The research is being carried out by Southampton General Hospital under the leadership of Jane Lucas, to ascertain the level of allergic reaction, and interim findings were presented at the recent European Academy of Allergology and Clinical Immunology conference in Paris.

Zespri said it believed there was no cause for alarm at the survey that described symptoms such as marked swelling, particularly of the tongue and throat.

The Zespri statement said: 'Zespri understands the survey was conducted over a sample group of 300 people, all of whom appeared to have a predisposition to food allergies, eczema or hay fever or had parents suffering some allergy. 80 of the participants were children, among them, there were two four month old babies and only one year old child. This group is not representing the general population, but the sample group was sensitive to a lot of allergies.

'Dr Lucas is not suggesting that children should not eat kiwifruit – far from it. She is quoted as saying that 'kiwifruit is a really healthy fruit and so convenient and most children will not have any reaction at all. But like peanuts, I think it is something we should be cautious about. I don't think we yet have the evidence to tell parents they should stop or avoid giving the fruit to their children.' 'Zespri's own nutrition experts have consistently said that kiwifruit, along with other fresh fruit such as strawberries should be cautiously introduced to toddlers' diets and is not really suitable for young babies. The results of the survey are not new. Zespri has been working for several years with allergy specialists.' Zespri believes that the findings should not cause concern and further research is already underway in the UK as reported by freshinfo.

The kiwifruit marketeer's chief executive Tim Goodacre said: 'We certainly want to have a look at the results of the survey and any further work that's done. We're certainly very keen to offer our assistance and to obviously be very much aware of the results.'

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