CHILDREN with cancer should be allowed to eat strawberries and other fresh foods according to researchers from the University of York.

Scientists criticised guidelines that say youngsters undergoing chemotherapy should avoid uncooked foods, saying that sterilising food makes no difference to whether children suffering from cancer contract infections or not.

But they said banning certain foods can harm youngsters' quality of life.

Intense chemotherapy weakens the immune system, meaning children are advised to avoid foods that could carry germs as part of a neutropenic diet. Strawberries are seen as particularly high risk because of their uneven surface, which can hide bacteria.

But Dr Bob Phillips from the Centre for Reviews and Dissemination at the university, who led the review of a number of studies into the effectiveness of dietary advice, said: "Our review shows that supporting nutrition for children with cancer is important, but that the neutropenic diet offers children less nutrients, reduces their quality of life by making food tasteless and does not reduce infections.”