Is Honey Good for Kids?
October 24, 2026
Is Honey Good for Kids?
Yes. For children over 12 months, honey is a great thing to have in the house. It is a single ingredient food that comes out of the hive and goes into the jar with nothing added, which is more than can be said for most of what ends up in a lunchbox.
Here is how to get the most out of it.
What raw honey gives you that processed honey doesn't
Most honey on a supermarket shelf has been heated and heavily filtered before it reaches the jar, and that processing strips out a lot of what was in it to begin with.
Raw honey still carries the enzymes, antioxidants and trace minerals that were in it when it left the hive. Ours is cold processed through a 100 micron filter and never heat treated, so what you open is close to what came out of the frame.
It is sweeter than table sugar too, so a smaller amount does the same job in porridge, on toast or through a bake, and you get the character of the forest it came from along with it.
Easy ways to use it
- Stirred through plain yoghurt instead of buying the flavoured tubs
- Drizzled over porridge, pancakes or cut fruit
- Spread lightly on wholegrain toast
- Used in place of sugar when baking
- Straight from a single serve Honey Snap after training or on the way to school
Why Western Australian honey is different
Western Australia has one of the healthiest and most isolated bee populations anywhere on earth, free from several of the diseases and pests that affect hives elsewhere. That means our beekeeping stays chemical free and our honey never needs heat treatment.
It comes out of old growth Jarrah, Marri and Karri forests, and off the pristine landscape in the South West where our Australian Manuka is grown. Raw, cold processed, and traceable back to the site it came from.
What TA and MGO actually mean
You will see two ratings on Australian honey and they measure different things.
- TA, or Total Activity, is used for Eucalypt honeys such as Jarrah, Marri and Karri. It measures natural peroxide activity. A higher number means a more active honey.
- MGO measures methylglyoxal, and is used for Manuka, which works differently to the Eucalypts. Again, a higher number means more activity.
Both are measured in a laboratory rather than estimated. Ours are tested to the Codex Standard by independent labs, batch by batch, and the rating is printed on the jar. If a honey does not carry a tested rating, there is no way to know what you are getting.
Choosing a honey for your family
If you are buying honey for the quality rather than just the sweetness, three things are worth checking.
- Is it raw and cold processed, or has it been heated?
- Does it carry a tested TA or MGO rating, and does it name the laboratory?
- Can the producer tell you where it came from?
Honey For Life ticks all three. We run our own hives across Western Australia, we cold process everything through a 100 micron filter, and every batch is independently tested before it goes anywhere near a jar.
How much is reasonable
Honey is a sweet food, so treat it the way you would any other sweet thing in the cupboard. A teaspoon on toast or through porridge is a normal serve for most kids, and a 7g Honey Snap is about the same, which is part of why the snaps work so well. The portion is already decided, so there is nothing to negotiate over.
Brushing teeth afterwards is a good habit, same as with anything sweet.
Serving it at different ages
A few practical pointers rather than hard rules.
- One to three years: start with a small amount stirred through something familiar, like yoghurt or porridge, so the taste is not a surprise. A single serve snap is an easy way to keep the portion sensible.
- Four to eight years: this is the age where honey on toast becomes a routine, and where a snap in the lunchbox does the job without a sticky jar coming along for the ride.
- Nine and up: kids this age will happily take it straight, use it after sport, or put it on just about anything. Let them.
The bottom line
For children over one, good honey is one of the simplest upgrades you can make to what is already in the cupboard. One ingredient, no additives, and a taste most kids take to immediately.
Choose raw, choose tested, and choose a producer who can show you exactly what is in the jar.
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