Assessing the health benefits and risks of the introduction of peanut and hen's egg into the infant diet before six months of age in the UK

A comprehensive risk assessment of infant and young child feeding in the UK was last considered by the Committee on Medical Aspects of Food Policy (COMA) in its report ‘Weaning and The Weaning Diet’, published in 1994.

The Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) therefore requested its Subgroup on Maternal and Child Nutrition (SMCN) to review recent developments in this area. To complement this work, the Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment (COT) conducted a review of the risks of toxicity from chemicals in the infant diet, and examined the evidence relating to the influence of infant diet on development of food allergy, and atopic and auto-immune disease. A joint SACN-COT working group (hereafter termed ‘working group’) was established to undertake a benefit-risk assessment on the timing of introduction of allergenic foods into the infant diet. The COT statement identified significant findings related to the timing of introduction of foods containing peanut and hen’s egg into the infant diet and the risk of developing peanut and hen’s egg allergy respectively. The working group therefore restricted its assessment to these foods.

This paper summarises the findings of the working group and provides consensus advice to government.