17/06/2026
For years, pregnant women were told to put the peanut butter down.
From the late 1990s, official guidance in the UK advised women to avoid peanuts and peanut products during pregnancy. The concern was that exposure in the womb might trigger nut allergies in the baby. It was cautious, it was well-intentioned, and it was wrong.
The evidence began unravelling in the early 2000s. Research not only failed to support the original advice — it started to suggest that avoidance might actually be counterproductive. Yet it took until 2009 for the UK government to formally change its guidance. For the best part of a decade, women were following advice that the science had already moved on from.
Today, unless a woman has a nut allergy herself, she’s free to eat peanuts throughout pregnancy. The satay, the peanut butter on toast, the handful of salted peanuts — all of it.
It’s a good reminder that confident guidance isn’t always correct guidance. And that the gap between what the research says and what women are officially told can be a long one.
This is part of a series on how pregnancy nutrition advice has changed from the 1990s to today. If you missed the folic acid reel earlier this week, it’s worth a watch. More to come — follow so you don’t miss it.
