Baby food for seniors

Is it Okay for Seniors to Eat Baby Food? – The Informed Senior

If you have experience taking care of the elderly, you’d know that sometimes they can have trouble swallowing their food. Since seniors need certain nutrients to keep their body healthy, the only option is to puree their food to make it easily chewable, just like baby food.

Can seniors eat baby food? Yes, but it is not recommended to be a substitute for a standard, adult diet. Baby food is made to contain all the essential nutrients, carbs, and other vitamins and minerals that infants need; they may not meet the nutritional requirement an elderly person has.

Baby food is food that’s either mashed down or broken down to make it soft so that it’s easily consumable. Let’s dive in to see whether baby food is for seniors or not by understanding their dietary needs compared to infants.

Can seniors eat baby food?

Seniors can be given baby food in regulated quantities by adding it to pureed recipes to add more taste or create variety. For example, fruit-flavored baby food could be used to replace sugar in desserts. Baby food also provides the convenience of a quick meal if you are struggling with time or work.

However, there is a reason it’s called baby food; it contains all of the necessary vitamins and minerals that babies from 6 to 24 months of age need to grow and be healthy, but may not be enough to support the diet for an older adult. Why?

Babies need more energy. Babies are more active than elderly people. Since they are growing up, their body consumes more energy and needs food that’s rich in fat. On the other hand, seniors need to reduce fat intake, so baby food doesn’t help.
Insufficient nutrients. The nutrient requirement for elders and babies is very different. Baby food contains nutrients that are required by a baby, which may not be sufficient or more than what an older adult needs. For example, baby food doesn’t have enough proteins that are needed by seniors.
Taste is different. Baby food is pretty bland since babies do not have their taste developed at such an early age. On the other hand, elders may lose their taste over time and want more flavorful food.

Is it okay for adults to eat baby food?

As mentioned above, baby food is prepared with the growth and development of a baby in mind. Whether it is seniors or adults, their nutritional requirements are very different from the babies. Adults have a faster metabolism than seniors, but it’s still slower than babies. Adults also need less energy than what babies do.

Though it may feel tempting to eat baby food sometimes for the sake of convenience, it may not be as helpful in maintaining a well-balanced diet in adults. You may have to make up for lack of nutrients with supplements and workout more to use up all the energy produced by the fats in baby food.

Why do some seniors need a soft diet?

Before planning the kind of soft food or baby food you want to give seniors, it is essential to understand why an elderly person may need a soft diet in the first place.

Teeth Loss

One major cause of switching to a soft diet for seniors is tooth loss due to old age. As the human body ages, tooth enamel gets weaker and wears away, which causes the teeth to loosen. This can cause tooth loss, which is a big reason why elders find it difficult to eat food. Teeth loss also leads to receding jaws. This means that elderly people are not able to open their mouths wide enough and move their jaws properly to chew the food, thus requiring them to have a soft or pureed diet.

Dysphagia

The elderly are at a higher risk of suffering from dysphagia or the feeling of food being stuck or delayed on its way to the stomach from the mouth. With the ability to swallow deteriorating with age, many elders find it hard to chew and swallow whole, dry, or solid foods. This leads to poor nutrition, dehydration, loss of appetite, and weakness. In severe dysphagia cases, when swallowing solids becomes nearly impossible, an elder may need to be given a pureed diet.

Weakened Motor Skills

Motor difficulties can affect a person’s eating habits. In the case of memory loss, the person may not even remember to eat or drink. Sometimes, due to the limited movement of their mouth and jaw, they may have difficulty swallowing food. With an increased requirement in nutrient-intake and decreased ability to chew, swallow, and eat the food, elders may need to be given a liquid or soft diet.

Surgery or Medical Requirement

In many cases, after major surgery, especially heart or stomach surgeries, the digestion process is slowed down, and the body finds it challenging to be able to break down solid food. In such cases, the elderly are given a pureed diet with foods that contain all the necessary nutrients for the recovery of the body.

