Lemon juice concentrate in baby food
9 Best Baby Food Pouches For Your Baby — Moms Without Milk
Baby food pouches might be one of the best creations for modern parents. They’re perfect for on-the-go eating, packing for snacks, or even getting your baby or toddler to eat vegetables on a day when they’re less than willing. Ideally, babies and toddlers have more homemade baby food than anything because it contains more holistic and nutritious ingredients, but that doesn’t mean that store-bought baby food pouches can’t be good for your baby when given on occasion too. It’s all about which ones you choose - and this is where knowing how to quickly analyze the ingredients label for added sugars or preservatives comes in handy!
First, let’s address a major concern for moms: Are baby food pouches healthy?
If you’ve spent any time reading about baby food pouches, then you know that most pediatric nutritionists don’t necessarily recommend them - at least not frequent use - because they believe it effects the development of healthy eating habits. While I do agree that aggressive use of baby food pouches can cause feeding issues and food refusal, I think they can be healthy, safe, and practical when we choose the healthiest baby food pouches.
When choosing baby food pouches, look for these things;
Don’t laugh, but I developed an acronym to remember this (albeit long) checklist. My 91-year-old grandmother has a sharper memory than me, so here it is:
SCALLION (think rapscallion - like some food companies, don’t you think?), which stands for Sugars, Concentrate, Acids, Long List, Isolate, Organic, Nutrition label
Added sugars - Some pouches will add cane sugar or a sugar substitute. Your baby or toddler doesn’t need this excess sugar, not to mention that babies already lean towards sweeter tasting foods.
Too much sweetness, and we jeopardize their ability to acquire the taste of grainy, bland, or rich foods - like meats and vegetables. Any baby food pouches containing more than 10g of sugar is too much, but the less the better!Ingredients “from concentrate” - You can expect to see the word “puree,” but if there are a bunch of added juices from concentrate, you’re looking at a higher sugar content. Carrot juice concentrate? Apple juice concentrate? Nope, next!
Too much acid - The healthiest baby food pouches will use water or lemon juice concentrate as preservatives. Some healthy pouches may contain citric or ascorbic acid, but the less of this the better. The stomach is already acidic, so we don’t need to add too many acidic products to baby’s diet. The amount of these acids found in baby food pouches is fairly trivial, but it can add up.)
A long list of ingredients or an ingredient you’ve never heard of - If there are funky-sounding ingredients in the pouch, it likely indicates preservatives, added sugars, or fillers.
The best baby food pouches will only contain the foods themselves and a preservative like lemon juice concentrate. See gelatin? Coloring? Natural flavors? Not needed! Most of the time, “natural flavors” just means more sugar. Any protein pouch with the word “isolate” - As mentioned in this post about baby formula, an “isolate” means that the protein has been processed out of the main food source, be it soybean or dairy, and may be easier to digest but is not as nutritious.
Go organic - Of course, we all know that organic is the way to go when it comes to most fruits and vegetables (check out this dirty dozen list by the EWG). But buyer beware - organic does not necessarily mean that it will not contain added sugars or unnecessary ingredients.
When in doubt, read the nutrition label - If you glance at the label and see 15g of sugar but only 1g of fiber, there’s a problem. Again, anything more than 10g of sugar is too much.
We want a higher fiber content and lower sugar content. Whereas protein is also important for your growing toddler, protein pouches usually contain milk, nonfat milk, processed quinoa or coconut milk, etc. A little is fine, but these are best provided in their pure forms.
There are some other mishaps we’ll want to avoid when it comes to choosing the best baby food pouches. For one, the packaging is misleading (as it is with every food these days, c’est la vie)! A pouch may claim “all my veggies” or “super greens” or “fiber and protein” but contain more fruit than anything else. As you probably already know, your toddler doesn’t need to adjust to the delicious, sweet taste of fruit - they need to develop taste buds for vegetables!
Some fruit in a baby food pouch is not a bad thing. In fact, it may encourage your baby to eat and at the same time become familiar with the taste of kale or broccoli. But the argument that any fruit in a vegetable pouch will lead your baby to reject vegetables altogether is a little overboard.
Think of it like this: Do you like the taste of broccoli? Kale? Spinach? Carrots? Squash? Brussel sprouts? Your answer is probably yes to some and no to others. Our kids are the same!
