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Never Give Honey to an Infant

Honey is natural and considered harmless for adults. But pediatricians strongly caution against feeding honey to children under 1 year old.

"Do not let babies eat honey," states foodsafety.gov, a web site of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

That's because of the risk of botulism. The spores of the botulism bacteria are found in dust and soil that may make their way into honey. Infants do not have a developed immune system to defend against infection, says Jatinder Bhatia, MD, a Georgia neonatologist who heads the American Academy of Pediatrics' Committee on Nutrition.

"It's been shown very clearly that honey can give infants botulism," a paralytic disorder in which the infant must be given anti-toxins and often be placed on a respirator in an intensive care unit, he says. Bhatia has never seen a case of infant botulism.

But parents may feed their infants cereals that contain honey, he says. "It's cooked, so it's OK," Bhatia says. He explains that when it comes to botulism risk, "we're talking about honey out of the bottle.''

The National Honey Board, which the USDA oversees, also agrees that infants should not be given honey. "The concern for babies stems from the fact that infants lack the fully developed gastrointestinal tract of older humans," the Board's web site states.

content aggregation:healthPrior21

source:WebMD