🥜 Sesame seeds
Allergen note
Sesame is one of the major food allergens, and reactions can be serious. From 12 months, if your child has not had sesame yet, offer a small amount of finely ground seeds or thinned tahini at home, then keep including sesame regularly if there is no reaction. Talk to your pediatrician first if your child has severe eczema or another food allergy.
How to serve
From 12 months, sprinkle 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of ground sesame over yogurt, oatmeal or mashed vegetables, or roll slippery foods such as banana or avocado in it for better grip. Bread lightly topped with whole sesame seeds is fine when the bread itself suits your child's eating stage. Skip salted sesame seasonings such as gomashio.
Preparation
Toast hulled sesame seeds in a dry pan over low heat for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring, until golden and fragrant. Let them cool, then grind to a powder in a spice grinder or with a mortar and pestle; grinding also helps your child digest them. Keep ground sesame in a sealed jar in the fridge and use it within a few weeks.
Texture and choking risk
Sesame seeds are tiny, so a light sprinkle baked onto bread is usually easy to manage, but a mouthful of dry loose seeds can be inhaled or trigger coughing. Hard, sticky sesame brittle and sesame snaps are a choking hazard and full of sugar, so leave them out. Always supervise with your child seated.
Sources: cdc.gov · cdc.gov · healthychildren.org · healthychildren.org · nhs.uk · nhs.uk
Starting ages are typical guidance for healthy, full-term babies who show signs of readiness. Your paediatrician may advise differently, especially where there is a family history of allergy.
Track first tastes and reactions
Log when your child first tries sesame seeds, note any reaction and see it in the allergen tracker.
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