ITV favourite Dr Amir Khan has issued a warning to parents and caregivers of babies under one. The full-time GP, who is also known for his appearances on popular daytime shows such as Lorraine and Good Morning Britain, also regularly keeps his many social media followers update.
He is often thanked by fans for his medical tips and tricks, and on Monday he shared an alert regarding a common kitchen item. In a video filmed from his surgery, he said: “You should never give a child under one honey.”
He further explained: “I’m only doing this because recently a patient asked me whether it was okay to give their child honey, because they had seen conflicting information online. So let’s clear this up.”
The doctor added that while it can be good to expose a baby to a wide variety of new foods, tastes and textures, “experts recommend waiting until after your baby’s first birthday to introduce honey”. And this includes raw honey, processed honey, and honey that’s been baked into foods, he continued.
Explaining why parents should not do this, he said: “Honey may contain a bacteria called clostridium botulinum [which] can release spores, which turn into bacteria in the bowels and produce harmful neurotoxins.” A baby’s digestive tract, he added, would not be mature enough to manage these bacteria.
In fact, giving a baby honey can lead to “infant botulism”, a rare but serious condition which “can cause nerve issues and muscle paralysis”. Symptoms, Dr Amir said, include irritability, poor feeding, droopy eyelids, muscle weakness, floppiness, and difficulty breathing.
Dr Amir continued: “It can be life threatening and requires immediate medical attention.” After a child’s first birthday, he added, it is “considered safe to start introducing them to honey [as] most cases of infant botulism occur in babies under six months, so waiting until 12 months provides a buffer of time that allows their digestive tracts to fully mature.”