Infant botulism

Definition

Honey can contain dormant spores of Clostridium botulinum. An adult or older child's gut flora prevents them germinating; an infant's immature gut sometimes does not, and the bacteria can then produce toxin internally. It is rare and it is serious. National food-safety agencies across the UK, EU, US, Australia and New Zealand give the same advice: no honey before twelve months, in any form, including cooked into food and including on a dummy.

Where the word gets used loosely

The advice is sometimes dismissed as over-caution, or believed to apply only to raw honey. Neither is right — spores survive pasteurisation and cooking, so the rule applies to every honey product without exception.

Guide records that discuss this

• Honeycomb: what it is, and how to eat itComb honey is honey as it left the bees, still in the wax they built to hold it. You can eat the wax, it will not harm you, and there is a reasonable argument that it is the most honest product in the category.