Baby Wet Wipes Do Not Cause Food Allergies
It would be awful if baby wipes caused food allergies, right? It’s a good thing we don’t have any proof of this (phew). A recent study reported that this is the answer to the question of why everyone is allergic to peanuts, but you know what? Research has not proven this. And this does not apply to baby wipes. It didn’t even apply to (human) babies.
Headlines : ” Baby Wipes Cause Food Allergies,” warns new study (The Telegraph); Do you often use baby wipes? It can cause food allergies in babies (Economic Times)
History : Children with food allergies often show signs of eczema (which manifests itself as dry, red skin) at an early age. We rely on our skin as a barrier between ourselves and the outside world, and it seems that children can be sensitized to food allergens (eg peanuts) through damaged skin. This was already known, but so far there was no good way to study the connection in the laboratory – for example, in mice.
Well good news! A team from Northwestern University has found a way to cause food allergies in mice. They published a study describing their procedure , which Northwestern’s press release described as a “perfect storm” of four factors:
- The mice were bred so that they all had a genetic predisposition to a skin condition similar to eczema.
- Then the skin of the little mice was exposed to peanut or egg allergens for 40 minutes …
- … and dust allergens (from dust mites or mold spores) …
- … and sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS), a soapy chemical commonly found in cleansers and personal care products.
SLS can break down and irritate the skin if you use it in sufficient amounts, but this is usually not a problem with the amount in the products we use.
Are baby wipes dangerous?
Baby wipes were not included in this study. And guess what? Baby wipes usually do not contain SLS. ( Huggies brand – no. Pampers brand – no. Amazon items – no. If there are, I couldn’t find them.)
If, as a result of this study, parents begin to avoid baby wipes or become obsessed with rinsing off any leftovers, “I think this is unnecessary and much more anxiety and work than they need,” says child allergist David Stukus , who was not involved in the study. … education.
According to Joanne Cook-Mills , senior author of the new study, SLS was simply meant to be an example of a common cleansing ingredient that luckily she already had in the lab. She also emphasized that all four factors were necessary: she tried to apply only SLS and peanut allergens, but could not trigger the allergy that way.
It is also far from a mouse study like this to any useful conclusions about human babies in the real world. “Scientists always want one or more groups to validate such a conclusion before they are ready to conclude about what consumers should do with this information,” says Steve Taylor , co-director of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Food Allergy Research and Resources Program and was not involved in this study.
He pointed out that the medical and scientific community has been wrong in the past to make recommendations for preliminary research too quickly. Doctors advised parents not to feed their children allergenic foods, but we later learned that eating these foods early in life actually protects babies from developing allergies . It’s best not to jump to conclusions until we really know what’s going on.
Takeaway: I’ll give Dr. Stukus the last word: “I think the study was brilliant, but the interpretation and extrapolation of a baby by napkins in humans is not supported in any way.”