Botulism

[REDWOOD]

If one label saves one child's life then it is worth sticking them one

 

[isc26]

Here is what I put on a small label on the rear of my jars. I asked the sellers what they wanted & made them aware of the very small risk, this is what we agreed was suitable.

All pure honey will granulate over time. To restore to liquid loosen lid and place jar into hot water until reliquified.

Honey must not be fed to infants under one year of age.

 

[richardbees]

If one label saves one child's life then it is worth sticking them one

Red

you don't really mean that...

The same logic would mean you have to also put on the label:

"eating too much honey will make you clinically obese"

"the contents of this jar may cause accidents if dropped on the floor"....

 

[parkranger]

If one label saves one child's life then it is worth sticking them one

Red

you don't really mean that...

The same logic would mean you have to also put on the label:

"eating too much honey will make you clinically obese"

"the contents of this jar may cause accidents if dropped on the floor"....

Richard, Either you are missing the point or just don't get it. We are talking about highlighting a danger that the majority of consumers probably don't know. Not stating the bleeding obvious!

 

[For want of a better word]

Richard, Either you are missing the point or just don't get it. We are talking about highlighting a danger that the majority of consumers probably don't know. Not stating the bleeding obvious!

Tesco do not put DANGER ASPERTAME MAY CAUSE BRAIN CANCER on every product they sell that contains it !​

How far can labels go?... perhaps dummies should also come with a health warning... do not give to babies?

 

[REDWOOD]

If one label saves one child's life then it is worth sticking them one

Red

you don't really mean that...

The same logic would mean you have to also put on the label:

"eating too much honey will make you clinically obese"

"the contents of this jar may cause accidents if dropped on the floor"....

Obesity is self inflicted and a broken toes is hardly death, I can understand that the public might deem the label as something suspicious but making people aware of the small risk puts my conscience clear

 

[richardbees]

parkranger

as you've already posted earlier:

I don't know whether honey contains botulism spores or not but if it does I don't want any responsibility for the effects of it on a child.

I recently noticed that my morning tub of Sainsbury fruit yoghurt had wording along the lines of:

"machinery used in the preparation of this product may have also been used for preparation of a product that contains nuts"

Maybe we should add:

"No animals were harmed during the production of the contents of this jar"

 

[parkranger]

parkranger

as you've already posted earlier:

I don't know whether honey contains botulism spores or not but if it does I don't want any responsibility for the effects of it on a child.

I recently noticed that my morning tub of Sainsbury fruit yoghurt had wording along the lines of:

"machinery used in the preparation of this product may have also been used for preparation of a product that contains nuts"

Maybe we should add:

"No animals were harmed during the production of the contents of this jar"

That would of course, be a lie!

 

[Mr Bumbles]

Because there is a potential risk to infants I personally would rather put on the label Not suitable for infants under 12 months.

 

[richardbees]

"That would of course, be a lie!"

I know, I'm quite shameless!

 

[Ely]

If one label saves one child's life then it is worth sticking them one

As much as I hate kids I think it is actually illegal to stick them one these days unfortunatly.

 

[REDWOOD]

As much as I hate kids I think it is actually illegal to stick them one these days unfortunatly.

Yep one right across the smacker will stop them eating honey and a bit of piece and quiet

 

[Chris B]

For anyone who puts these labels on their jars (or thinking about it), you might as well base your decision on facts:

1. Infant botulism is more dangerous the younger a child is, reducing to zero danger at about 6 months.

2. There has never been a fatality in the UK from infant botulism.

3. The last I heard there had only ever been 11 recorded cases in the UK since records began in the seventies. Of these very few had any possible connection to honey, and certainly NONE were connected to UK honey.

4. There is no evidence that infant botulism spores are found in UK honey.

5. Conversely the spores are sometimes found in certain foreign honeys.

6. It is recognised that by far the most likely way to contract infant botulism is by ingestion of airborne spores. Testing in USA has it at about 85% airborne, 15% honey. USA has up to 100 cases a year, half of these in California.

7. Californian honey has a high incidence of infant botulism contamination (up to 25% of samples depending on which stats you find).

From 6. and 7. above I would conclude that if your local air is high risk then your local honey will also carry a proportionally high risk. This makes sense to me because we know honey will absorb whatever it's exposed to.
So what is the point of avoiding your local honey, when you clearly can't avoid your local air supply?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Spoke to my local butcher the other day and he's starting a new labelling system this week to avoid any threat of litigation - all meat is now going to be marked 'not suitable for vegetarians'

 

[mbc]

For anyone who puts these labels on their jars (or thinking about it), you might as well base your decision on facts:

QUOTE]

Thank you very much ChrisB, this is a spot on post to put our minds at rest and exactly what a thread on this subject needed.

 

[For want of a better word]

I hear that the average American is unfit for human consumption due to pesticide and insecticide residuals in all their fat !

There are a number of cases of cannibalism reported annualy in the USA


On a more serious note .. is your Tetanus jab up to date... the other clostridium that is a REAL killer !

 

[Chris B]

There is quite a lot of info. on the net but here is a fairly good summary of some of it (although I don't agree with the final recommendation):

http://www.scottishbeekeepers.org.uk/Portals/0/Documents/TDS number 16 Honey and Infant Botulism.pdf

And from NHS Direct Wales:
"Honey and corn syrup have been known to cause some cases of infant botulism, although no definitive cause was found in the majority of cases. In England and Wales there have been 13 cases of infant botulism between 1978 and 2011."

And from a Guardian article a few years back:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2005/aug/25/health.society

 

[harveyzone]

I imagine that less than 1 % of the parents have ever heard of the risk of feeding honey to infants under one year old.

It is mentioned at pre-natal and post-natal classes, and is in a lot of new parent advice leaflets so I would suspect 90%+ of parents of under 1 year olds are aware.

 

[Chris B]

1. Infant botulism is more dangerous the younger a child is, reducing to zero danger at about 6 months.

Apologies, small but significant correction to the above. Danger is much reduced but not zero by 6 months of age. In the following study of over 500 cases, average age for getting the disease is 14 weeks, interquartile range is 9 to 19 weeks, but there are still cases up to 52 weeks.
http://www.infantbotulism.org/readings/Koepke_2008_Global_IB.pdf

 

[polomadh]

I do put it on mine... but as a way of distinguishing it from supermarket honey... ie "As this honey has not been pasturised is should not be given to children under a year". For me this ADDS to the value of the honey, not detract in the same way some people would prefer raw milk
As an additional point, the majority of my honey goes to friends and family, I would not be able to live with myself should the worst thing happen