Rather than acquiring the taste, I acquired the ability to make myself eat these foods because I know they are good for me. And while I eat them regularly with my meals, I also hide them away in smoothies, casseroles, and butter. So, it’s important to teach our children as they grow that vegetables are some of the healthiest foods they’ll ever eat while also having realistic expectations for them and finding creative ways to feed them the “yucky” stuff - just like grown-ups do! Of course, one of the best ways they’ll learn is modeling, so you’ll probably be eating healthier too!
I think we’ve covered it, but to recap:
Baby food pouches are to be used in moderation, and there are healthy baby food pouches out there that do not contain added sugars and artificial preservatives.
Homemade baby food is the most healthy choice, but there is no shame in supplementing your baby’s or toddler’s diet with healthy baby food pouches, especially ones containing vegetables that they are still learning to eat.
Don’t trust the packaging promises or brand names on baby food pouches - read the ingredients list using the checklist above. There should be no more ingredients than the foods themselves and a natural preservative.
Grown-ups hate vegetables, too - at least some of them. Have realistic expectations for toddler’s developing food preferences, and be gentle with both of you.
Just because a baby food pouch is “organic” does not mean it will be the healthiest option. Run through the SCALLION acronym.
Before we jump into the best baby food pouches for a healthy family, let’s chat about some strategies for not becoming too dependent on the pouch.
Helpful tips:
Empty the baby food pouch into a bowl and let your baby eat with a spoon.
This prevents too much sucking time as they become older (which is important for proper eating skills and language development). Make sure they don’t get full meals from pouches. Offer some soft foods: meats, steamed vegetables, soft fruits, yogurt, cheese. Toddlers learn quickly, and we don’t want them to think that a pouch is equivalent to a meal. Mealtime is sacred and therefore something they should expect to do.
Try not to offer snacks when your child is upset. (I’m so guilty!) This teaches them that food is a way to comfort. (Many of us soothe ourselves with food, so we don’t notice when we do the same with our children. But we want food to be wholesome and healthy and unattached to emotional turmoil or stress.)
On to the list of the most trusted brands for healthy baby food pouches!
Found online only:
1. Ella’s Kitchen
What you should know:
2. Serenity Kids
What you should know:
Found online or in most grocery stores:
1.
Once Upon A Farm
What you should know:
Usually found in the cold food section
Must be refrigerated
Most flavors contain coconut milk
2. Peter Rabbit Organics
What you should know:
3. Happy Baby Organics
What you should know:
4. Plum Organics
What you should know:
5. Earth’s Best Organic Baby Food
What you should know:
This brand has been around a long-time and is a trusted brand for babies and toddlers
Your baby will probably not enjoy the veggie pouches (they are not sweetened at all), so be ready!
More options in baby food jars than pouches
6. Sprout Organic Baby Food
What you should know:
7. Beechnut Organics
What you should know:
Remember that not every pouch from each brand will be what you are looking for in a healthy baby food pouch, but many of them will live up to the standards of our acronym for the best baby food pouches: SCALLION - low Sugar, no protein Concentrates, minimal Acid preservatives, avoid a Long List of ingredients, avoid Isolates, go Organic, and when in doubt read the Nutrition label (how many grams of sugar?).
I know there’s a lot on your plate, mama (yes, pun intended), but I hope this information makes you feel more confident about selecting the healthiest baby food pouches for your baby or toddler. If you have any questions, we’re here to answer!
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0 LikesOrganic Baby Food - What You Need To Know About It
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Reasons to Go Organic Baby Food instead of Non-Organic Baby Food
Non-organic baby food contains vegetables & fruits with chemical pesticides and meats with antibiotics or growth hormones.
There are also preservatives, starchy fillers, thickening agents, artificial flavors or colors. Organic baby food can minimize your baby’s exposures to these dangerous chemicals. Organic labels have to meet strict government standards and regulations for their organic food. All organic baby food listed below have a USDA certified organic label. USDA certified means the manufacturer has to use at least 95% organic ingredients. USDA looks at how those organic food is grown, processed, packaged and shipped. When food is grown, processed, packaged and shipped, no synthetic pesticides, petroleum-based fertilizers, synthetic growth hormones, artificial colors, flavors or preservatives, No GMOs or ionizing radiation should be used. For meats, poultry and dairy products, no antibiotics or hormones are allowed. Also, the animals have to be fed only organic, vegetarian feed and live in an appropriate housing and conditions which doesn’t jeopardize animals’ health, safety, or well-being.
