Is Raw Honey Safe for Babies?

No. Honey of any kind, raw or pasteurised, organic or ordinary, should not be given to a baby under 12 months old. The rule applies to all honey, not only raw honey, and it is one of the few food rules on which health authorities are completely unanimous. This page explains why, what the numbers are, and what to look out for.

What the guidance says

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy of Pediatrics both advise giving no honey, in any form, to children under 12 months old. Poison Control puts it plainly: do not feed honey or products containing honey to infants under 12 months of age. That includes honey mixed into food or drink, honey on a dummy or pacifier, honey given for a cough, and foods that contain honey as an ingredient.

Why honey is a problem for babies

Honey can contain spores of Clostridium botulinum, the bacterium that causes botulism. In older children and adults, a mature gut, with its stomach acid and its established community of bacteria, stops the spores from growing. A young baby's gut has not developed those defences, so the spores can germinate and multiply in the intestine and release a toxin. The resulting illness is called infant botulism.

How common are the spores? A 2024 review in Current Microbiology, "Infant Botulism: In Search of Clostridium botulinum Spores", analysed 70 published surveys from around the world conducted between 1978 and 2023 and found C. botulinum in 173 of 4,310 honey samples, about 4%. That is a low proportion, but nobody can tell by looking at, smelling or tasting a jar whether it is one of the few. The illness is rare but serious. US health departments reported 152 cases of infant botulism in 2019.

The rule has clearly worked. The same review notes that after the American Academy of Pediatrics advised against giving honey to infants in 1981, cases linked to honey declined significantly. It also notes that honey is not the only source of spores: soil and dust are others, which is why some infants who have never had honey still develop the illness.

"But it is raw" and "but I cooked it"

Two common questions deserve direct answers.

• Raw versus pasteurised. There is no safe version for babies. The concern is spores, and neither raw nor commercially processed honey can be relied on to be free of them. Do not assume that pasteurised honey, organic honey or honey from a trusted local beekeeper is any safer for a baby.
• Cooking or baking. Heat does not make honey safe. The 2024 review notes that boiling may not be sufficient to destroy all heat-resistant C. botulinum spores. So "just a little in baked goods" does not solve the problem, which is why the guidance says honey in any form.

The review also makes a point that helps explain why honey itself does not make adults ill: honey has a very low water activity, between 0.5 and 0.65, which prevents the growing form of the bacterium from multiplying inside the jar. The spores simply sit there, harmless to older children and adults and hazardous to babies.

What infant botulism looks like

Poison Control describes the early warning signs as muscle weakness, giving the baby a "floppy" look, drooping eyelids, constipation lasting several days, weak sucking or feeding, and an unusually weak cry. Symptoms can appear between 3 and 30 days after exposure. Infant botulism is a medical emergency. If you see these signs, seek urgent medical care straight away, tell the doctor if the baby has had any honey, and do not wait to see whether it passes. Treatment is given in hospital.

After the first birthday

From 12 months, honey is generally considered safe as far as botulism is concerned, because the gut has matured. That does not make it a health food for toddlers. Honey is a free sugar, and the World Health Organization advises limiting free sugars, while US dietary guidance has advised avoiding added sugars for young children altogether. A small amount now and then is fine. It should not become a daily sweetener, and it should not replace better foods. For adults, our honey per day guide explains how much fits in a healthy day, and the raw versus processed honey guide explains what raw actually means.

Practical checklist for parents and carers

• Read labels on biscuits, cereals, snack bars, herbal teas, cough syrups and "natural" sweeteners for honey. It is common in products aimed at children.
• Do not put honey on a dummy or in a baby's mouth, and do not use it for a baby's cough or colic.
• Tell grandparents, nannies and other carers. The rule is often unknown to people from generations that used honey freely.
• If you use our Raw Organic Honey at home, keep it out of reach and out of the baby's food. Like every honey, it is not for infants under 12 months.
• If a baby has swallowed honey and you are worried, contact a doctor or a poison information service, and go straight to hospital if any of the symptoms above appear.

This page is general information, not medical advice.

Sources

• US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and American Academy of Pediatrics: no honey for children under 12 months.
• Poison Control (US). Botulism and honey: do not feed honey to infants; symptoms and what to do.
• Infant botulism: in search of Clostridium botulinum spores. Curr Microbiol 2024 (PMC11322261).
• US CDC National Botulism Surveillance Summary, 2019 (152 infant botulism cases).