DEMONSTRATION OF FOOD PROTEINS IN HUMAN BREAST MILK BY ANAPHYLACTIC EXPERIMENTS ON GUINEA-PIGS

Abstract

Our forefathers believed that foods ingested by the nursing mother might affect the child through the breast milk. We, however, have discarded that belief almost universally, and have relegated it to the shelves of superstition simply because we have not succeeded in proving it to be true. Having seen several cases of food disturbance in infants which it seemed could have come only through breast milk, I determined to investigate this subject to see if I could prove by anaphylactic tests that such was the case. It is the purpose of this paper to record the results of this investigation. Generally speaking, the subject of diet for the nursing mother is passed over lightly. The most widely accepted view at the present time is that she may eat whatever agrees with her. "The mother may eat whatever is good for the father," is a very common expression. Pfaundler and Schlossman's