Recent tests in the US have confirmed that three babies have been infected with HIV, very likely via food that was pre-chewed by their caregivers. In two cases, the caregivers were the mothers and in one case an aunt.
Pre-chewing food to make it easier for baby to swallow and digest is commonly practised in areas of the developing world, where parents may not have access to the equipment necessary for pureeing it or mashing it sufficiently. But the method is also adopted by some parents in the developed world, either due to reasons of culture or tradition, or – less frequently – by families practising alternative parenting.
Prior to the discovery of the risk to babies from HIV infection, pre-chewing baby food was never fully accepted as a safe practice, particularly since it is believed to cause dental caries in infants. This is because it can pass the bacteria responsible for tooth decay from the parent to the child – in fact, using your OWN saliva to ‘clean’ a baby’s pacifier after dropping it is not recommended for the same reason.
However, these new findings have highlighted that the potential risks to baby could be far more serious. Although the report’s authors are not challenging the fact that HIV cannot be transmitted through saliva alone, if the caregiver’s mouth contains any trace of blood (perhaps due to bleeding gums), then it is possible for the infection to be passed on. In the cases studied, it seems the babies involved were at the teething stage, with inflamed gums, which may have made them more susceptible to contracting the virus.
Medical authorities have not gone so far as to warn against pre-chewing baby food per se, but are advising parents who have – or could have – HIV not to chew their babies’ food. They also recommend that baby’s other caregivers are also warned not to pre-chew food if there is a risk that they may transmit HIV.
Details of the research into pre-chewed food can be found here