LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND — Nestle Health Science, a business unit of Nestle S.A., has taken a minority stake in Before Brands, San Francisco, a manufacturer of products sold under the SpoonfulOne brand and designed to prevent food allergies. Terms of the investment were not disclosed.

As part of the agreement, Nestle Health Science has acquired the licensing rights to Before Brands’ products outside the United States. Nestle also has an option to purchase all remaining equity in Before Brands in the future.

“This investment enhances our growing business with a new dimension: allergy prevention,” said Greg Behar, chief executive officer of Nestle Health Science. “The prevalence of food allergies among children is increasing, however, studies have shown that consistently exposing children at a very early age to a potential food allergen can reduce the development of an allergy to that food by up to 80%.

“It would be very difficult for parents to achieve this kind of consistent immune-system training to 16 different allergens on their own; SpoonfulOne is a convenient and natural solution that fits with the Nestle Health Science mission of healthier lives through nutrition.”

Products sold by Before Brands include food and liquid mix-ins for children as young as four-months of age. A puffs application is available for children who can chew solid foods. Before Brands products are currently available on SpoonfulOne.com and Amazon. They will be available outside the United States in the second half of 2020, according to Nestle Health Science.

“With Nestle Health Science, we have secured the ideal partner so that we may advance our mission to help families around the world benefit from SpoonfulOne’s advanced protein science and the new recommendations that advocate proactive, long-term feeding strategies to reduce food allergy development risk,” said Ashley Dombkowski, Ph.D., co-founder and c.e.o. of Before Brands. “Their expertise and global footprint will allow us to accelerate education, commercialization, and distribution activities globally.”