Understanding a Senior’s Diet

It is common knowledge that elders have many different nutritional requirements than teenagers or young adults. Whether they can consume a solid diet or require a pureed food diet, it is also important to understand how different age-related health problems affect their diet:

Weaker digestive system. With age, the production of digestive fluids in the body goes down, which means it either takes much longer to process the food or isn’t able to break down food and absorb complex nutrients like Vitamin B12.
Decreased appetite. With age and growing ailments, many seniors begin taking a lot of medication that affects their appetite. This could either mean that the medication is covering for the lack of nutrients as senior-supplements or it is causing side-effects that include loss of appetite.
Slower metabolism. Metabolism slows down with age, which means that the body is not consuming enough energy. This translates into the fact that with old age, the body’s energy requirements also go down, and you need to eat healthy to stay healthy.
Mental health. One of the most severe side-effects of age and medication is on mental health. Many elderly suffer from loneliness, emotional imbalances, memory loss, etc. which also leads to loss of appetite.

A well-balanced diet can do the trick of providing the body whatever nutrients it needs in the right quantity. This is achieved by eating fruits, vegetables, grains, dairy, and eliminating sugar, fat, etc. in your everyday diet. As food requirements change with age, the diet needs to change too.

How to Plan a Balanced Diet for the Elderly

Introduce fresh fruits and vegetables. Elders need food that is easily digestible like green vegetables. Fruits help balance the water and sugar levels in the body. Since the body is not able to break down complex sugar, it is vital to take sugar in its natural form through fruits that act as a source of energy.
Incorporate low-fat dairy with Vitamin D. Old age leads to weaker and sometimes brittle bones. It is, hence, essential to consume products that are rich in Vitamin D without adding fat intake. Low-fat dairy with Vitamin D, either in the form of milk, yogurt, etc. , is a good idea.
Reduce calories. Reduce calorie intake by avoiding food that has a high-calorie count but low nutrients. Keep an eye on how many calories any given food item contains by reading the nutrition labels. Avoid indulging too much in desserts, fried foods, junk foods, etc.
Take supplements. Some nutrients may get missed, even if you have a balanced diet. This could be due to allergies, medications that you are taking, or because the body is not able to absorb these properly. Consult a doctor to see if you can add supplements to your daily diet to make sure your body is getting all the required nutrients.

Conclusion

With age, the human body undergoes drastic changes. It becomes increasingly important to focus on healthy eating and the right nutritional intake as you grow older. As the activity levels decrease with age, so do the body’s needs for energy-generating foods. However, with organs, bones, and muscles growing older, too, they need additional nutrients to remain healthy.

Ultimately, seniors can eat baby food in controlled quantities as an addition to their existing diet. Seniors cannot solely rely on baby food for all their nutrient-need. If you plan to give the elderly any kind of baby food, make sure you read the nutrient label carefully to see how it would affect the diet, what nutrients it would provide, and how much quantity can be fed.

References:
https://www.disabled-world.com/fitness/diets/special/senior-nutrition.php
https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/parenting/a38792/i-ate-baby-food-for-a-week/
https://www.ncoa.org/economic-security/benefits/food-and-nutrition/senior-nutrition/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3426263/

How To Puree Food That Seniors Will Love

There comes a time when a senior may need to have pureed food as their main diet. If that’s the case for your senior, it’s important to know how to puree food properly. This will help him get the best nutrition and calories he needs every day.

The texture and taste of foods can make a world of difference in your senior’s desire to eat. We’re providing plenty of tips for pureeing foods he’ll love with the best taste and texture. Also, check out a few of our tasty pureed recipe ideas to switch up the diet.

The Need For Easy-to-Swallow Food

Dysphagia affects between 15% and 22% of the United States population age 50 and over. The condition affects one’s ability to swallow properly. It often results in a person choking on even a small bite of food. That’s why pureed food for elderly may be a good choice.

The risk of dysphagia increases as age increases. Illnesses that are more common in the elderly population can cause dysphagia. Many of those with Parkinson’s Disease, for example, have dysphagia.

