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Ingredients › Honey

Baby food · 0–36 months

Is honey safe for babies?

Honey for babies under 1 year

Honey can carry spores of Clostridium botulinum. In a baby's gut those spores can grow and make the toxin that causes infant botulism. Guidance is plain: no honey in any form before the first birthday. After that, Pikabee still flags honey in packaged food as an added sugar until three.

What Pikabee flags, by age

0–6 monthsRED FLAG

Flagged. No honey in any form before 12 months — not a lick, not on a pacifier, not baked into a biscuit. (At this age Pikabee also flags any food other than breast milk or formula.)

6–12 monthsRED FLAG

Flagged, for the same reason. The CDC's advice covers products made with honey too, so honey baked into a biscuit or cereal is flagged as well.

12–36 monthsRED FLAG

Flagged as an added sugar. The botulism concern ends at one year, but WHO Europe's model allows no added sugars, honey included, in foods made for children up to 36 months.

What it is

Honey is made by bees from flower nectar. It is mostly sugar, and it can carry the spores of Clostridium botulinum, which are found in soil and dust. Adults and older children pass the spores through without harm. A baby's gut is not mature enough, so the spores can grow and make toxin.

Packaged baby and toddler foods use honey in cereals, biscuits, teething rusks and “honey-coated” snacks. In many families a drop of honey for a newborn is also a tradition. The guidance is the same for both.

Names it goes by on labels

Why Pikabee flags it

The US CDC says not to feed honey to a child younger than one, including honey pacifiers and products made with honey. WHO counts honey as a free sugar, and WHO Europe's model for foods for children 6–36 months names honey among the sugars that should not be added.

How often parents find it

2 of 12

different baby food labels parents have scanned with Pikabee had honey, as of 4 November 2026.

Questions parents ask

Is honey safe for a baby under 6 months?

Flagged. No honey in any form before 12 months — not a lick, not on a pacifier, not baked into a biscuit. (At this age Pikabee also flags any food other than breast milk or formula.)

Is honey safe for a 6 to 12 month old baby?

Flagged, for the same reason. The CDC's advice covers products made with honey too, so honey baked into a biscuit or cereal is flagged as well.

Is honey safe for a 1 to 3 year old?

Flagged as an added sugar. The botulism concern ends at one year, but WHO Europe's model allows no added sugars, honey included, in foods made for children up to 36 months.

Can I give honey to my baby for cough?

Not before the first birthday. The CDC says not to give honey in any form to a child younger than one. For a cough at any age, ask your pediatrician.

Is honey in a cooked or baked food okay before 1 year?

No. The CDC's advice covers honey and products made with it, so Pikabee flags honey on every food label, cooked or not.

What about a drop of honey for a newborn as a family tradition?

Guidance says no honey at all before 12 months, not even a drop. Many families now mark the tradition another way.

My toddler is over one. Why does Pikabee still flag honey?

After one, honey counts as an added sugar. WHO Europe's model allows no added sugars in foods made for children up to 36 months.

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Sources

  1. US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Preventing botulism: do not feed honey to a child younger than 1 year.
  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 (2015). Guideline: Sugars intake for adults and children.

Last reviewed 6 November 2026.

Related ingredients

Talk to your pediatrician about anything concerning.