First, I would inquire whether this mother is also avoiding the many and varied sources of sulfites other than wine? For example, many condiments, pickled foods, some vegetable juices, some soup mixes, molasses, etc. are all foods which often contain sulfites. Without knowing her entire medical history or having a diet history to review, I can't give you a concrete answer, but I am doubtful that she has already eliminated all sulfites from her diet. That would lead me to an initial conclusion that an occasional glass of wine may not introduce an unusual sulfite load to the child. BTW, there are some wines which have fewer sulfites than others.
Furthermore, it brings to the forefront a very puzzling question I have had from both a personal and professional standpoint. I have a child with life-threatening food allergies (using the mother's scale reported with the sulfite question, a "grade 5" for many items), including all tree nuts, peanuts, soybeans (and many other legumes) and corn to name a few. His response has been noted by *both* anaphylaxis (yippee for those scary events) and blood testing.
This is what I find puzzling... *I* can consume cashews or peanuts and he has absolutely no reaction to my milk, while a sibling can touch him after handling a peanut and he will head down the anapyhlactic path. It is known that some babies are sensitive to cow's milk protein in breastmilk, but why do some proteins of seemingly similar molecular size pass and others don't? Why do some pass in one mother's milk and not in another's? Why should the mother in question with wine/sulfites have to eliminate the foods her child has a lower-grade reaction to than my child, while I can eat them freely and my child is fine? There does not seem to be a nice, neat answer which I've unearthed to date. Do we simply err on the side of caution all the time and have mothers eliminate the foods to which their child is allergic or do we push the envelope and test the waters which I have somewhat ignorantly done at times with Epi-Pen and 911 handy? Do we, instead, watch the child for allergic symptoms to mother's milk?
I'd love to hear plausible theories or be pointed to definitive research. Perhaps I will be able to do that definitive research when said allergic child leaves home someday at which time I will be, hmmm, let's see, about 60+? <g> (And still expressing milk for the dear child???)
Warmly,
Rebecca DeYoung Daniels, MBA, RD, LD, IBCLC, RLC & MOM to 5 who will doubtfully have the mental capacity to pursue that PhD down the road <g>
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