Maternal food-avoidance diets and dietary supplements during breastfeeding.

The data are self-reported by questionnaire about the previous 3 months, so recall bias is possible. Respondents were older, better educated, more often Nordic and primiparous than those who did not respond, so the findings may not apply to less educated or non-responding mothers. Mothers reported perceived reasons for avoidance, not documented justification or a link between the excluded food and a diagnosed condition. The study did not investigate where women obtained dietary advice, so it cannot show whether professional guidance influenced avoidance. Answer options for other supplements and for causes of avoidance were limited. It is a cross-sectional analysis, so associations cannot establish cause. Further research on possible effects on infants is needed, so this paper does not show whether these practices help or harm infants.

Funding came from health boards, research councils, hospitals, universities, allergy and dermatology organisations, foundations, a medical laboratory and Thermo-Fisher, including unrestricted grants. The authors reported no conflicts of interest to disclose, but one author reported personal fees from Sanofl Genzyme, Novartis and Omega Pharma outside the submitted work.

Do not read the 19.8% prevalence as a recommendation to avoid foods while breastfeeding. This study reports self-reported maternal practices and associations, not tested effects on infants, so it does not show that food avoidance helps or is safe.