Additives/ Preservatives in Organic Baby Food
So organic baby food uses at least 95% organic ingredients, then what is in that 5%? Some of the organic baby food use preservatives. Commonly used preservatives are Ascorbic acid (Vitamin C), Citric acid, or Lemon juice concentrate. They are mostly used with fruit or vegetable and fruit mix purees. Bacteria can’t grow in acidic environment so many food companies use ascorbic acid, citric asid or lemon juice concentrate as a preservative. Citric acid is also used by many drink or food companies to enhance citric flavor. So what are they? Let’s take a look.
Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C) – Ascorbic acid is synthetic vitamin C. It is usually synthesized from GMO corn.
Citric Acid – Getting citric acid from natural fruit is not economical so most of the time citric acid is chemically produced with the mold, Aspergillus niger.
Lemon Juice Concentrate – To make lemon juice concentrate, water is removed from lemon and dried up to make powder.
This powder is called concentrate. Removing water concentrates the natural sugar more, and makes a lemon
juice concentrate very sweet. If the lemon used is not organic, it will have pesticides.
Health Effect from Ascorbic Acid, Citric Acid or Lemon Juice Concentrate
Dr. Jamie Koufman and Dr. Jordan Stern, authors of The Reflux Diet Cookbook found that acid preservatives in baby food can cause reflux in babies. (read more here.) Added acid increases acidity in baby’s food and it can upset the baby’s stomach. If the baby food already has an acidic fruit such as an apple in it, the food will become more acidic by an added acid preservative. Many pediatricians suggest that babies with reflux avoid acidic food. The authors of the book also said that having acidic food sometimes is okay but it shouldn’t be a regular diet for the baby. In addition, acidic foods such as citrus fruits are not recommended for babies under 12 months because their stomach can not handle them well.
As you would see in author’s finds, not all baby food with acid preservatives, is highly acidic (a PH of greater than 5 should be fed to babies.), however, some of them are. Therefore, if you have a baby with reflux or just want to avoid acidic food, get the baby food without acid preservatives or select the one with an ingredient that is not acidic.
Homemade Baby Food VS Store Bought Baby Food
Food has to be cooked in a very high temperature to have a long shelf life (usually about 2 years) for the store bought baby food. This process of cooking is to ensure food is not contaminated and is sterilized so that it can be preserved for a long time. However, in this process, many nutrients are killed. For non-organic baby food, often starchy fillers, thickening agents, artificial flavors, artificial colors or artificial preservatives are added to the baby food. After all this process, baby food will have very little nutrients compared to homemade baby food.
Organic brands don’t use starchy fillers, thickening agents, artificial flavors , artificial colors or artificial preservatives so it is much better than non-organic baby food. However, it still has to be cooked at very high temperature so the nutrients will be less than your homemade baby food. Homemade food is more fresh, more nutritious and you know exactly what goes into the food so making your own baby food will be the best.
On the other hand, store bought baby food is very convenient. They often come in a jar or a pouch. You can put only the amount of food that you are going to feed your baby in a bowl and you can just store the rest of it in the fridge. (in the same jar or pouch). Baby can also self-feed with the pouch. It is also ready-to-eat food so you do not need to cook, defrost or warm which is a lot less work. I personally cooked my own baby food a lot. However, I also used a lot of commercial organic baby food too when I got too busy or when I needed food right away but didn’t have food prepared.
Store bought baby food also came in very handy when I went to places with my baby. I didn’t have to worry about packing the food, just grabbed one of these pouches and that was it. Also, Stage 2 and Stage 3 organic baby foods have several ingredients in one pouch. (Sweet potato, Pear, Broccoli, Spinach for example) This means, my baby can eat many different ingredients and benefit several nutrients at once without me going shopping for all of these ingredients. Store bought baby food did save time for me. Also, baby sometimes doesn’t like to eat a certain vegetable or meat (spinach for example) because she doesn’t like the taste of it. In this case, you can try to offer a pouch with that particular vegetable or meat mixed with other ingredients. (spinach, raspberry and yogurt for example) She may like the taste and not notice that vegetable (spinach) in the food. Store bought baby food is very convenient, however, it is more expensive than homemade baby food.
For the nutritional value, I would pick organic baby foods that have whole organic ingredients than the ones that are pureed ingredients.
For example, I would select the food that states ‘organic pear’, not ‘organic pear puree’ as an ingredient. I would also look at the first ingredient in the jar or pouch if the first ingredient is water. Unless the dish is supposed to be a soup, you don’t want baby food that is diluted with water. Having whole ingredients or having water as a last ingredient will be more nutritious.
