BB>i have read a few books mentioning about not to give babies honey as there
  >is some irritating substance in it as referred to "honey botulism". do you
  >guys (and girls) know about this? where i was grown up (hungary) people
  >used to give babies honey regardless of age. i survived it. is there a true
  >reasoning behind all these or is it only the overcivilized worlds paranoia
  >(yet again helped by the "scientific" having no idea what they are talking
  >about:-)??? thanks:
 
Hello Bela,
 
You bet its bad, do a search on the internet and you will find several
sites that say so and they would not lie, OJ.'
 
You got it right, yes if honey or any substance like it is contaminated
with botulism it can survive and be passed on to any person or infant.
 
The way this started here in California was by an over zealous state
health department doctor who was trying to link "infant death syndrome"
or all crib deaths to honey. Honey was the target, it could have been
any of a 100 other food products and other things that a infant puts
in his mouth, including the nipple. Of course he attracted a following
after going public, talk shows and all, and legal action was taken
against "honey" and the defendants were all of us, packers, and
producers.
 
It was settled out of court, so to say, because of the high cost of
defending such actions. The terms of the settlement were that the
beekeepers payed to have pamphlets printed up which are given out by
doctors specializing in infants. A worthy project and that was done.
 
They wanted warning labels on all jars of honey, money, more money,
and some more money. They had much scientific babble all of poor
quality but enough to convince the courts to accept the case.
 
It was clear by the evidence which in all cases the honey that was
handled by the consumer in such a way that "dust" could enter it and
contaminate it. It was also clear that honey was no more a suspect then
almost any other food that contained sugar and was exposed to the air
and contamination from the environment, such as any syrups, vegetables and
you name it, open and put into a serving dish.
 
   In any case infants don't buy or eat much honey as a consumer group
and we should not advice anyone to feed it to their new born. Why take
a chance, and feeding clean honey to babies only increases the number of
diapers you have to change anyway.
 
                           ttul Andy-
 
 
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