A major Australian-led study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that eating high amounts of egg and peanut during pregnancy and breastfeeding did not reduce the risk of infants developing egg or peanut allergy.
More than 2,000 women across Adelaide, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney, Australia took part in the PrEggNut trial, with their unborn babies considered at higher risk of developing allergies. This scale made it one of the world’s largest studies to examine whether allergy prevention may begin before birth.
Participants were randomly divided into two equal groups, each asked to follow different dietary patterns. Those in the high egg-and-peanut group consumed at least six eggs and 60 peanuts each week, while mothers in the standard-diet group consumed no more than three eggs and 30 peanuts per week. Infants whose mothers followed the high egg-peanut diet had essentially the same rates of egg and peanut allergy at one year as those whose mothers ate a standard diet.
The findings suggest that maternal diet alone is unlikely to prevent food allergy, reinforcing the importance of existing infant feeding recommendations rather than changing what mothers eat during pregnancy.
See the full report on the MedicalXpress website.
Reference: Palmer et al, Trial of a Maternal Diet Rich in Eggs and Peanuts to Reduce Infant Allergy, New England Journal of Medicine (2026). DOI: 10.1056/nejmoa2605659.
Supporting editorial: Maria C. Jenmalm, Maternal Allergen Consumption and Infant Food Allergy — Reassurance, Not Prescription, New England Journal of Medicine (2026). DOI: 10.1056/nejme2610158.
