The A-Z of Foods to Avoid Giving Your Baby or Infant: a Guide for Parents

It is so important to avoid feeding a baby or toddler anything that could be detrimental to their health. So, once infants are weaning off milk and eating solids, vigilance and care is needed over every food choice. Allergens aside, the NHS recommends a significant list of foods that adults should avoid giving babies and young children. Such foods are on the ‘avoid’ list usually because they contain one or more of the following three ingredients, although there are also others to look out for, as you’ll see.

Too much salt. This is bad for babies’ kidneys, which have not finished developing. It can also raise blood pressure and increase the risk of stroke and heart disease. According to the NHS, babies under 1 should have less than 1g of salt per day and this will usually be achieved through milk intake, so none should be added. Children aged between 1 and 3 should only eat a maximum of 2g of salt per day (0.8g of sodium). For 4 to 6-year-olds it can increase to 3g of salt per day (1.2g of sodium).
Added sugar. Infants do not need this. If added, it may increase instances of tooth decay, unhealthy weight issues, Type 2 diabetes, heart disease and even cancer. With children typically consuming more than twice as much sugar as is recommended, it is a real issue. The NHS’s sugar calculator can help when preparing food for infants, or alternatively use their Food Scanner app to find healthier food choices (click the yellow graphic to download).
Saturated fats. These can raise levels of cholesterol and increase the risk of getting heart disease.

Foods to Avoid Giving Your Infant

In alphabetical order, foods that the NHS warns parents to avoid feeding babies and infants include:

Food Type	Reason To Avoid / Notes
Anchovies	Contains salt.
Bacon	Contains salt and saturated fats.
Bagles	May contain added salt.
Biscuits	These may be high in saturated fats.
Bread products	May contain added salt.
Breakfast cereals	Likely to contain salt and sugar.
Buns	Contains sugar.
Cakes	Contains sugar and saturated fats.
Cereal bars	Contains sugar.
Cheeses (some)	Contains salt and saturated fats. Avoid all cheeses before the age of six months. Thereafter, avoid cheeses including non-pasteurised, mould-ripened (like brie), veined cheese (like stilton) and ripened goats’ cheese — unless used in [hot] cooking to kill harmful microbes.
Chips with added salt	Contains salt.
Chocolate & chocolate products, spreads etc.	Contains sugar, saturated fats, even salt.
Ciabatta	Contains salt.
Crisps	Contains salt. They can also contain high levels of saturated fat.
Crumpets	May contain added salt.
Eggs	Avoid before the age of 6 months, thereafter avoid if raw/only lightly cooked unless they exhibit the Red Lion or ‘British Lion Quality’ stamp.
Fizzy drinks	Avoid if they contain added sugar.
Fruit juices	Even unsweetened juice will contain natural ‘free’ sugars.
Gravy granules	Contains salt.
Ham	Contains salt.
Honey	Contains sugar and also may contain bacteria that produces toxins in babies’ intestines, potentially causing botulism. Never give honey to children under the age of 1.
Ice cream	Contains sugar, saturated fats
Jelly cubes	Choking hazard.
Juice drinks	Contain sugar.
Marlin meat	Contains mercury.
Mayonnaise	Likely to contain salt.
Nectars	Contains sugar.
Nuts – salted and dry-roasted	Contains salt. Choking hazard too, unless crushed.
Olives	Contains salt. Choking hazard.
Pasta sauces	Likely to contain salt.
Pastries	Contains sugar, saturated fats, even salt.
Pickles	Contains salt.
Pizza	Likely to contain salt.
Prawns	Contains salt.
Ready meals	Contains salt.
Rice drinks	Avoid before the age of 5 – contains arsenic.
Salami	Contains salt.
Salt fish	Contains salt.
Sandwiches	Likely to contain salt.
Sauces	Likely to contain salt.
Sausages	Likely to contain salt and saturated fats.
Shark meat	Contains mercury.
Shelfish	Avoid if raw/lightly cooked.
Smoked meat and fish	Contains salt.
Smoothies	Contains sugar.
Soup	Likely to contain salt.
Soy sauce	Contains salt.
Stock cubes	Contains salt.
Sweets	Contains sugar.
Swordfish meat	Contains mercury.
Syrups including maple, golden, agave etc.	Contains sugar.
Takeaways	Contains salt.
Tomato ketchup	Contains salt.
Vegetable juices	Contains sugar.
Yeast extract	Contains salt.
Yoghurts (flavoured)	Contains sugar.

We hope that this ready-reference is useful for parents and guardians of babies and young children. However, it is a guide only and you should do your own research, including in regard to possible allergies/allergens. Always check food labels and ensure you’re using information for infants, not adults.

Healthy Eating at Leaps & Bounds Day Nursery, Edgbaston, Birmingham

Our standard fees include healthy meals (breakfast, lunch and tea as appropriate), healthy snacks and drinks. Meals contain fresh, nutritious ingredients that are locally sourced and prepared by award-winning early years caterers. We cater for all dietary needs including vegan and vegetarian options. We also participate in the ‘Startwell’ programme, which encourages healthy food and lifestyles amongst children and families in the Birmingham area.

Looking for outstanding nurseries/pre-schools in Edgbaston, Birmingham, Harborne, Ladywood, Bearwood or Smethwick?

Leaps & Bounds is a popular nursery and pre-school located in Edgbaston, Birmingham. We offer high quality childcare to local parents/guardians, including those who live or work in Harborne, Ladywood, Bearwood and Smethwick. To learn more about how we can bring out the very best in your baby, toddler or under-five child, we invite you to bring them along for a nursery visit. Ask us any questions and have a look around. See if your child feels at home. You can also simply apply for a place or send us a message. Please choose a button below to get started: