The nasty components of some Organic Baby Foods that food manufacturer's don't want you to know!
Most Organic Baby Foods are fantastic, made by ethical, sustainable & considerate companies.
Others
are large corporations simply aiming to get a piece of the "Organic
pie" - although they may still scrape under the regulations and call
themselves "Organic baby food" some of them are no good for your baby
and not much better than the non organic varieties.
Read through the below tips to help you tell the good brands from the bad!
Is it certified organic?
Many
brands put the word 'organic' somewhere on their label without any
regulation or being truly organic. Only trust brands which have a say
"certified organic" & have a logo somewhere on their label. In the
USA the main certifier logo is the USDA but there are many others
Packaging - What is it made of?
- Is it plastic? If so, make sure it is BPA Free.
- NEVER heat anything made from plastic (even if it says microwave
safe!) as heat causes all sorts of dangerous toxins to leach out of all
plastics and into the food. (Especially in the microwave)
- If you need to heat this item, empty the contents into a glass, ceramic or stainless steel container.
- Is it recyclable? Try always to buy food in packaging that can be recycled - and remember to recycle it! every little jar counts!
- How much packaging is used? Don't support companies
that don't care about our environment and who use multiple levels of
packaging. For example, a jar, inside a cardboard box then wrapped in
plastic. Instead choose to support a company who uses only 1 level of
packaging.
Filler ingredients - what other ingredients are in this item?
Baby
food really should be only 1 ingredient - the food you are feeding your
baby! (And maybe a little breast milk to make a runnier consistency for
newbies)
However, when you buy any premade, packaged foods
(organic or not), some other ingredients are needed such as
preservatives to maintain quality and thickeners/stabilizers to ensure a
good consistency.
The percentage of the main ingredient will determine how good this food is and how ethical the company supplying it is.
Do
not buy any baby foods that do not have the main ingredient at the
first thing in the ingredient list, or that have lots of other
ingredients as well as the main one.
For example, green bean puree
ingredients should read: green beans, water. And maybe a little citric
acid (lemon juice) or vitamin c.
The bottom line is the less ingredients - the better, more pure and closer to nature this food will be!
Preservation method - Fresh or frozen?
Frozen
foods are ALWAYS best. They contain fewer (if any) preservatives as the
freezing is the preservation method. They are also more nutritious as
they have been frozen quickly after harvest or preparation, thus locking
in the goodness.
Room temperature foods in pouches or jars are
not very fresh or nutritious. They either have preservatives in them
(organic baby foods will have natural preservatives). Or if there are
"no preservatives", the food has been heat treated to kill bacteria and
seal the jar or pouch which raises a few issues;
- The chemicals in the packaging can leach into the food during the heating process.
- Heating foods also kills vitamins and minerals and nutrition levels!
So your food may be "safe", has no bacteria and has a long shelf life -
but all the goodness of eating fresh, organic baby food is killed! And
nutrition levels keep dropping the longer it has been sitting on the
shelf.
The bottom line - buy frozen organic baby food or make your own from the freshest local produce you can find.
Additives like DHA etc
Many
baby foods and formulas now contain extra additives - which may sound
like they are good for you - but think twice before believing the
marketing hype!
Anything which says "fortified", "enriched",
"supplemented" or "added nutrition" etc should be treated with caution,
things such as DHA or ARA (a synthetic version of Omega 3 fatty acid),
Iron, Vitamin C, or anything similar are needed in a diet of a child,
but if you are breastfeeding (which the AAP recommends until the age of
12 months) then your baby should be getting all of these things from
you.
And if you are feeding your baby a wide variety of organic
fruits and vegetables, they will be getting much of their iron and
vitamin needs from those foods.
If your baby is formula fed, they
may be missing out on some essential fatty acids which is why many baby
formula brands are fortified with DHA & ARA.
The company as a whole
While
this may not affect the actual quality of the food, I like to access
the company who provides each product to decide whether I want to
support them with my money. I look at things like -
Are they are large or small company?
I
prefer to support smaller companies as they tend to be more ethical,
sustainable and local and I feel good knowing I am supporting a family.
Are they a local or international company?
I prefer to support companies who are from my own country - thus creating jobs for my own community.
What other products do they sell?
Do
they sell only certified organic and other healthy products? Or are
they a big company who makes non organic baby food and has decided to
make an organic version of it?
I tend not to support this kind of
company because in my opinion they probably started making organic baby
food for the money and market share and not because they truly believe
in it.
What kind of marketing do they use?
Does this company make sugary or salty "junk" foods as well and still tell the consumers they are healthy?
Breakfast
foods are the worst kind of foods for this - many, many cereals and
breakfast items are marketed as "healthy" but common sense and a quick
look at the ingredients for sugar & salt levels will tell you
otherwise.
I prefer not to support a company who misleads their consumers in this way.
Amy Garrow is an Organic Food Researcher, Alternative Health Nut
& Mom. She is also author of a new ebook "Organic Baby Food: The
Buyer's Guide". Her passions include, health foods and alternative
cosmetics, great food, friends & most importantly - family.
Find out more about her ebook
Organic Baby Food The Buyer's Guide
Or visit her blog
Organic Baby Food Reviews