For those in nursing homes, the prevalence of dysphagia skyrockets to 40% to 60%. Seniors in assisted living facilities often have inhibiting conditions. Many of them are highly related to dysphagia.

The prevalence of eating and swallowing difficulties in seniors calls for adjustments to their diets. Those with dysphagia often require a diet of pureed food for the elderly.

What is pureed food? It’s cooked foods that you turn into a paste form, either through blending, grinding or another method. The pureed texture helps seniors with dysphagia easily swallow their foods without a reduced risk of choking.

Tips For Easier Swallowing

Even pureed food can be difficult to swallow if someone with dysphagia doesn’t take caution when swallowing. A few ways you can make sure your senior swallows safely are:

Make her sit upright as she eats. She should also continue to sit upright for at least 30 minutes after a meal. This will help to move her food down to the stomach safely.
Alternate bites of food with different tastes and textures. The goal is to keep your senior alert while eating, so giving her palate varying foods can help.
Give her small bites at a time. Allow her plenty of time between bites to swallow.
Your senior should have a full glass of water available during a meal. Have her drink sips between bites to help move her food and keep her mouth moist.

It’s also important to make sure that both you and the senior remain distraction-free during a meal. Talk to her and keep her focused on you and her food.

What About Baby Food?

Baby food for the elderly may be okay for seniors to eat. But, there’s a reason baby food is for babies and not seniors.

Baby food has a baby’s nutrition and palate in mind. If you’ve ever tasted it, you know they’re usually bland. They also may not meet the calorie and nutrition requirements your senior needs.

It’s okay to add baby food to your pureed recipes for a little extra flavor. Fruits, especially, provide some healthy sweetness for recipes. Or, some may even be used to thicken a runny recipe, especially baby food meats.

Baby foods do provide convenience for a quick meal. But, you shouldn’t rely on them to fulfill your senior’s diet. Baby food meats, in general, do not provide enough protein for seniors.

You’re better off creating your own pureed recipes that will meet the nutritional needs of your senior. Keep some baby food on hand as an easy additive to a meal, rather than the main component.

How To Make Food Seniors Can Enjoy

Learning how to puree food for elderly adults isn’t difficult. With some practice, you can learn to make pureed foods that taste good. Seniors shouldn’t have to sacrifice the tastes they love so they can swallow safely.

Tips For Pureeing Foods

Pureed food for adults may not sound appetizing to most people. But, it’s very necessary for many seniors. The best thing you can do for seniors who need a pureed diet is to learn tips to make their foods delicious.

First, focus on your ingredients. If possible, you should usually opt for smooth ingredients over those with chunky additives. For example, creamy soups and smooth applesauce are better than chunky varieties for purees.

Next, your blender or food processor can make the biggest difference in your puree quality. Food processors typically have the best ability to puree foods to the proper thickness and texture. You may want to choose a processor that’s big enough to create bulk meals to store for convenience.

You can also consider purchasing molds that you can shape purees into. This can help purees seem more like the real thing. They can especially help seniors having a difficult time accepting their new diets.

The following video shows how food molds can greatly increase the appeal of a pureed meal:

Getting The Right Texture

Pureed food can easily become too runny, too thick, or too chunky. Unfortunately, the slightest texture issue can increase a senior’s resistance to eating the food.

After you puree foods, scoop some onto a spoon. If it runs off easily, it’s too runny. But, if it doesn’t move from the spoon easily enough, it could be too sticky. This can increase the risk of choking.

Try to steer clear of foods that are too watery. Drain excess liquid off foods before pureeing. Refrain from adding water, gravy, juice, or other liquid to the processor until you do a spoon test once it’s pureed.

If the food is too dry or sticky, add small amounts of flavorful liquids until the texture becomes a bit thinner. Fruit syrups and purees are perfect for thinning a mixture while also adding flavor.

Thickening Agents

It’s a little trickier to thicken pureed food than it is to thin it out. But, there are commercial thickening agents made for that purpose. However, they usually don’t provide added flavor and can affect the food’s overall taste.

