Government's current advice may be 'irresponsible'

A generation of British mothers who have studiously avoided eating peanuts during pregnancy as well as shying away from feeding them to their children, may have contributed to the current allergy epidemic. That's the opinion of a House of Lords committee which is due to be published next week.

According to the Telegraph, the committee is expected to advise the government to change its current advice to pregnant women and mothers which currently say that parents with a history of asthma, eczema or hayfever should 'avoid eating peanuts and peanut products when you're pregnant and breastfeeding'.

The science and technology committee's allergy report found that nut allergies were extremely low in countries where children are weaned on peanuts.

'It is quite striking that the increase in peanut allergies is rather in step with the increasing Government advice not to expose tiny children to them,' said Lord May of Oxford. 'In Israel, where peanuts are quite commonly found in baby food, there has been no increase in peanut allergies.'

Since 1999 Britain has been the only European country to advice pregnant and breastfeeding women to avoid peanut products. But in the last ten years the number of primary schoolchildren suffering from nut allergies has doubled.

Health minister Ivan Lewis told the House of Lords committee: 'If the advice is entirely wrong and counterproductive and actually damaging people, then we really need to move rather quickly rather than having ongoing incessant reviews

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