ボツリヌス菌 Clostridium botulinum

久々にＮちゃんとＮＨちゃんの３人で集まったのですが、ふと話題に出たのがボツリヌス菌。私はなんとなく聞いたことがあるのですが、調べたところ、この菌が作り出すボツリヌス毒素は何と０．５kgで全人類を滅ぼすことができるよう！しかもこのボツリヌス菌は日本の蜂蜜の５％には入っているとのこと！だけど大人には影響がなく、食べても問題ないのですが、１才未満の子供は免疫がないため蜂蜜を食べないように厚生省が１９８７年に指定したようです。

そこで、英語とフランス語のwikipediaでも調べたところ、日本のように年齢の指定はされていなかったのですが、やはり赤ちゃんには蜂蜜を与えないようにと書いてありました。自然の物だし、まろやかな甘さだから赤ちゃんが喜ぶとついつい思いがちですが、このような怖い事実があったとは驚きました。

It's been awhile since N, NH, and I gathered together and while we were talking we came upon the topic of clostridium botulinum bacterium. I have heard of the name but when I searched more about it, I found out that apparently the WHOLE POPULATION can be wiped out with just 0.5kg of the toxins created from this bacterium! Later, I further found out that the bacterium can be found in 5% of the honey in Japan! It does not have any affect on adults however in 1987 the Ministry of Health & Welfare of Japan has specified that honey should not be given to babies below the age of 1 as they are still not immune to it.

I checked wikipedia in English and French and although they have not specified an age, both sites said that honey should not be given to infants. I was very surprised because we tend to think that babies may like it since it's from nature and has a mellow sweetness but in reality it can be a very dangerous food.