Nursing Mother's with a history of asthma or eczema may need to be more cautious about foods they consume. A study being done in Canada has found that nursing mothers may pass peanut proteins in breast milk to their infants. Such early exposure to these kind of allergens could put babies at risk, developing potentially fatal allergies.
A recent Food and Drug Administration study also found that many food manufacturers fail to list highly allergenic ingredients such as peanuts, eggs and milk that are in their products. About 7 million Americans who suffer from food allergies rely on ingredient labels to tell them which processed foods are safe. Some food allergies, particularly peanut allergies, can be fatal -- they cause about 150 deaths each year.
Mothers who breast-feed their children may be able to prevent them from developing such allergies by monitoring their diets, according to a Canadian study. Researchers said babies with one or both parents with a history of asthma, eczema or other allergy-based diseases are at risk of peanut allergy, because those children can be identified at birth, nursing mothers could avoid exposing them to the allergen by not consuming peanut products while nursing.
Researchers at St. Michael's Hospital, University of Toronto, Ontario, said breast milk had been suspected as a hidden route by which children became sensitized to peanuts. Avoiding exposure through breast milk does not guarantee that children can avoid peanut allergy when they are exposed to the food at a later age. It is now believed the allergy is often triggered by exposure early in a child's development. Doctors generally recommend that parents not feed children peanut products until age 3.
