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Ingredients › Biscuits and rusks

Baby food · 0–36 months

Are biscuits safe for babies?

Biscuits and rusks for babies

A biscuit is not one ingredient, so Pikabee reads the whole label. Most packaged biscuits and rusks, including many sold for babies, add sugar and salt, and Pikabee flags those. India's dietary guidelines name biscuits among the foods to avoid when a baby starts solids.

What Pikabee flags, by age

0–6 monthsRED FLAG

Any food other than breast milk or infant formula is flagged at this age, because WHO advises only breast milk for the first 6 months. Biscuits and rusks included.

6–12 monthsRED if sugar or salt

Most biscuits are flagged: for added sugar (sugar, invert syrup, liquid glucose, jaggery) and for added salt, which is flagged under 12 months. A biscuit with neither, and nothing else flagged, comes back clean.

12–36 monthsRED if sugar

Still flagged for added sugar until three. Salt is flagged when it is among the main ingredients or a big share of the day in one serving; colours like INS 110 are flagged, and an undisclosed flavouring is yellow.

What it is

A typical biscuit is wheat flour (maida or atta), sugar or invert syrup, fat (often palm oil), raising agents and salt, with milk solids, flavouring and sometimes colours. Rusks are twice-baked bread, usually sweetened.

“Teething” or “baby” biscuits are often made the same way, with the same sugar, so the front of the pack tells you less than the ingredient list.

Names it goes by on labels

Why Pikabee flags it

India's Dietary Guidelines (ICMR–NIN, 2024), in the guideline on complementary feeding, say to avoid sugar and to “avoid foods (biscuits, cakes) and beverages (fruit juices and cold drinks) with added sugar”. WHO Europe's nutrient profile model allows no added sugars in foods for children up to 36 months, and WHO's 2023 guideline says young children should avoid foods high in sugar and salt.

Questions parents ask

Are biscuits safe for a baby under 6 months?

Any food other than breast milk or infant formula is flagged at this age, because WHO advises only breast milk for the first 6 months. Biscuits and rusks included.

Are biscuits safe for a 6 to 12 month old baby?

Most biscuits are flagged: for added sugar (sugar, invert syrup, liquid glucose, jaggery) and for added salt, which is flagged under 12 months. A biscuit with neither, and nothing else flagged, comes back clean.

Are biscuits safe for a 1 to 3 year old?

Still flagged for added sugar until three. Salt is flagged when it is among the main ingredients or a big share of the day in one serving; colours like INS 110 are flagged, and an undisclosed flavouring is yellow.

Can I give a Marie or glucose biscuit to my 8 month old?

Most of them carry added sugar and salt, which Pikabee flags under 12 months. India's guidelines name biscuits among the foods to avoid for babies. Scan the pack to see exactly what is in it.

Are “baby” or teething biscuits different?

Often not. Many add sugar just like ordinary biscuits. Pikabee judges the ingredient list, not the name on the front.

Is atta biscuit better than maida biscuit?

Pikabee does not flag either flour. What it flags is the sugar, salt, colours and undisclosed flavourings added to them.

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Sources

  1. ICMR–National Institute of Nutrition (2024). Dietary Guidelines for Indians (booklet), Guideline 4 (complementary feeding) and Guideline 7 (fats).
  2. WHO Regional Office for Europe (2022). Nutrient and promotion profile model: supporting appropriate promotion of food products for infants and young children 6–36 months.
  3. WHO (2023). Guideline for complementary feeding of infants and young children 6–23 months of age.
  4. UK Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (2003). Salt and health.

Last reviewed 6 November 2026.

Related ingredients

Talk to your pediatrician about anything concerning.