If you don’t know what Bamba is, you will now. Marnie Hanel wrote an op-ed piece in the New York Times praising the Israeli corn puff peanut butter snack, so much so that she says it’s “mildly embarrassing.” She explains that she started feeding her infant son the snack on a regular basis. But why, you might ask?
Recently, pediatric allergy specialist Gideon Lack came across a peculiar find regarding allergies: Israeli Jews were less likely to have peanut allergies than their British peers. So, he did what all good scientists do–he created a study. In this case, small amounts of Bamba were fed to babies at high risk for allergies until they turned 5. He found that it reduced their risk of peanut allergies by 81%.
READ: My Laid-Back Approach to Allergies Almost Killed My Daughter
Inspired by the study, Hanel started mixing a tiny amount of Bamba in her son’s applesauce. Hanel explains how she enjoys allowing her son to eat the snack, not just for health reasons, but it’s also one of “life’s pleasures” that can be experienced by many, and routinely counted on. She states:
“Today, whether we’re in the library or on an airplane, in a play group or at a picnic, if my son hears the crinkle of a Bamba bag, he will wave his little hands excitedly and dive for it.
He looks at me, and I understand exactly what he’s experiencing. I know the rapture of eating peanut butter, which is rich and salty and wholesome and indulgent all at once, and I know the satisfaction of a crunch — both sonically and otherwise. I understand the appeal of tasting one perfect bite and repeating it over and over.”
Has anyone else given Bamba a try for the purposes? Are there any other specific foods you feed your children for alleged health benefits? Let us know!
