Greetings
    I remember the whole infant botulism scare back in the 1970s. It
was thought to be a potential cause of sudden infant crib death. My
first baby was born in 1974 and even though she was breast fed, we
used to give her honey and water in a bottle because she cried in
between feedings. So it was a little disconcerting to hear that we
could have killed her with it. However, so far as I know, the link
between honey and infant botulism has never been proved. They showed
that botulism spores are in honey and since there is no real need to
feed honey to babies, we were advised to stop doing it. Honey was
included in baby formula for centuries prior to the advent of canned
baby formula. Here are excerpts from the original 1979 study which
*implicates* honey:

>    Infant botulism results from the in vivo production of toxin by Clostridium botulinum after it has colonized the infant's gut. Epidemiologic and laboratory investigations of this recently recognized disease were undertaken to identify risk factors and routes by which C. botulinum spores might reach susceptible infants. Clostridium botulinum organisms, but no preformed toxin, were identified in six different honey specimens fed to three California patients with infant botulism, as well as from 10% (9/90) of honey specimens studied. By food exposure history, honey was significantly associated with type B infant botulism (P = 0.005).

>    In California, 29.2% (12/41) of hospitalized patients had been fed honey prior to onset of constipation; worldwide, honey exposure occurred in 34.7% (28/75) of hospitalized cases. Of all food items tested, only honey contained C. botulinum organisms. One household vacuum cleaner dust specimen and five soil specimens (three from case homes, two from control homes) contained Clostridium botulinum. The known ubiquitous distribution of C. botulinum implies that *exposure to its spores is universal* and that host factors contribute importantly to the pathogenesis of infant botulism. However, honey is now an identified and avoidable source of C. botulinum spores, and it therefore should not be fed to infants.

Source:
J Pediatr. 1979 Feb;94(2):331-6.Links
"Honey and other environmental risk factors for infant botulism."
 Arnon SS, Midura TF, Damus K, Thompson B, Wood RM, Chin J.


-- 
Peter L. Borst
Danby, NY  USA
42.35, -76.50

picasaweb.google.com/peterlborst

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