When can I give my child egg to eat?

If your child is going to develop an egg allergy, it will usually occur before they turn one. Most egg allergies are fortunately gone by the time children reach the age of six as their immune system increases its resistance to the protein in egg whites that cause the allergic reaction.

Exposure to egg proteins occurs initially through the mother breast milk or from little pieces of biscuit that contain eggs. This is why when the child starts to physically consume eggs or egg products, the immune system goes on alert. The tiny level of exposure it has had up until this time will have not allowed a proper familiarisation process to have occurred and the immune system will see the egg protein as a potential threat. This is when the allergic response will start.

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