The kids eating dirt having fewer allegies is known as the Hygiene Hypothesis. Owning a dog also reduces allegies. Growing up with nerd friends, I remember my friends who lived in pristine sterile homes had the worst allergies, which became self-perpetuating as they had to stay in sterile environments to keep from aggravating their allegies.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hygiene_hypothesis

Thank you for the honey exception. That's an imporant one I learned about with my first kid.