Peanut Allergy Linked to Skin Creams, Soymilk

Watch what you put on your hands....

Anna Soref, in Natural Foods Mercandiser, reports that Peanut allergies in infants and young children may be related to soy-based foods and peanut oil-based skin creams, according to a study published in the March 13 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine.

Of the 49 children in the study who developed peanut allergies, 84 percent had used peanut oil-based creams and a quarter had consumed soymilk in their first two years. "I think that based on these findings, many of us in practice will ask families not to use peanut-based products, whether they be in creams, peanut butter or candy, until children do get somewhat older," said Brian Smart, M.D., a spokesman for the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology in Milwaukee.

The researchers are hoping to learn why the number of children with peanut allergies has tripled in the past decade. About 1.5 million Americans are allergic to peanuts and 50 to 100 people die from the allergy each year.

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