Foods to avoid offering to babies and young children

There are certain foods and ingredients that should not be offered to babies and young children. Here’s a list of which are these and the reason why they should be avoided.

Salt is often hidden especially in some foods such as ready meals, readymade sauces, crackers, stock cubes, gravy etc. Salt is not good for their kidneys. Remember also to try to avoid using salt and adding salt directed to baby's food or cooking water or offer salty foods such as take away, sausages, chips, crisps.

Sugar has to be avoided to prevent tooth decay. This also can be hidden in sauces like readymade tomato sauces, ketchup. In this category we also find fizzy drinks, squash and flavoured milks.

Foods that are high in saturated fats because they are also high in salt and sugars. Examples of these are crisps, biscuits and cakes.

Honey

< 1 year of age because it may contain bacteria that sometimes can produce a toxin in the baby's intestine and this can lead to botulism. Honey is a sugar so avoiding it and also prevent tooth decay.

Choking hazards

Whole nuts, peanuts popcorns, marshmallows, jelly. Anything that can be round and hard and can be swallowed as whole like cherries, grapes, blueberry, raspberries, legumes, seeds. Fruit pits should also be removed and discarded. Offer nuts as butter or finely grinded like a flour texture. Cherries, grapes, blueberry, raspberries legumes should be offered in a safe way.

Unpasteurised/mould ripened cheeses

Full fat cheese can be introduced as part of a balanced diet from the age of 6 months. These need to come from PASTEURISED milk and without any moulds. You can check the label if the cheese you want to buy comes from PASTEURISED milk or not. Unpasteurised/mould ripened cheeses may contain a bacteria called listeria.

Raw/lightly cooked eggs

Only eggs having the red stamp lion should be consumed raw or lightly cooked. If no stamp then the egg should be cooked thoroughly. This applies to any type of eggs: hens, duck, quails, goose.

Raw shellfish because of the risk of developing food poisoning. The category includes oyster, clams, mussels.

Shark, marlin and swordfish because of the high mercury concentration that can harm your baby's nervous system.

Rice drinks as a substitute for breast/formula or cow's milk (from 1 year). Rice milk tends to have quite a high concentration of arsenic. So if your baby is taking it, it's better to switch to any other milk.