Infants
Do not put honey on a pacifier
Infant Botulism and Honey is the UF/IFAS warning page. Sanford, Atkinson, Klopchin, and Ellis. Fewer than 100 reported cases a year in the United States. Honey is the one identified source a keeper can avoid. CDC, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the National Honey Board all say the same thing: no honey under 12 months. Not in water. Not in formula. Not on a pacifier.
Public health officials have stated that honey is the one identified and avoidable source of C. botulinum spores.
The spore, not the bee
Clostridium botulinum is a spore-forming bacterium. In an infant gut that is still immature, the spore can grow and make a poison that blocks nerve signals. Healthy children over one year, and adults, have a gut that does not let that bacterium survive. Foodborne botulism is a different job. There the toxin is already in the food and hits in as little as six hours. Infant botulism starts from a spore that colonizes the gut.
Spores live in water, soil, dust, and air. They are not harmful until they germinate without oxygen. A US honey survey found spores in 10 percent of samples. The paper says botulinum toxin has not been found in honey, and would not be expected. Honey is antimicrobial and osmotic. The spore stays dormant. The risk is eating that dormant spore while the gut is still undeveloped. The jar still needs the state sentence. The infant line on that label is recommended, not the required cottage-food sentence.
Answer the question at the table
The paper tells keepers to answer this without selling honey as baby food. Follow the CDC line. Leave the feeding choice to the parent and the pediatrician. Cottage-food jar labels when you bottle. Get this. Eight-ounce glass jars for that kitchen. Do not print a health claim. Get this. honey labels is the label paper.
Does heating the honey make it safe for a baby?
The paper says honey is usually eaten raw. Spores take more than six hours at a rolling boil to die. A drizzle on a pacifier is not a canner.
Is honey still food after one year?
Yes. The paper does not walk back honey as food for anyone over twelve months. The cutoff is the infant gut.
Sources
- Infant Botulism and Honey. Sanford, Atkinson, Klopchin, and Ellis. CDC line. Not a bee disease.
- Bottling, Labeling, and Selling Honey in Florida. The label paper this warning points at.