Organic Baby Food That Doesn’t have Ascorbic Acid, Citric Acid or Lemon Concentrate
Sprout Organic Baby Food Pouches
Sprout Organic Baby Food
Sprout Organic Baby food is made with USDA certified organic, non-GMO ingredients and contains no preservatives, concentrates, additives, artificial colors, flavors, added sugar, fillers of any kind or anything artificial. They don’t use lemon juice concentrate, citric acid or ascorbic acid in their ingredients as other organic baby food brands do. In addition, they use actual whole organic ingredients, not pureed organic ingredients.
More Info
Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3
Ella’s Kitchen Organic Baby Food Pouches
Ella’s Kitchen Organic Baby Food
Ella’s Kitchen Organic baby food has no GMO, preservatives, thickeners, additives, gluten, wheat, dairy, lactose, lumps or bits, anything artificial, added water, salt or sugar. Their products are Kosher and USDA Organic certified. They use <1% lemon concentrate for fruits and veggies. Ingredients are also whole organic ingredients, not pureed organic ingredients.
Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3
More Info
Baby food: reading labels - Letidor
Nowadays, almost every self-respecting manufacturer of something has a line of children's products. Of course, they are positioned as the most natural, healthy, environmentally friendly and hypoallergenic. In this way, absolutely everything “childish” is advertised, from cottage cheese and cookies to washing powders and cotton buds.
Parents need to be very careful not to fall for tricky marketing moves and advertising. Let's look at some of the subtleties using the example of baby food for complementary foods.
I don't want to start a long and pointless discussion about "tins and boxes vs homemade". There is no doubt, it is unlikely that someone will refuse to feed the baby with vegetables from the grandmother's garden, farm dairy products and meat from cows grown in protected conditions, but not everyone has the opportunity (and means) to approach the issue of nutrition so thoroughly. It is possible that sometimes you have to buy a jar of mashed potatoes or a bag of baby yogurt for your baby in the store. It’s great if, for example, children’s kefir consists of milk and fermented milk starter, and vegetable puree consists exclusively of vegetables and water. This is the best option. However, quite often on a jar or box there can be frightening inscriptions “preservative E such” and “dye E such”.
You shouldn't be so scared right away.
According to the accepted nomenclature, the letter E denotes any food additives, and the serial number indicates the type of additive. So, E 100-199 are dyes, E 200-299 are preservatives, E 600-699 are flavors and flavors, etc.
By definition, food additives are substances added for one purpose or another to food products, i.e. this is not only artificially synthesized additives, but also natural substances (for example, curcumin and chlorophyll). The most common soda, acetic acid, pectin are also food additives and are designated according to this nomenclature E500, E260 and E440. Ethanol, by the way, is prohibited in Russia as a food additive E1510 (hehe).
The main document regulating the production and sale of baby food in Russia is the Technical Regulations of the Customs Union No. 021/2011 (PDF), which we will refer to as TR. The document is open and everyone can study it, but I would like to dwell on a few points that usually worry parents:
) raw materials containing GMOs .
In principle, the law is fine, except for the recent scandals with a well-known foreign manufacturer of baby food caught using GM soybeans and corn. The issue of expertise and fines for the use of GM raw materials secretly remains open. That is, an examination is carried out, fines are paid, but it is perhaps impossible to give a 100% guarantee of non-use of GM raw materials.
In the production of food products for baby food , the use of food (food) raw materials obtained with the use of pesticides is not allowed.
Determining the content of pesticides is much easier technically and cheaper than the examination for GMOs. We can speak quite confidently about the absence of pesticides in baby food.
In the production (manufacturing) of food products for baby food for children of all age groups, in order to give a specific aroma and taste, it is allowed to use only natural food flavors (flavoring substances) and for children older than 4 months - also vanillin.
Great, with the proviso that, of course, you should not start giving vanillin directly at 4 months.
It is also forbidden to use artificial dyes in baby food (for example, the allowed dye E 160a is ordinary carotene, a pigment that gives the yellow-orange color of carrots and is a provitamin of vitamin A), and as preservatives in canned baby food, it is allowed to use E300 - ascorbic acid, also known as vitamin C or citric acid E330. There is a rumor about the latter on the network that it is a carcinogen. Comrades! This is a myth, a reprint of the so-called Villejuive list - either a scientific error or a hoax.
And one more little trick of the manufacturers. It is quite possible that a food additive whose name is well-known to the consumer, for example, the same ascorbic acid, will be called an ordinary word, but the now unpopular sodium nitrite will be hidden behind the designation E250. However, this is more likely to apply to "adult" products - the use of E250 in baby food is prohibited.
