Beef for babies: when to start, iron, mince and safe cooking

Babies can eat beef from around 6 months, once they've started solids, and red meat is a useful early food because the iron in it is easily absorbed. Australia's Infant Feeding Guidelines, published by the National Health and Medical Research Council in 2012, recommend iron-rich foods among a baby's first foods. The Victorian Government's Healthy Eating Advisory Service guide to menu planning for babies, written in line with those guidelines, lists puréed meat, poultry and fish among the iron-rich first foods and says plainly: don't delay introducing meat.

The key safety step is cooking mince right through, and the key practical step is getting the texture right, because tough chunks of meat are hard for babies to manage. This guide covers when to start, iron, how to prepare beef at each stage, how well to cook it, sausages, ham and salt, and how to lower the risk of choking.

When can babies eat beef?

Guidance in all three countries says around 6 months, as part of your baby's first foods.

NSW Health's guide to starting family foods, which draws on the same Australian guidelines, lists minced, stewed or grated meat among first foods, and suggests steak strips for babies who prefer to start with finger foods. ASCIA's guide to introducing solid foods, from Australia's allergy specialists, says iron-rich foods including meat should be offered around 6 months and not before 4 months, and lists beef among the meat and alternatives to include.

The NHS guide to feeding from around 6 months lists beef among the protein foods suitable from around 6 months, and says these foods contain iron and zinc. In the US, the CDC's solids guide says babies can start solid foods at about 6 months, and the AAP's starting solids page suggests baby food made with meat as a source of iron and zinc.

Why is red meat a good first food for iron?

A baby's iron stores, built up before birth, are low by around 6 months. Australia's Pregnancy, Birth and Baby says this is why first foods should contain iron, and lists puréed red or white meat among them.

• Haem iron is easier to absorb. The Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne iron fact sheet, from Australia, says the haem iron in meat, poultry and fish is well absorbed, while iron from plant foods is not absorbed as easily. The CDC's iron page lists red meat, such as beef, pork, lamb, goat or venison, as a source of haem iron.
• It brings other nutrients too. The NHS guide to meat in your diet says red meat provides iron, zinc and B vitamins. The NHS first solid foods guide suggests including food that contains iron, such as meat and fish, as your baby moves on at 7 to 9 months.
• How much iron. The Royal Children's Hospital gives 11 mg a day as the Australian recommended intake for babies aged 7 to 12 months, and says it doesn't need to be reached every day.

Serving beef alongside vegetables gives your baby iron from both. The Royal Children's Hospital also says liver isn't recommended for babies because it contains very high amounts of vitamin A, so stick to ordinary cuts and mince. Iron-rich first foods covers the other options, including chicken and fish.

How do I prepare beef for my baby at each age?

Start with a smooth or finely minced texture and move on as your baby's skills grow. Pregnancy, Birth and Baby says to start with smooth purées and progress to minced and chopped food, to introduce lumpy food by 9 months, and that most babies can manage soft cut-up meat as a finger food at about 8 months.

The Victorian Government's menu guide suggests cooked, finely chopped or puréed meat and minced beef from around 6 months, and mildly seasoned casseroles and meatballs or rissoles cut into bite-sized pieces from 12 months. NSW Health says cooked lean meat can be cut into strips for chewing, or small thin pieces your baby can pick up with their thumb and forefinger.

A few practical points:

1. Slow-cook tougher cuts. Simmering beef in a casserole or stew until it falls apart makes it soft enough to mash or shred.
2. Remove fat and bones. The NHS guide to preparing food safely says to remove all bones and any fat to make meat easier to swallow, and to cut meat into strips as thinly as possible.
3. Break mince up as it cooks. Fine, crumbly mince mixes into mash more easily than clumps.
4. Skip the salt. The NHS list of foods to avoid says not to add salt to your baby's food or cooking water, and not to use stock cubes or gravy, which are often high in salt.

For how textures progress overall, see food textures by age.

How well does beef need to be cooked for a baby?

It depends on the type of beef. Food-safety bodies say mince, burgers and sausages must be cooked right through to the centre, while whole cuts such as steak carry germs mainly on the surface.

The UK Food Standards Agency's guide to cooking your food says any meat that has been minced should be cooked thoroughly, that burgers shouldn't be served rare or pink at home, and that steaks and joints only have bacteria on the outside. It says the middle of food should reach 70°C for 2 minutes, or 75°C for 30 seconds. The NHS says meat is cooked properly when its juices run clear and there's no pink or red meat left inside.

Australia's healthdirect food safety guide gives 75°C for mince, sausages and other processed meats, cooked right through to the centre. The Victorian Government's Better Health Channel in Australia says to cook mince and sausages right through to the centre, and that whole cuts of red meat can generally be cooked to preference. In the US, the CDC's safer food choices for children under 5 gives 160°F for ground meat, including beef, and 145°F for whole cuts, rested for 3 minutes. It says young children have a higher risk of food poisoning because their immune systems are still developing.

