# Why can' t you give honey to infants?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-can-t-you-give-honey-to-infants/316340>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [August 9, 2005, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-can-t-you-give-honey-to-infants/316340 "2005-08-09T21:59:17Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Thin\_Lizzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9a140/32.png) [@Thin\_Lizzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thin_Lizzy)\
**Post date:** [August 9, 2005, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-can-t-you-give-honey-to-infants/316340/1 "2005-08-09T21:59:17Z")

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I have a bottle of honey that says “DO NOT FEED TO INFANTS LESS THAN ONE YEAR OLD”

Why?

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**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\
**Post date:** [August 9, 2005, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-can-t-you-give-honey-to-infants/316340/2 "2005-08-09T22:02:58Z")

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Honey may contain botulism spores. Since an infant doesn’t have as developed an immune system as an adult, the bacteria that causes botulism can infect the infant more easily, and can injure or kill the infant. The risk is rare, and most honey doesn’t contain botulism, but it’s been known to happen.

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**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\
**Post date:** [August 9, 2005, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-can-t-you-give-honey-to-infants/316340/3 "2005-08-09T22:03:01Z")

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[Here’s why](http://www.drpaul.com/library/HONEY.html)

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**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\
**Post date:** [August 9, 2005, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-can-t-you-give-honey-to-infants/316340/4 "2005-08-09T23:35:24Z")

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Actually, it’s not an immune system issue - it’s that infants have less acidic stomach contents than healthy adults. So an adult’s stomach acid kills the spores before they can grown and produce toxin, whereas the higher pH of the infant’s stomach allows the spores to grow and become deadly.