Canned baby food, as you know, is divided into several stages according to the age of the child. Long shelf life is provided by instant pasteurization (rather than preservatives). Often the contents of the jars are additionally fortified. How much this is necessary is a separate question, but it must be borne in mind that the manufacturer must indicate this information on the label.
As mentioned above, industrial baby food does not use artificial flavors, colors and preservatives, and the raw materials used are subject to fairly strict control. However, "superfluous", more precisely, additives not always requested by the consumer, are found quite often. All of them should be indicated on the label, which should be studied very carefully, surprises are possible. The penalty for a false label is very high, so important information is indicated, but in much the same way as consumer loans with wild interest - small letters on a bright background.
So, what else, besides the ingredients promised in large print, can be found in the selected jar?
_ Modified starch _.
The main horror movie of parents who did not study chemistry well. He is considered genetically modified and is amazed at the frank cynicism of the producers. Of course, this is nonsense. Starch is a substance, not an organism, and by definition there are no genes in it. Modification of starch consists in changing its properties, for example, increasing the viscosity. It does no harm to the child.
_ Vegetable protein _. Behind this word lies ordinary soy, that is, soy protein. Do you need it? Decide for yourself. By the way, unlike soy protein isolate and concentrate, the use of soy flour in baby food is prohibited.
_ Vitamin complex _. Surely, many children from large cities have hypovitaminosis and additional vitamins will not hurt. However, some vitamins are often strong allergens. Parents of allergic people are better off choosing a jar without them.
In addition, canned food may contain additives approved for use - milk powder, rice flour, salt, white pepper, vegetable oil, lemon juice, etc.
So if you do not want them to get into your baby's body ahead of time, study the label especially closely. It's generally useful.
Thus, a very well-known domestic manufacturer of baby food has launched two types of baby jars on the market - canned meat and vegetable and vegetable and meat. In the first case, the meat content is 40%, in the second - 10%. As they say, feel the difference. And all the words are rearranged. This is certainly not an outright scam. Yes, a little trick.
Concentrated juice: benefit or harm
On the shelves of modern stores you can find many varieties of reconstituted juice from various fruits and vegetables. By consuming them, people believe that they are taking a drink that can maintain health in the body. But no one wonders what this juice was restored from. The answer to this question can give concentrated juice . After all, it is from it that most natural drinks are made.
Please note that the concentrated juice must not be eaten or drunk as this product is not intended for direct consumption.
This is a blank for making natural juice, which later appears on the counter. The concentrate is obtained by evaporating excess liquid from the juice of vegetables and fruits.
Method of making concentrated juice:
1. After harvesting, fruits, vegetables and berries are delivered to the factory
2. There they are washed, cleaned, crushed and sent under a press to squeeze the juice.
3. Squeezed juice is the initial preparation.
4. Next, half of the resulting volume of liquid is evaporated and a concentrated product is obtained.
5. The consistency should be thick and sticky.
This is the simplest version of the description of the concentrate extraction process, but we do not need to know all the technological subtleties.
Concentrated juice benefits
The most popular are orange, pineapple, apple juices, with orange accounting for more than 41% of the world's drinks.
The concentrate is quite an attractive product, which has an acceptable cost and is not picky in storage. In addition, this product has positive qualities for human health.
1. Concentrate rich in important nutrients. It is useful only if it is made from fresh fruits and vegetables, without added sugar and salt. For example: a glass of an orange product contains 280% of the daily value of vitamin C, and a carrot is 100% fortified with vitamin A.
2. Contains beneficial plant compounds such as carotenoids, anthocyanins and flavonoids. They have an effect on many systems of the human body, in particular by improving the functioning of the heart, and reducing inflammation in the body.
3. Improves skin condition. Many concentrated juices are rich in vitamin C and antioxidants that help keep skin healthy and slow down skin aging. For example: tomato and carrot juice contain beta-carotene, which is able to remove all skin inflammation.
4. Long shelf life and affordable market value. Concentrated drinks have become an excellent alternative to freshly squeezed juice. Moreover, when frozen or stabilized, they do not lose their qualities.
Conclusion: concentrated juice is much more affordable than packaged drinks, has a long shelf life, and is good for health. But this product also has disadvantages, which will be discussed later.
Harm from concentrated juice
The concentrated drink has two significant drawbacks:
1. Preservatives and sugar content. Juice contains more than 10% sugar, which is required by a person as a daily requirement. A diet with such juices can lead to the development of diabetes and heart disease. Many of these drinks are high in sugar and harmful preservatives. If you buy concentrated juice, then it is better to give preference to a drink in which there is a minimum sugar content or it is completely absent.
