clostridium botulinum

you must have heard it before, regarding canned food poisoning. I was just reading that babies younger than 1yo can get it when they eat honey!?!? Why would honey contain that bacteria?

 

very interesting but its just not honey
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/factsheets/Clostridium_botulinum/index.asp

 

I am just surprised because honey contains it...it is supposed to be anti-bacterial.

 

Firstly: Everything contains bacteria.

Secondly: Blame the bees. When they collect pollen, they're in contact with soil and dust particles and these particles contain spores of Clostridium botulinium - this inevitably makes its way into the hive and into the honey produced there.

Under normal circumstances these spores don't cause illness, they're a dormant form of the bacterium, but in ideal conditions - like those found in your stomach - they germinate and produce a protein called botulin. In a healthy individual, the stomach and immune system destroys the botulism spores before they germinate and begin to produce the toxin, so most of us don't even notice or have to worry about it, however, it's not recommended to give honey to infants under 2, (whose immune system is not fully developed), or indeed to anyone with a reduced immune system through illness.