Peanuts in pregnancy and early childhood
Change documented
Government precautionary avoidance guidance was withdrawn in 2009.
Fact-check
1998 precautionary peanut avoidance advice withdrawn in 2009; early-exposure prevention mechanism was not proven by 2009.
The revised 2009 advice did not establish the later early-exposure prevention findings.
1998 avoidance advice withdrawn in 2009; later evidence about mechanism should not be attributed to 2009.
The evidence
Links go to the original records: Hansard, legislation, official guidance and news reports. A before-and-after pair is not always proof of a direct contradiction, so read the originals for exact wording.
Before: the earlier position
- COT archive of earlier peanut advice (opens in new tab)
Scientific committee — Earlier advice reproduced - FSA retrospective: previous 1998 avoidance advice (opens in new tab)
Government agency — Reproduces earlier original - FSA review of early food allergy recommendations (opens in new tab)
After: what changed
- FSA account of government change, August 2009 (opens in new tab)
Government agency — Does not claim early exposure proven preventive in 2009 - FSA research account of August 2009 change (opens in new tab)
Government agency — Same document covers before and after - FSA history of withdrawing government guidance (opens in new tab)
Context
- 2018 SACN/COT statement on early allergen introduction (opens in new tab)
Scientific committee — Later evidence, not 2009 rationale
What the source documents claim
These are summaries from the original documents behind this archive. They have not been checked word for word. Where they differ from the fact-check above, the fact-check is the more reliable account.
Peanut Avoidance for Pregnant Women & Infants (1998–2009)
Document A, case 05
- Original advice
- In 1998, UK health authorities advised pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers, and infants from atopic families to strictly avoid eating peanuts until age three.
- How it was framed
- The guidance was issued directly by the government's independent scientific panel, the Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment (COT), as an evidence-based precautionary measure.
- Later change
- In August 2009, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) formally withdrew the advice after COT reviewed new clinical and immunological studies showing early dietary exposure actually helps prevent peanut allergies.
Peanuts in Pregnancy and Early Childhood (1998 vs. 2009)
Document B, case 2
- First Announcement (June 1998)
- The Chief Medical Officer and Committee on Toxicity (COT) issued precautionary advice stating that pregnant or breastfeeding women with a family history of allergies might wish to avoid eating peanuts, and advised parents not to give peanuts to children until age three.
- The Reversal (2009)
- Following scientific reviews showing that avoidance did not lower allergy rates, the FSA and Department of Health withdrew the 1998 restriction. Updated NHS guidance advised mothers they no longer needed to avoid peanuts during pregnancy or breastfeeding, and lowered the age for introducing smooth peanut butter or crushed peanuts to around six months alongside solid foods.
This page combines register entries 05, 22, 27, which cover the same subject. Last reviewed: 12 November 2026.