide false negative results, the Food and Drug Administration has concluded — meaning people with potentially life-threatening allergies could mistakenly be told they are not at risk. The tests will now be required to include a warning urging doctors to consider double-checking the test with more accurate approaches.

The FDA's new mandated warning, announced Friday, comes after a recall in December of some skin tests used for testing food allergies. 

At the time, the FDA said it had received "increased" reports of false negatives from some lots of an extract manufactured by ALK-Abello that is used to diagnose peanut allergies.