Honey is unheated, living nutrition, so it may contain spores from the Clostridium botulinum bacterium. The spores usually grow in the soil or the sludge at the bottom of water bodies, so they are sometimes found in unheated fish, herbs, root vegetables, fruit, berries and honey, among other things. The intestines of infants are still underdeveloped, so if they ingest the spores, they may cause botulism. Children who are over 12 months old and adults have intestines that can resist the spores. Furthermore, the spores cannot be transferred to the infant through breast milk, so people who are pregnant or breastfeeding can use honey. Getting sick with botulism after ingesting honey is, overall, very unlikely. According to the Finnish Food Authority, food poisoning caused by the Clostridium botulinum bacterium is very rare.