Cheaper, and more flavorful, options include potato flakes or baby cereal. If you use these, make sure you mix them with hot water before adding them to your food puree. You can also use a small amount of gelatin mix to thicken runny foods.

Give It Some Flavor

The flavor of pureed foods should be the main focus for preparers to keep seniors interested. Always adhere to a senior’s diet restrictions first. But, in most cases, adding a bit of salt, sugar, or spices to enhance flavor is acceptable.

Try adding some sauce or gravy to pureed meats. Barbecue sauce, chicken broth, or condensed soup can thin, thicken, and help add flavor to bland recipes.

You can also add a small amount of butter or margarine to pureed potatoes. Or, mix in some flavored, low-fat yogurt to pureed casseroles. Honey and jellies are good choices for sweetening bland desserts and foods.

Test It Out

You don’t want to eat bland foods, and neither does your senior. It’s especially important for preparers to test the food they’ll be serving. If you don’t love the texture and taste, your senior probably won’t love it either.

Just as you would your own food, test a small spoonful of the pureed meal. If necessary, add a bit of spice or another additive to keep it flavorful. You can also check its texture to ensure it’s perfect for your senior’s swallowing needs.

Recipes Your Senior Will Love

Learning new puree recipes can give you some inspiration to keep a senior’s diet interesting.

Creamy Broccoli Cheese Soup

Create a white sauce for a base by mixing together two tablespoons of oil and butter with two to three tablespoons of flour. Once the mixture begins to bubble, you can slowly stir in one cup of skim milk. Allow it to simmer until the mixture thickens.

Puree the sauce and a cup of broccoli together. Add the mixture to a small saucepan with ¼ cup of shredded cheese. Heat until cheese is melted. Add some potato flakes to thicken, if necessary.

Beef Stew

You can modify this stew recipe to include a senior’s favorite meat and vegetables. Add about 4 ounces of beef chunks to a food processor with ½ cup of liquid, like beef gravy or broth. Add in desired vegetables, like peas, celery, and carrots, with seasoning to taste.

You can thicken the mixture with added flavor using cream of mushroom soup or potato flakes.

Yogurt And Fruit Parfait

Seniors are more likely to love their diets when they don’t feel deprived of foods they love. You can still puree yummy desserts using healthy fruits and sweeteners.

Create a replica of a fruit and yogurt parfait with your senior’s favorite fruits. Use low-fat vanilla yogurt, desired fruits, and a small amount of milk to create the right texture. Add a little low-fat whipped topping to create a creamy fruit dessert.

A pureed diet for seniors doesn’t have to be boring. There are plenty of ways preparers can keep it fun and tasty to hold their interest with new recipes and flavors.

If you’d like to share your favorite pureed food recipes and tricks, please do so in a comment below!

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Food "For those who are over ...". What consumer are manufacturers missing?

Russia 18.03.2021

Source: The DairyNews

ENRU

Pay attention: what kind of audience are we discussing more and more often lately? We touch on the demand from families with children, discuss the market for baby food and powdered milk formulas for babies, the packaging of products that working people can take with them for a snack.

Tatyana Kulagina
Chief Editor of The DairyNews

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We pay attention either to healthy lifestyles, or to adherents of proper nutrition, or to vegans. But can anyone remember the last time the issue of nutrition for the elderly was raised? Therefore, the speech of the representative of the Research Institute of Baby Nutrition, candidate of biological sciences Svetlana Felik in the Lecture Hall, organized by the institute, became so important and interesting for us.

The very topic of discussion was closely related to the term gerodietetics. “This is a section of dietetics that studies the nature of the nutrition of the elderly and senile, developing recommendations for the rational nutrition of this population group,” the expert explained. At the same time, the energy value of food, its quality, and compliance with age-related changes in the body are taken into account.

So, speaking about milk, the expert noted that fatty foods are not recommended for the elderly. But you should pay attention to food that normalizes the intestinal microflora - fermented milk products will be the best choice in this case.

