Funny or cruel? Viral video of mum feeding her baby wasabi divides the Internet

The Internet is littered with videos and memes of babies’ amusing reactions to tasting something sour for the first time. But, one mum has been criticised for taking things too far by giving her daughter wasabi.

The video of the little girl has since gone viral and prompted a mixed reaction from parents.

In the short clip Rosie’s mum can be heard asking the tot if she’d like wasabi, to which she says “No.”

Her mother then asks again if she wants to try it and although Rosie looks curiously at the food, she again refuses.

But as Rosie’s mum is about to take it away the toddler seems to have a change of heart by wailing: “Wasabi.”

Asking her again if she wants to try it, Rosie’s mum puts a tiny blob on a chopstick and prompts her to smell it first.

Rosie then opens her mouth and takes a tiny bite of the spicy sushi horseradish paste.

After a few seconds of thinking, Rosie decides she does not like the taste and looks at the camera and says: “Help.”

While some viewers found the little girl’s reaction “adorable” others are less impressed about the mum’s decision to feed her daughter wasabi, with some labelling it child abuse.

“Someone needs to turn this video in to authority for CHILD ABUSE!” one user wrote on Facebook. “Wasabi burns, and when it does burn the mouth it could also choke the kid. What an idiot of a parent do this to a child?”

“She said NO!!!,” another wrote on YouTube. “What lesson are you teaching your daughter when you ignore her no! The look on her face before she tastes it says it all – she knows you’re filming her, she knows you’re expecting a reaction. This is sick. Get some help. Better still, how about we trap you in a highchair and ignore your ‘no’?!”

“Who feeds a baby Wasabi after they say no twice. not funny at all. don’t believe that it didn’t hurt. The baby did NOT want to try it, she was learning to speak,” another viewer agreed.

However, others have been supportive of the mum, accusing others of overreacting.

“She like put it on the tip of her to tongue for a second…. really ???” one viewer wrote.

“My god people are acting like she fed her rat poison. It’s just wasabi and she barely licked it,” another agreed.

“Hey the baby isn’t going die from wasabi,” another viewer commented.

So what do the experts think? Can feeding your baby spicy food, like wasabi be harmful?

According to website Parenting Healthy Babies, feeding your child a small amount of wasabi is harmless. It’s also potentially beneficial, as wasabi is known for its anti-inflammatory properties and its use as a digestive aid.

“The current advice is for babies to start to be weaned from four to six months, and by 12 months for them to have had an exposure to all the foods that their family would generally eat,” says Dr Colin Bernstein, consultant paediatrician at BMI The Alexandra Hospital in Manchester.

That being said it wouldn’t be something you’d necessarily give a baby who is starting to wean.

“I wouldn’t start a baby on wasabi straight away, it’s important that they have the basic food groups first, but certainly if wasabi is what their family eats then it’s appropriate for the baby to have that too,” Dr Bernstein continues.

“It’s better if the family food is home-made rather than processed, as processed foods tend to have excess salt and sugar which is not good for babies. Avoid salt, sugar, honey and low fat foods for babies, along with anything that the baby can choke on.”

A number of other parenting debates have been ignited online recently.

Earlier this year Sam Faiers sparked a discussion on whether or not it is safe to diet while breastfeeding.

Last year Katy Hill got the Internet in a tizz after blasting a “negative and mean hearted” couple who disapproved of noisy children being in Pizza Express.

And back in November Cruz Beckham kicked-off a debate about how young is too young to be working out in the gym.

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