Honey
Honey: why it must never be given to infants under 12 months, what research shows for cough and for wound care, and how honey differs from medical-grade honey dressings.
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Never give honey to a baby under 12 months. Honey can contain spores that cause infant botulism, a serious illness. [1]
Overview and identity
Honey is made by honeybees from flower nectar. It is a food, a traditional remedy, an ingredient in lozenges and syrups, and, in specially made medical products, a wound dressing. These are different things, and evidence for one does not transfer to another. Manuka honey is a separate guide topic and is covered in Comparisons.Infants: the key risk
Infant botulism is caused by a bacterium whose spores are common in nature and may be found in soil and certain foods such as honey. It occurs mostly in young infants between 6 weeks and 6 months, but can occur from 6 days to a year of age, and swallowing honey as a baby is a listed risk factor. Symptoms include constipation, a weak cry, poor feeding and weak suckling, drooping eyelids, a floppy body and breathing problems. [1] Public health advice is to avoid honey for children under 12 months, including honey on pacifiers or in baby food. This applies to any honey, including raw honey. Get urgent medical care if a baby shows these signs.What the research shows
| Use | What research shows | Strength of evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Acute cough in children (age 3 to 5 on average, studied for 3 days) | A 2026 meta-analysis of 6 trials (576 children) compared honey with drug treatment. The main analysis found comparable effects on most outcomes, with honey better for children's sleep. After sensitivity analysis honey improved all outcomes, but the authors call this hypothesis-generating, not definitive. [2] | Limited, short-term |
| Burns (partial thickness) | A Cochrane review found high-quality evidence from 2 trials (992 people) that honey dressings healed partial-thickness burns about 4.7 days faster than conventional dressings. [3] | Higher quality for this use |
| Infected post-operative wounds | Moderate-quality evidence from one trial (50 people) of faster healing than antiseptic washes and gauze. [3] | Moderate, small |
| Venous leg ulcers, diabetic foot ulcers, minor acute wounds | Effects unclear. [3] | Unclear |
| Overall | The reviewers say it is difficult to draw overall conclusions because the people studied and comparison treatments varied and most evidence was low quality. [3] | Mixed |
Medical-grade honey is not kitchen honey
The wound studies used honey dressings. The FDA clears some honey-based wound dressings as medical devices through a process that compares a device with existing ones; one example is a 2015 clearance for a manuka honey wound gel. [4] Those products are made and labeled as dressings. Do not put kitchen honey on a serious, infected or worrying wound. See a clinician. The review above does not support using household honey instead of medical care. [3]Safety and quality
Frequently asked questions
Can babies have honey?
No, not under 12 months. It can cause infant botulism. [1]
Does honey help a cough?
Some trials in young children suggest it may, but a 2026 meta-analysis called its stronger result hypothesis-generating. [2]
Can I put honey on a wound?
Medical honey dressings have been studied and cleared as devices; ordinary honey is a different product. See a clinician for any serious, infected or worrying wound. [3][4]
References
- MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia. Infant botulism. National Library of Medicine.
- Timm Brun M, Abreu Vianna Braga MC, Teixeira Ferraz Grunewald S. Honey vs. pharmacological treatment for acute cough in children: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Eur J Pediatr. 2026;185(9):706. PubMed 42671586.
- Jull AB, Cullum N, Dumville JC, Westby MJ, Deshpande S, Walker N. Honey as a topical treatment for wounds. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2015;(3):CD005083. PubMed 25742878. Several authors were investigators in an included trial that received a small contribution from a honey dressing manufacturer (disclosed in the review).
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration. 510(k) summary and clearance letter K150985, Medihoney Wound Gel. 2015.
- Menniti-Ippolito F, et al. Surveillance of suspected adverse reactions to natural health products: the case of propolis. Drug Saf. 2008;31(5):419-23. PubMed 18422383. Italian national surveillance, 18 reports.
Education, not medical advice. This page is for general information. It does not diagnose or treat any condition and is not a substitute for care from a qualified health professional. Natural does not automatically mean safe. Ask a clinician or pharmacist before changing your care, especially if you take medication, are pregnant or breastfeeding, or have a health condition.