Breastfeeding moms, honey and infant botulism.

Photo courtesy of Carrie Duncan from Four Bees Photography.

Photo courtesy of Carrie Duncan from Four Bees Photography.

During a recent gathering of moms, the topic of infant botulism circulated and I realized all of us were somewhat unclear on the safety of ingesting honey while breastfeeding. While we were all in agreement on NOT giving honey directly to an infant, we were also uncertain whether there was any harm in the baby receiving it via our breast milk.

I sleuthed the Internet and found several pages referencing infant botulism, honey, and the effects on breast milk.
Long story short, it is safe to ingest honey as a breastfeeding mother. The bacterial spores that cause infant botulism are too large to pass through the mothers body and through our breast milk. Also, botulinum toxin does not pass into breast milk either, making it safe for mothers to eat honey regardless whether it carries the botulism spores or not.

Below is the best reference I found regarding this topic, directly from Infant Botulism.org website.
http://www.infantbotulism.org/general/faq.php

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