Certain foods should be avoided before a certain age, as Public Health France has just reminded us.
Choosing the right food for your children is not so easy. It must be adapted according to their age, in order to allow them to grow well. This is why Public Health France issued a reminder of recommendations to assist parents. Based on the work of the National Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health Safety and that of the High Council for Public Health, it concerns children aged 4 to 11 years.
Santé publique France thus issues some “specific recommendations for this age group”. It is first recommended to have children eat “fruit and vegetables every day at meals” and whatever the form, “whether fresh, frozen or canned, raw or cooked, plain or prepared”. One of the other major recommendations is the consumption of up to three dairy products per day, essential for calcium intake, essential for growth and good bone mineralization. Between 4 and 6 years old, in terms of quantity, children should eat half as much as adults. Portions are then gradually increased before reaching those of adults after 11 years old.
However, not all dairy products are allowed before the age of 5. Santé Publique France specifies that “children under 5 years old should not consume raw milk or cheeses made from raw milk due to the risk of infection”. Although they are very often given by parents to children, it is actually necessary to wait to allow little ones to eat brie, reblochon or even morbier made from raw milk.
These products do not undergo pre-heat treatment and can therefore be contaminated by bacteria present in the digestive tract of animals such as E. Coli, salmonella and Listeria. When the immune system is not yet mature, contamination by these bacteria can be dangerous, although this remains rare. Children have already been hospitalized in serious condition after eating raw milk cheese contaminated with E. Coli.
It is therefore preferable to avoid or ban raw milk cheese before the age of 5, as a precaution. Although the risk after this age is not zero, it is much less significant. That being said, Emmental and Comté are exceptions. They are, in fact, authorized thanks to their raw milk with cooked pressed paste. Otherwise, it is possible to replace it with pasteurized milk cheeses or processed spreadable cheeses.