It’s hard to resist reaching for a sanitising wipe when we are confronted with a child’s grubby hands or sticky face, but new research has issued a strong warning to parents.

The study, which was published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, revealed that while genetics play a role in triggering food allergy, exposure to infant cleansing wipes that leave soap on the skin may also play a part.

The study’s lead author, professor of allergy-immunology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Joan Cook-Mills said a combination of genetics, baby wipes that leave soap on the skin, skin exposure to allergens in dust and food were a “recipe for developing a food allergy”.

This is big news as food allergies are on the rise, with around 10 per cent of children up to one year of age are affected by food allergy, and between four to eight per cent of children up to five years of age. Admissions for anaphylaxis due to food allergy in Australian children aged 0 to 4 years have increased five-fold in the last decade.

Around 35 per cent of children with food allergies tend to have gene mutations that reduce the skin barrier, so this latest study investigated the effect of cleansing wipes on newborn mice with skin barrier mutations. It found that when the mice were exposed to allergens like eggs and peanuts, they developed mild to severe allergic reactions – both on their skin and in their gut.

The factors that trigger food allergy have puzzled scientists for years, so these results are a significant advance in understanding how childhood allergies begin. While further research needs to be done, this is the first step in understanding how common household items like baby wipes may contribute to the development of allergies in infants and children.

Cook-Mills suggests that concerned parents take matters into their own hands and adapt their home environment. “Reduce baby’s skin exposure to the food allergens by washing your hands before handling the baby,” she said. “Limit use of infant wipes that leave soap on the skin. Rinse soap off with water like we used to do years ago. “