Parents warned against giving honey to babies

Health experts are to advise parents not to give honey to infants under one year old because it could be infected with potentially lethal botulism bacteria. European Commission officials will issue formal warnings after advisers discovered the bug has been implicated in nearly 40 cases of infant botulism.

In a report released last week, advisers said at least one British baby who contracted botulism had eaten honey, and raised concerns that the contaminated product could be linked to another three cases. Although rare – just 40 in the past 25 years – the worst cases occur in babies under six months old because they do not at that stage have natural bacteria strong enough to resist the bacteria.

The Commission is considering plans for a public education campaign warning parents and child-minders not to add honey to infant formula or their foods. It will also give out leaflets at pregnancy clinics and GPs' surgeries. It is also expected to order honey producers and bottlers to put warning notices on labels.

Honey can be contaminated by Clostridium botulinum because bees often carry the organism. But it is hard to remove from honey, leading to risks that infants will fall ill.

The inquiry by the Commission's public health experts discovered that breast-feeding mothers used honey to tempt their babies to feed. "Its consumption must be considered the most important risk factor associated with infant botulism," the experts warned.

The Food Standards Agency, supermarkets and importers said they put warnings on labels as part of a voluntary scheme about five years ago. But the agency conceded it would follow the Commission's new rules, and issue new public warnings once they were published.

The Honey Association said it was unaware of the contamination cases, but said it would investigate. "We have never denied there is a very low risk of honey causing illness in young infants," it said.