For a baby, well-cooked beef is also the more practical choice, because it's softer and easier to mash or shred.

Raw mince and leftovers

• Store raw mince at the bottom of the fridge in a sealed container, as the NHS suggests, so juices can't drip onto other food.
• Thaw in the fridge, not on the bench. The NHS says to use thawed raw meat within 2 days.
• Leftovers: the NHS guide to storing and reheating baby food says to cool food ideally within 1 to 2 hours, use it from the fridge within 2 days, and reheat it only once until steaming hot, then let it cool. Food Standards Australia New Zealand's advice for vulnerable people, a group it says includes newborn babies, is stricter: use cooked meat leftovers within a day. Chicken for babies has more on leftovers.

Can babies eat sausages, ham and other processed meats?

Occasionally, but they're not the best everyday choice, mainly because of salt. The NHS salt guide says babies under 1 should have less than 1 g of salt a day, and children aged 1 to 3 no more than 2 g, because babies' kidneys aren't fully developed.

• Salt. The NHS lists bacon and sausages among salty foods to avoid for babies, and the NHS meat guide says processed meat can be high in salt. The CDC's list of foods to avoid or limit names processed meats such as lunch meats, sausages, hot dogs and ham as high in salt.
• How often. The NHS guide to preparing food safely says it's a good idea to limit how often you give processed meat, such as ham or sausages, though small amounts are fine as part of a balanced diet.
• Deli meats. Food Standards Australia New Zealand lists unpackaged deli meats and packaged sliced meats as higher-risk foods for vulnerable people, with freshly cooked meat, or meat reheated until steaming hot, as the safer choice.

If you do serve sausages, cook them through, let them cool and cut them safely (see below). Homemade beef patties or meatballs made without salt are an easy swap, cooked right through and cut into small pieces.

How do I lower the risk of my baby choking on beef?

Beef can be chewy, and babies don't yet have the teeth to grind it. The CDC's choking hazards list includes tough or large chunks of meat, bones in meat, and hot dogs, meat sticks and sausages. The AAP lists chunks of meat and hot dogs among foods to avoid in the first year. The Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne in Australia says meat should be minced or cut into small pieces and served without bones.

Cutting sausages safely

1. Peel off the skin. The NHS says this makes sausages easier to swallow.
2. Cut in half, then lengthways. The NHS suggests cutting sausages into short strips, in half and then lengthways, or as thinly as possible. The CDC also suggests cutting sausages and hot dogs into short thin strips, because round pieces can get stuck in a child's airway.
3. Never serve whole or in round slices. NSW Health lists cocktail frankfurts among the small hard foods not to give babies.

Also cut meatballs into small pieces, offer thin strips rather than cubes, and keep your baby sitting upright with you beside them for every meal.

The NHS guide to choking and gagging says gagging is a normal reflex as babies learn to chew and swallow, and it's loud. Choking is quiet: your baby can't cough, cry or breathe properly. Choking vs gagging explains the difference.

If your baby is choking and can't breathe, cough or cry, shout for help and call your local emergency number (000 in Australia, 999 in the UK, 911 in the US). The NHS first-aid steps for a choking baby are up to 5 back blows, then up to 5 chest thrusts, repeated until help arrives. If your baby becomes unresponsive, start CPR and follow the call-taker's instructions. Get medical help afterwards, even if the food came out. The Royal Children's Hospital recommends that anyone caring for children does a first-aid course, and an infant first-aid course lets you practise these steps before you need them.

What's worth noting when you offer beef?

A short note of the cut, how you cooked it, the texture and roughly how much your baby ate helps you spot which preparations work. Tracking which iron-rich foods your baby has had across the week makes it easy to rotate beef with chicken, fish, egg and legumes.

When should I get help?

Call your local emergency number (000 in Australia, 999 in the UK, 911 in the US) now if your baby:

• is choking and can't breathe, cough or cry
• has sudden swelling of the lips, tongue or throat, or difficult or noisy breathing, after eating
• becomes pale, floppy or much sleepier than usual, or is hard to wake
• has green or yellow vomit
• has had no wet nappy or wee for 12 hours

The NHS urgent-help guide lists swollen lips, tongue or throat, difficulty breathing and no pee in the past 12 hours among the reasons to call an ambulance.

Get medical help today if your baby:

• needed back blows or chest thrusts, even if they now seem well
• has hives or welts beyond the mouth area, swelling of the face or eyes, or vomiting after a food, with normal breathing (stop the food and watch closely)
• has vomiting or diarrhoea and is refusing feeds, has fewer wet nappies than usual, or has blood in their poo (see signs of dehydration)

Talk to your GP or child-health nurse if:

• your baby refuses all meat and other iron-rich foods over several weeks
• your baby was born early or your family eats little red meat, and you'd like to talk about iron
• your baby still can't manage lumpy textures by about 9 months (call a health advice line (Pregnancy, Birth and Baby on 1800 882 436 in Australia, NHS 111 in the UK, your pediatrician's after-hours line in the US) after hours)