It is important to ensure that the diet is dominated by alkaline components that help reduce acidosis - acidification of the internal environment and a shift in the acid-base balance towards increasing acidity. The danger of acidosis is a violation of digestibility and a decrease in immunity, which increases the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases, - said the specialist of the Research Institute of Baby Nutrition.

Perhaps one of the main factors that stop people from switching to proper nutrition is the thought that they will always have to limit themselves in everything, denying themselves their favorite dishes. At the same time, many experts note that this is not about self-restraint, but rather about a responsible and meaningful attitude towards what ends up on our plates.

This principle also applies to the nutrition of the elderly. “For healthy old people, there are no forbidden foods, we can only talk about more or less preferred ones. Monotony in food is unacceptable, as it inevitably leads to scarce states,” emphasized Svetlana Felik. Also, the transition of older people from their usual diet to strict vegetarianism, eating raw food, separate meals is not recommended.

Particular attention should be paid to gero-diet products that can slow down the aging process. The expert attributed lactic acid products, meat and vegetable or fish and vegetable mixtures to this category.

Producers who would like to offer something to this group of the population may reasonably have a question: who, in fact, belongs to it. Speaking about potential consumers of gero-dietary products, according to the Research Institute of Baby Nutrition, we can single out elderly people (their age is from 60 to 75 years) and advanced age (from 75 to 90). Those who have exceeded these figures already belong to the category of centenarians.

But it's not enough to categorize the target audience - you need to understand what products it prefers, as well as how often they buy them. The chart below shows that 37% of elderly and elderly people give equal preferences to meat, dairy products, fruits and vegetables in their daily diet.

Many people consume dairy products several times a day, but here bakery and confectionery products, as well as sugar, take the palm. It is noteworthy that the proportion of those who do not consume any dairy products at all is negligible.
Not surprisingly, traditional dairy products turned out to be the most preferred for consumers. Practically equal shares were won by milk, kefir, cottage cheese and various types of cheeses.

Surveys conducted by the Baby Food Research Institute also tell manufacturers where and how this target audience is shopping. Of course, modern technology is most often inaccessible to the elderly, so the preferred distribution channels are shops and markets. When choosing a product, it is this audience that most often looks at the price-quality ratio, while the issue of cost, for obvious reasons, often becomes decisive (for 34% of respondents).

An integral feature of the modern approach to the development of gero-dietary nutrition products, Svetlana Felik noted, is the use of modern forms of macro- and micronutrients, dietary fiber, probiotics, biologically active additives.

The Children's Nutrition Research Institute also presented its developments - milk-based food products containing an increased amount of protein, enriched with vitamins, minerals and lactulose. As an example, let's take one of the products - "Dobrynya".

Let's abstract from the issues of choosing a name and focus on the nutritional value of the product. It is a kefir with lactulose, minerals and vitamins, an important feature of which is a reduced calorie content and the content of probiotic organisms.

The market for gero-dietary products is not covered enough yet, it is a consumer with whom manufacturers currently do not communicate at all. As a result, we get a not very cheerful picture: not having the habit of searching the necessary information on the Internet, coping with a large amount of heterogeneous data and selecting reliable information, this audience begins to trust those who are trying to promote their products to them. And these are manufacturers of dubious nutritional supplements, dietary supplements, miraculous herbal preparations, and so on. While the necessary nutrients older people can and should get from ordinary food, quality and tailored to the needs of their body.

So maybe market representatives, including the dairy industry, can take care of this group of consumers? Finding out their needs is not difficult, it is also quite possible to determine the main factors motivating them to choose a particular product. Build communication with them, convey to them the value of your products, naturalness, availability, and health benefits. Let me remind you that this year at Beviale, specialist of the Research Institute of Baby Food Elena Simonenko called customization and an individual approach to different groups of customers one of the key trends. Maybe we should pay attention to the elderly? Or will a healthy lifestyle still remain the prerogative of a young audience?

The opinion of the editors may not coincide with the opinion of the author

Vladimir Zhiltsov, chairman of the stud farm-collective farm "Aurora"

The milk market is cyclical. The last crisis, I remember, was in 2018, but in 2022, a liter went up by 23%. That's why we don't panic. Now the volumes of the raw milk market will decrease (some will slaughter cattle, some will underfeed), then there will be a shortage, after which everything will go in a new circle.

