Camembert

Choking risk

Camembert is a low choking risk served melted - it softens into whatever it's cooked with.

Two things to mind: keep any melted layer thin, since a thick pool turns sticky and clings, and trim off the white rind, which stays chewy even when the middle melts. See how to serve for age-by-age prep.

Allergens

Camembert is made from cow's milk, and milk is a common food allergen. There's no reason to delay it, though - waiting doesn't prevent allergies, and allergens can start alongside other solids from around 6 months.^[1]

Milk is the same allergen whatever form it takes, so camembert counts toward the same introduction as yogurt or cheese.^[3]

If your baby has severe eczema or an existing food allergy, check with your pediatrician before starting allergens. If dairy is already comfortably in the diet, camembert needs no separate introduction - just serve it melted into food, fully hot, from the start.

If camembert happens to be baby's first dairy, start with about 1/4 teaspoon melted through a familiar food, earlier in the day, not near bedtime, and watch for a reaction over the next couple of hours.^[2] Keep dairy in the diet a few times a week.

Food safety

Camembert is a soft-ripened cheese, the family where listeria risk concentrates - even pasteurization doesn't fully settle it for this category, which is why camembert is served cooked into food until fully melted and piping hot. That settles the question. Use pasteurized cheese only, and babies are more vulnerable to food poisoning than adults.^[4] Cold camembert from the wedge is one for later childhood.

It's also a salty, rich cheese - a flavor, not a portion: a small amount melted through a dish is the serving, since babies should have no added salt in the first 12 months, kept low after that.^[5]