嬰兒不宜吃蜜糖

雖然蜂蜜是一種天然健康食品，但可藏肉毒梭菌孢子，危害免疫系統不發達的嬰兒。如有感染，可引起弛緩性麻痺削弱了寶寶的肌肉。又可導致便秘，嗜睡，拒食，弱哭，眼瞼下垂，面無表情，流口水或吞嚥困難，甚至呼吸驟停。通常滿一歲，可抵禦這肉毒桿菌。 除了蜂蜜外，也可以在灰塵，土壤和其他未煮熟的食物，發現肉毒桿菌孢子。

Warning! Honey is not for babies!

Although honey is a natural, healthy food that normally cannot support bacterial life, it's important to note that it can carry C. botulinum spores which may be harmful to the undeveloped immune systems of infants. The old practice of dipping pacifiers into honey to soothe crying babies should be aborted.

Infants up to one year of age should not be fed raw honey, as their immune systems are not yet developed enough to fend off this normally benign strain. Infection can cause a flaccid paralysis weakening the baby's muscles, causing a "floppy" baby. Other symptoms include constipation, lethargy, poor feeding, weak cry, droopy eyelids, expressionless face, drooling or swallowing difficulty, and occasionally, respiratory arrest. By the age of one year, most children develop enough to resist this normally benign strain of botulinum.

Infant botulism is rarely lethal, but is obviously easy to avoid in this instance. Although food manufacturers make extensive use of honey in their products, baby food manufacturers, as a rule, will not include honey in their foods recommended for those babies under one year of age.

It must also be pointed out that infant botulism is not exclusive to the ingestion of honey. The botulism spore can also be found in dust, soil and other uncooked foods that older children and adults are exposed to daily. The risk is minimal. Yet, it is an avoidable risk, and honey should not be fed to infants under the age of twelve months. Don't play the odds.

http://homecooking.about.com/od/foodhealthinformation/a/honeyhealth.htm