Ivan Sauer, General Director of the agricultural company "Rodina"

No one will go to raise virgin soil from the city. Those who left, they left forever. I'm just scared if we do not take drastic measures, what awaits us in ten years.

Ludmila Karnyushkina, Head of Marketing and Assortment Management Department, TS Europe

The modern buyer is very selective, he wants to have a guaranteed high quality, he prefers a fresh product - today's milk or kefir, yesterday's maximum. When choosing products, there is also another clear trend - a commitment to a local manufacturer.

Tatyana Gordeeva, Director of Development and Sales Department, Neos-Ingredients LLC

If earlier most of the modified starches were imported from Europe, then at the time of their inclusion in the sanctions list, no one could figure out what to do next. Because, in principle, modified starches were not imported into Russia from countries other than European ones.

Andrey Dakhnovich, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Elansky and Semikarakorsky cheese-making plants

We see that if there are no shocks in the market, then the existing trends - the growth of milk production, the weak purchasing power of the population, the virtual absence of exports of dairy products to non-CIS countries - will lead to a decrease in the purchase cost of milk.

Igor Baringolts, Chairman of the Board of Directors of RM-Agro

We are developing a project for a hay dehydration plant, which is being promoted by the Association of Hay and Feed Exporters - we see the future behind this, because high-quality hay allows us to make high-quality feed for animal health and increase milk yield. At the same time, today a ton of hay costs twice as much as a ton of grain - this is also a separate type of business.

Igor Moskovtsev, General Director of CJSC "Korenovsky MKK"

The production of cheese curds is loaded at 100%. And we plan to increase production volumes, carry out reconstruction, install new equipment in order to maintain the entire range of produced curds in the right amount. This category is fresh, expiration dates are limited, so you need to produce everything at once. I think we'll manage.

Igor Eliseenko, General Director of MolSib

In milk production among farms, the process of consolidation has been going on for a long time, and nothing will change radically. Small and inefficient farms will either be sold or abandon animal husbandry in favor of crop production. As for processing, in my opinion, we should not expect a serious reduction in enterprises here. Everyone prepared for the situation in whatever way they could, huddled, found their own ways to sell products, perhaps even gray schemes.

Alexander Zernov, General Director of Pöttinger LLC

In order not to find yourself in a situation where your expansion is hindered by the level of equipment, you must take as a basis the goals that the economy sets for 3-5 years. This is the optimal horizon, taking into account the depreciation of equipment and the development of technologies. The realistic life of the equipment is 7 years, the maximum is about 10.

Elena Kruk, Head of Communications Department, JSC Zolotye Meadows

Many suppliers of packaging and spare parts for equipment have switched to prepaid relationships with manufacturers, which entails additional unforeseen costs on the part of the dairymen. We had to revise budgets in order to purchase packaging. The cost of packaging has doubled, its cost reaches 15% depending on the product.

Dmitry Mironchikov, independent consultant of the dairy market

Everyone has their own vision of milk prices: processors want a lower price, producers want a higher one. It's always like that. Personally, I do not see any prerequisites for a rise in prices for raw milk next year, but I do not see any reasons for a decrease either. There should be some stability in general, at least the first three quarters.

Alena Krekoten, Chief Technologist, Ice Plus LLP

At first, the farmers did not understand what we wanted from them at all. What kind of indicators are these: somatic cells, QMAFAnM, bacteria contamination ... But over time they got used to it, got involved. And those who do not pass in terms of quality were eliminated on their own, because they began to pay less. And for high-quality milk, on the contrary, we raised the price. And the producers have a healthy motivation. Any sane person understands: "Why "chemical" when you can make normal milk - and get a good price?"

Svetlana Kuzmicheva, Development Director, MLK Group

We do not accumulate anything in an attempt to "catch the wave" of prices. We have our own development strategy, we clearly understand that there are stock fluctuations, but keeping something in stock and then trying to sell it is not about us. In our opinion, it is not very expedient to keep money in warehouses.

