A report has warned that pregnant women who do not eat nuts could leave their child susceptible to allergies.
The report suggests that Britain’s allergy epidemic is being fuelled by government advice to mothers not to eat peanuts during pregnancy and to avoid giving them to children at a young age.
The findings follow a number of studies that found that allergy rates are low, or even non-existent, in countries where babies are weaned on peanuts.
Lord May of Oxford said: “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”.
