MetricPoint — Food Intelligence
LabelBaby ingredient guide

Which ingredients should babies avoid in the first year?

The first year is when a baby's gut, kidneys and immune system are least able to handle certain ingredients. Each entry below explains why it is rated Avoid or Caution for 0–12 months, reviewed and signed by a named reviewer.

20 reviewed ingredient guides. Looking for older or younger? See the 12–24 months guide.

Avoid

Use with caution

How to use the first-year ingredient guide

Why the first year is different

A baby under 12 months has an immature digestive system and immune system and takes very small amounts of food, so an ingredient that is harmless for an adult can matter. Honey is the clearest example. The CDC advises that honey given to children younger than 12 months can cause infant botulism, a serious illness, and that it should not be added to a baby's food, water, formula or pacifier. The same CDC page says infants and young children should have no added sugars and should not be given unpasteurized milk, yogurt, cheese or juice, and that cow's milk and juice should wait until after 12 months.

What Avoid, Caution and OK mean here

Avoid means we recommend not giving the ingredient at this age. Caution means it may be suitable in a specific form or situation, for example a particular preparation or with your pediatrician's guidance. Generally OK, with a note means the ingredient is usually fine but comes with a point about portion, preparation or label reading. Every rating has a written reason, a list of sources and a named reviewer, so you can see why an ingredient landed where it did.

Three kinds of risk

Most entries fall into one of three groups. Some are infection or toxin risks, such as honey. Some are choking risks that depend on shape and texture, such as whole nuts, where the same food may be fine as a smooth paste. The rest are exposure concerns, such as artificial dyes, added sugar and fish that is high in mercury, where the worry is a substance with little benefit for a baby rather than an immediate hazard. The CDC also advises avoiding high-sodium foods for young children, such as some canned foods, processed meats, frozen dinners and snacks.

Allergens are not the same as hazards

Many allergenic foods are not avoided in the first year at all. Guidelines sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in 2017 support introducing peanut-containing foods early for infants at higher risk of peanut allergy, with timing and any testing decided together with a pediatrician. Our entries separate the allergen question from the choking question, which is why a food such as whole peanuts can be rated Avoid while smooth peanut paste is discussed under pediatric guidance.

Reading the whole label

Front-of-pack claims such as natural or no added sugar tell you little about the ingredient list, so read the list itself and compare it with the entries above. LabelBaby, our mobile app that is coming soon, is being built to check every ingredient on a baby food label against your child's age. Until then, use this guide as a reference and bring any question about your own child's allergies or needs to your pediatrician.

General feeding information, not medical advice. Talk to your pediatrician about your child's allergies and needs.

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