Armen Khurshudyan, Production Director of Ice LLP

Of course, genetics plays a very important role. But genetic potential is one thing, and how it is realized is another. And it depends on how good farmers we are. The fact that we took the best genetics does not mean that the cow should give us something. If you asked me what the biggest problem of all cows is, I would say that they are farmers. We create most of the existing problems for the cows ourselves.

Gennady Zenchenko, Chairman of the Board of the Meat and Dairy Union of Kazakhstan

Who from the Ministry of Agriculture even thought - who will work? Where are the doctors in the countryside? Where is the person who will go directly to the cow? We have one farm after another "burning" from brucellosis, from foot-and-mouth disease - without having time to receive subsidies to the end.

Vladimir Labinov, Minister of Agriculture of the Republic of Karelia

Identification must be - this is an axiom that is not subject to discussion. We will try to keep up in this direction, support it in every possible way and implement it at home. In Karelia, the livestock is small, it has long been identified. We have no problems with this at the level of the republic. Another thing is how this system will work on a national scale.

Igor Eliseenko, General Director of "Molsib"

I do not know a single leader in the industry who would throw up their hands and say that they will not do anything else. A business can be closed, but it is almost impossible to restore it, especially for dairy farms where livestock is kept and trained personnel work.

Lyubov Guseva, director of the Liton company

Now we have switched completely to Russian raw materials. We tried to level out all the shortcomings in the film, since this is a rather capricious package, with its own shortcomings, for example, when welding. We did everything to level out shortcomings in equipment, in the qualifications of personnel at dairy plants. That is, the efforts of both parties were required here, and the film also had to be slightly adapted at the dairy plant.

Olga Kosnikova, food technologist, popularizer of science

It often happens that ordinary employees, not technologists, do not have sufficient knowledge about the product, simply because their activities have a different specificity. It is also important to tell employees about what consumers may ask, what they are interested in, what the product actually consists of.

Andrea Paoletti, Export Manager Ave Technologies

In the 1990s, we visited dairies in Italy to convince them to try bottling in PET bottles - none of them used to bottle in PET, they used glass, film, cardboard. From that moment on, we began to supply them with equipment for filling milk in PET. Today in Italy we supply 80% of PET filling equipment to dairies.

Is it possible for adults to eat baby food: benefits and harms

Photo: Natalia Kurzova / Adobe Stock

Now we will talk about the benefits and harms of products made specifically for children. These include fruit and vegetable purees, juices and nectars, yoghurts and curds, cereals and various snacks for the little ones.

Baby food benefits

No harmful ingredients

It is clear that baby food is made specifically for babies. Therefore, they do not add harmful additives, dyes, flavors, a bunch of sugar and salt. Not a single ingredient in the composition should cause an allergy or any disorder in a baby - which means that such food is safe for an adult. Moreover, manufacturers are strictly looked after - all children's products undergo a thorough check, and only then they get on the shelves in stores.

Tasty and convenient

Children's curds, cereals and purees with a sweet fruity taste can easily replace high-calorie cakes and other "adult" desserts. Some may also like cookies in cute little packages.

Speaking of packaging. Kids are not physically able to eat a lot, so for them everything is laid out in small portions. And these jars and packaging are very convenient to take with you for a walk, to school or university.

Low Calorie

Children's fruit and vegetable purees, and in such tiny portions, are very, very low in calories! Some stars even specifically switch to only baby food in order to lose weight. So, for example, did Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon.

Ready to follow suit? Well, slow down. Now let's talk about why you shouldn't do this.

Disadvantages of baby food

Not enough essential nutrients

Yes, these delicious purees contain only healthy and nothing harmful. But do not forget that this is still baby food. That is, it is made specifically for babies - taking into account the peculiarities of digestion of young children. And the body of an adult, you know, is very different. An adult needs a lot more fiber and dietary fiber - otherwise problems with the intestines will begin.

Sometimes it's not so tasty

Taste is both a plus and a minus of baby food.