Don't give your baby honey

Parents should not feed honey to babies who are under the age of one, the Food Standards Agency says.

The warning has been issued after a rare case of infant botulism in a 15-week-old baby.

Botulism is a serious illness caused by a bacterium called Clostridium botulinum. Spores from the bacterium are commonly found in the soil.

Honey can sometimes be contaminated with bacterial spores. When this is swallowed by a baby, the spores germinate in the infant's intestine to form new bacteria and a deadly neurotoxin which can cause paralysis.

The adult immune system usually stops the growth of new bacteria, but babies and infants are more vulnerable.

"Although it might be tempting to give honey to your baby to ease coughs, infant botulism is a very serious illness and it simply isn’t worth the risk," the FSA said in a statement.

Although there have only been 11 confirmed cases of infant botulism in the past 30 years, three of these have occurred in the past year and all have had possible links to honey.

Sam Montel, nutritionist at the Food Standards Agency, said: 'For around the first six months babies only need breast milk or infant formula and although it might be tempting to give honey to your baby to ease coughs, infant botulism is a very serious illness and it simply isn’t worth the risk.

"Once introduced to solid foods, it’s always best to avoid sweetening your baby’s food or giving them sugary snacks and drinks, this will help stop them developing a sweet tooth and tooth decay."

What are the symptoms?

Symptoms take around 12 to 36 hours to begin after eating or breathing in the toxin, but can take longer to appear in infants. They usually include:

• Blurred vision
• Difficulty eating or swallowing
• Occasionally diarrhoea and vomiting
• Paralysis

How do you catch it?

Until recently, most cases of botulism occurred by eating food contaminated with bacterial spores. As the bacterium cannot survive in the presence of oxygen, the most common source was contaminated food which has been stored in air tight containers.

Although temperatures greater than 120 Celsius are needed to destroy the spores, the toxin is easily destroyed at normal cooking temperatures.

In the past ten years, over a hundred cases of wound botulism have occurred in the UK, mostly in intravenous drug users.

An anti-toxin is available to help treat the disease.

This article was published on Fri 4 June 2010