Is honey safe in pregnancy?
Is it OK to eat jars of shop bought or local honey or use honey in cooking when you are pregnant?
In a nutshell
Yes, it's safe to eat any type of honey
The expert view
You might have heard that honey can be dangerous for women to eat when they are pregnant, but it is actually perfectly safe, be that as a recipe ingredient, or straight from the jar. It's worth remembering though that babies under a year old should not have it.
Bear in mind also the sugar content of honey before you get too carried away with scoffing it, advises nutritionist Dr Rana Conway: "Honey is 80% sugar so you shouldn’t have too much of it. However, it tastes sweeter than regular sugar, so if you have it with porridge or natural yogurt you can use a lot less."
There is also conflicting and confusing information on the web about unpasteurised honey (that comes straight from the beehive) and whether or not pregnant women can eat it. The perceived risk is that it could potentially contain botulism spores, but as an adult’s digestive process will kill off any bacteria during consumption, it is also safe to eat.
Mums on our forum say
"When I had a cold, my doctor suggested what he had done for his wife when she was pregnant, which was dispersible paracetamol in hot water, with a few drops of honey and a few drops of lemon. I hated it, as I hate honey. But it seemed to do the trick!" mithical
Read more about pregnancy food safety:
Authors
Magda Ibrahim is a freelance writer who has written for publications including The Times and Sunday Times, The Sun, Time Out, and the London Evening Standard, as well for MadeForMums.
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