Did you know it was dangerous to give honey to a kid under one?

[whynotchris]

Honey, as bought in a store, is dangerous to feed to anyone under one year old. It's probably why they bottle it in teddybear shaped containers.

[kasuke06]

okay... why though?

[smityx]

Weird considering honey is sterile

[whynotchris]

Infant Botulism. Honey is TL;DR bee vomit. It has antibacterial properties but it is not an anti-bacterial. Rephrased, there are bacteria it can kill but it does not kill all bacteria.

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Weird considering honey is sterile

Honey *is not* sterile. Honey can kill some bacteria, but it is not itself sterile.

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Weird considering honey is sterile

Honey does have some amazing antibacterial properties. But "anti-bacterial" does not mean "all bacteria". Yes, honey does stop some bacteria but the bacteria that it stunts seems to be the bacteria humans were already building up resistance to.

[Masark]

okay... why though?

Weird considering honey is sterile

Honey isn't sterile. The high sugar content will kill off most microbial life basically via dehydration, but it won't touch bacterial spores like botulinum. Pasteurization won't kill them either, as the amount of heat and time it would take to kill spores would also ruin the honey.

While this isn't a problem for adults or even children, as your stomach acid will zap them, the same isn't true for infants, which don't yet produce strong enough stomach acid.

[Hellobolis]

no i didn't know, but i imagine that's something you would find out pretty fast when reading up on infant food or when talking to your doctor about moving your infant off non-baby-specific food.

[whynotchris]

no i didn't know, but i imagine that's something you would find out pretty fast when reading up on infant food or when talking to your doctor about moving your infant off non-baby-specific food.

I actually made this post because my sister's son is 15 months. They asked me to babysit and I said yes, so I looked up a bunch of crap and found out about the honey thing. When I asked my sister if she knew, she didn't so I thought I'd make a post.

[Trassk]

I'm not sure what effects pure honey has on children, the problem is 'pure honey' is expensive. The cheap honey you buy in supermarkets, they process that with corn syrup.



Unless you want to be giving your kids early diabetes

[zenkai]

Honey, as bought in a store, is dangerous to feed to anyone under one year old. It's probably why they bottle it in teddybear shaped containers.

So is water.

[noidentity]

Honey, as bought in a store, is dangerous to feed to anyone under one year old. It's probably why they bottle it in teddybear shaped containers.

Those same containers have warnings on their labels to not give to children under 1.

[zenkai]

Those same containers have warnings on their labels to not give to children under 1.

Good point

[Unholyground]

Just give your babies milk and baby food, not that complicated lol.

Would someone give a dog chocolate knowing it is pure poison to them because the chocolate was bone shaped? lol

[Queen of Hamsters]

Yes, I did.

Having severe allergic reactions to pure honey, I've read about it and found out in a roundabout way.
Eek, I can feel the effects just talking about it... *shiver*

[crewskater]

Not going to provide a source? Flagging this thread as spam.

[Breccia]

I would have assumed, but I assume a lot.

[Rustedsaint]

Preety sure most store bought honey containers come with warning labels.

[XDurionX]

Honey is pure poison anyway, nobody should consume it.

- someone who is fructose-intolerant.

[Egomaniac]

Honey, as bought in a store, is dangerous to feed to anyone under one year old. It's probably why they bottle it in teddybear shaped containers.

Teddy Bear shaped containers appeal more to toddlers than to infants. If the Honey was bottled in tit shaped containers though...that might be something to be concerned about.

[Pachycrocuta]

Honey, as bought in a store, is dangerous to feed to anyone under one year old. It's probably why they bottle it in teddybear shaped containers.

Honey is typically bottled in bear-shaped containers because other than bees (a bee-shaped container would probably turn people off the product, which manufacturers don't want to do), bears are the next thing most people associate with honey (Winney the Pooh helps with that).

Also, as mentioned in another reply, nearly all store-bought honey containers have the warning on the bottle itself. I knew, but didn't know why until a couple posts in this thread.

[Doctor Amadeus]

I remember someone once told me the same about feeding chocolate to dogs.

When honestly I would never think to feed chocolate to a dog or like this feed honey to an infant in the first place.

But hey at least I know.
Great post by the way.