Alcohol in kids’ food

[LadyGreyandlemoncurd]

I hadn’t really given it much thought but I sometimes use alcohol in my cooking and then give the food to my children (18 months and 3yo).
It’s obviously not loads; a glass of wine in a pan of ragu, a bottle of cider in a pork/apple/root veg casserole, coq au vin/riesling etc. But a couple of friends have been surprised when I’ve mentioned giving it to the kids, and I’m starting to doubt myself.
It’s not every night but am I being unreasonable to give it to them?

I always have done this too. Never even gave it a moments thought h (son is now 24, 6ft, and an employed graduate, so no harm done!).

I buy mini bottles for this reason (I am teetotal but use alcohol in cooking)

Only reason I wouldn't use alcohol is if I'm cooking for Muslim guests or a recovering alcoholic.

I add a splash here and there. Never thought anything of it.

As with most things child-rearing related, only share things you are willing to get feedback about. But you're fine. Half a teaspoon of booze fades into insignificance against mass-produced ultra processed staples like bread, cereal, toddler snacks, spaghetti hoops etc.

Well the French and their kids seem to thrive on it

When was the last time you got drunk on Spag Bol?
It's fine.

Dh is continental so he liberally applies wine when cooking, and it never occurred to him not to do so when we had small dc. I can remember some friends coming round for dinner with their dc, and one of them clutching her pearls about the boeuf bourguignon, as all the kids tucked in. Dh was bemused.

Agree!

I never considered this would be an issue. I don’t drink but will put one of the small bottles of wine into a bolognese, or the sauce for a lasagne.

Thinking about it, they’re 187ml, it generally does us for two days so call it 95ml a day, DDs are little so will probably have about a quarter to a third of it between them so ~12-16ml of wine each. And that’s not counting for any cooking off of the alcohol. A quick google tells me that after an hour, 25% of the alcohol remains, and after 2.5hrs it’s only 5%. When I cook bolognese or lasagne it’s probably about 2 hours so let’s say 10% is left - the equivalent of 1.2-1.6ml of wine.

Complete and utter non-issue as far as I’m concerned.

And I’ve done that maths wrong because I only use half a small bottle at a time. So half all my numbers in there. Its as good as zero.

YANBU, it's absolutely fine.

Not as much as most people (seem to) expect.

usually not an issue for children but definitely not recommended during pregnancy!

It’s absolutely fine. There’s a small amount of alcohol in a ripe banana, 0.4% by volume which is a lot higher that you’d get with a bit of wine or cider in cooking, particularly since a lot of it will boil off particularly in a slow cooked dish.

I've never seen anyone get pished on a steak and ale pie.

You say that but I did see on a hotel restaurant review in France, written in French, that a couple’s 2 daughters got drunk on the pasta bourguignon and were puking all night… I assume it was a lot of alcohol (bourguignon is where the red wine is the whole sauce isn’t it?) and not cooked for anywhere near long enough. Anyway when we stayed there I made mine share a steak frites to be on the safe side. But at home YY to wine in the bolognaise.

If I wouldn't have it in pregnancy, I won't feed it to a weaning baby or toddler. Because your digestive system filters some of it when you're pregnant but if you're feeding it straight to the baby/toddler then they're having to process it with their own systems.

I actually was happier to drink the odd glass of wine when pregnant but wouldn't dream of giving a toddler a teaspoon of wine.

Lots of calculations upthread that amount to giving a toddler a neat teaspoon of wine. 1.5ml of neat alcohol is more than in a teaspoon of wine.

I think those same parents would be aghast at someone serving a toddler a straight teaspoon of wine.

It's a myth that it all "cooks off", unless you're cooking it for a very long time or at a very high temperature. But it's not a big deal in my eyes. Lots of food naturally contains small amounts of alcohol and we don't give it a second thought.

It's a myth that it all burns off. Studies have shown that up to 86% can reamin, depending on what and how you're cooking

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/22WcylHV9FMRbYm5Q6WY1ZB/can-you-get-drunk-on-boozy-food

Wait til they find out there's naturally occurring alcohol in fresh orange juice.

I don’t think it matters but you could swap it for red wine stock pots, apple juice etc
my DP is in AA and so I have to adjust what I cook as of course no alcohol and it’s been easy to use other stuff, beef stews I use marmite, umami paste, extra stock etc rather than beer, apple juice works well with pork

Ok, but the 86% is for alcohol stirred into hot liquid and not cooked further. That would be obviously alcoholic and only something you’d do for eg a rum or whiskey sauce that you wanted to keep tasting of alcohol. Not something I’d then give to a child. I think we’re all talking about things that are simmered for at least half an hour and generally longer, by which time according to that article you’re at less than 35% remaining. The only recipes I’d be even slightly cautious of would be coq au vin or bourguignon where there is literally an entire bottle in the sauce, but at least for the beef I’d be cooking for more than 2 hours so 10% remaining or the equivalent of half a glass total in a dish that would serve 6-8.