Parents Struggle to Feed Toddler Who Can Only Eat Peaches

Micah Gabriel Masson Lopez can only eat peaches.

This debacle is not due to pickiness, but because of an ailment known as Food Protein-Induced Enterocolitis Syndrome (FPIES). According to the two-year-old’s mother, Caroline Masson, the syndrome has gotten so acute that Micah is limited only to peaches for solid food—specifically fresh ones—because of the additives and other substances present in frozen and canned peaches.

Speaking to Global News Montreal, Masson said that the cost of buying peaches for a child who can eat almost nothing else is weighing heavily on her family, not just emotionally, but financially. Although the family is now purchasing peaches in huge quantities, Quebec’s climate makes Micah’s already very limited diet even more expensive and difficult to cater to. “Living in Quebec," Masson says, "let’s just say peaches are very hard to find off-season.”

As a result of this enormous physical and financial toll, Masson recently started a Go Fund Me campaign that has so far exceeded its $1,500 goal and at the time of writing, has raised nearly $8,000. “We are buying peaches in bulk and are running out of funds to do so, as we also have to pay for his complex medical needs,” Masson wrote on the Go Fund Me page. “He has many many doctor visits with nine different specialists every month.”

Symptoms of FPIES include nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, dehydration, and lethargy, all of which have wreaked havoc on Micah’s physical development. And while most children who develop FPIES tend to have two or three food allergies, Micah is reportedly allergic to 27 different foods.

Masson has been experimenting with a variety of foods to feed her son, and has seen mixed results. Bananas caused Micah to vomit “six times in a row and pass out, pale and almost blue,” while a daily half-teaspoon of rabbit broth “seems to be going well.”

According to the American College of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology, “most children outgrow [FPIES] by age three or four.” In the meantime, Masson continues to supplement Micah's diet with a "special food formula" that is being paid for by Quebec health insurance until next October.