Scientists attribute the rise in peanut allergies to a lack of early exposure during childhood. But Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he isn’t buying it.

In a Food Allergy Fund event Nov. 17, the nation’s top health official said the link “doesn’t make any sense,” pointing to his own experience with food allergies.

Kennedy said five of his children have allergies, one of whom had a severe peanut allergy that led to 22 emergency room visits by age 2.

“My house was so filled with peanut butter and I was eating peanut butter for two meals a day and my wife was eating peanut butter when pregnant,” he said. “To me, that’s not a convincing hypothesis.”

Instead, Kennedy pointed to environmental factors such as pesticides and aluminum in vaccines as possible culprits, and said the health agency was planning to conduct research into food allergies and its causes.

“Those studies have never been done. We’re going to do them now and we will identify what is causing these allergies,” he said.

However, recent research shows youth peanut allergy rates have dropped in the years following early exposure guidance in 2017, suggesting that introducing peanuts into infant diets may prevent allergies.

“This study provides the first strong, real-world evidence that early food introduction guidelines are working,” Dr. David Hill, an allergist and immunologist at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, told USA TODAY in October.

While aluminum is used in vaccines as an adjuvant, a vaccine component that boosts the immune response to the vaccine, it’s also used in food and beverages, according to the CHOP Vaccine Education Center. It’s also “the most abundant metal” on the planet and found in plants, soil, water and air.

Aluminum appears in seasonings, flour, cereals, beer and wine, dairy products, baby formulas and honey, among other food and drinks, according to the center. The amount of aluminum in vaccines is smaller than that found in breastmilk or regular formula.

Adrianna Rodriguez can be reached at adrodriguez@usatoday.com.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: RFK Jr. suggests vaccines linked to peanut allergies. What the science says.

Reporting by Adrianna Rodriguez, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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