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Ingredients › Jaggery (gur)

Baby food · 0–36 months

Is jaggery (gur) safe for babies?

Jaggery (gur) for babies and toddlers

Jaggery — gur, vellam, bellam — is sugar made by boiling down cane juice or palm sap without refining it. It keeps a little colour and a few minerals, which is why it is often called a healthier sugar. For a baby or toddler it is still added sugar, and Pikabee flags it in any food for a child under three.

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. Jaggery is flagged too.

6–12 monthsRED FLAG

Flagged as an added sugar. WHO Europe's model allows no added sugars in food for children 6–36 months, whatever the sugar is called.

12–36 monthsRED FLAG

Still flagged. The same model covers every commercial food for children up to 36 months.

What it is

Jaggery is made by boiling sugarcane juice or palm sap until it sets into a solid block or powder. Nothing is removed, so it is brown and has a rich taste. By weight it is mostly sucrose, the same sugar as white sugar.

In Indian homes and packaged foods it sweetens ragi porridge, laddoos, chikki, health mixes and “no refined sugar” snacks. A front label saying “no refined sugar” or “no white sugar” often means jaggery is inside.

Names it goes by on labels

Why Pikabee flags it

WHO counts any sugar added by a cook or manufacturer as a free sugar, and that includes unrefined sugars. WHO Europe's model for foods for children 6–36 months allows no added sugars at all. Jaggery's colour and minerals do not change what it is: sugar added to the food.

Questions parents ask

Is jaggery (gur) 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. Jaggery is flagged too.

Is jaggery (gur) safe for a 6 to 12 month old baby?

Flagged as an added sugar. WHO Europe's model allows no added sugars in food for children 6–36 months, whatever the sugar is called.

Is jaggery (gur) safe for a 1 to 3 year old?

Still flagged. The same model covers every commercial food for children up to 36 months. WHO counts any sugar added by a cook or manufacturer as a free sugar, and that includes unrefined sugars.

Can I give jaggery to my baby below 1 year?

Pikabee flags jaggery in any food for a child under three. It is added sugar, and WHO Europe's model allows no added sugars in food for children 6–36 months.

Is jaggery healthier than sugar for babies?

It keeps a little iron and some minerals, but it is mostly the same sugar as white sugar. For a baby or toddler it counts as added sugar either way.

The pack says “no refined sugar”. Why is it flagged?

“No refined sugar” usually means jaggery, coconut sugar or dates have been used instead. Those are still added sugars. Pikabee reads the ingredient list, not the front of the pack.

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Sources

  1. 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.
  2. WHO (2015). Guideline: Sugars intake for adults and children.
  3. WHO. Infant and young child feeding (fact sheet): only breast milk for the first 6 months.

Last reviewed 6 November 2026.

Related ingredients

Talk to your pediatrician about anything concerning.