Pablum baby food
The Dark Truth About Baby Cereal — Oh Baby
A few months ago I ran a poll on Oh Baby Instagram asking which topic you’d like me to write about first: the dark truth about purée pouches, or the dark truth about baby cereal. The pouches won but there was still a lot interest in baby cereal, so after much prompting I promised I’d share about that as well. The thing is, I prefer focusing on all of the amazing foods we can feed our babes with, not just the ones to avoid. I also don’t want any feel badly about any choices they’ve made. We’re all just trying to do our best for our little ones! I’ve finally decided to post this because even though baby cereal is one of the most common foods to start solids with, unfortunately it truly isn’t the best first food to nourish our babies.
Baby cereal was first introduced in the 1930s, which was when a monumental shift occurred away from real foods towards processed convenience foods. Previously known as pablum, mothers were advised to mix it into a bottle with breast milk for babies as young as six weeks old. Then when baby was around 3 or 4 months old, the pablum was mixed into a thicker consistency to be spoon-fed.
It was marketed as an ideal first food for your baby.
Iron-fortified grain cereal is still a leading recommendation for starting solids… even by most paediatricians, and even with today’s clarity about the importance of whole foods vs refined. Sadly, processed grain products aren’t the healthiest choice for anyone, let alone as a first food to properly nourish a developing baby.
Stripped of its nutrients
Baby cereal is stripped of its nutrients and fiber and it’s highly glycemic, which causes drastic blood sugar spikes followed by inevitable fussiness and hunger. Many parents often start solids prematurely with the hopes of keeping babies “fuller for longer”, but a high glycemic food like baby cereal doesn’t contain the fat or protein necessary to satisfy a baby for very long at all. Baby cereal is also very bland tasting, which doesn’t set the stage for adventurous eating.
Even if it wasn’t refined, rice is sorely lacking all the top essential nutrients a baby really needs when starting solids, such as healthy fat, calcium, vitamin D, choline & naturally occurring iron. Baby cereal is fortified with synthetic nutrients, but our focus should undoubtedly be to ensure that our babies are eating naturally nutrient-dense foods instead of foods like baby cereal that are fortified with synthetic nutrients. Let’s skip the processed foods to help set our babies up for a lifelong relationship with healthy, whole foods.
High levels of arsenic in rice cereal
Arsenic is present in soil, so all plants can absorb some of it. Although, rice is known to be high in arsenic because it’s grown in flooded paddies and soaks up more arsenic than other food crops. As a well-recognized carcinogen, arsenic is currently regulated in drinking water. However, there are currently no regulations concerning arsenic concentrations in food, including infant rice cereal.
While other foods account for 19% of arsenic exposure in babies 4 - 24 months, rice cereal accounts for 55%.
Several studies have found that arsenic exposure in rice cereal exceeds the US Environmental Protection Agency’s maximum contaminant levels and markedly increases arsenic exposure among babies. Studies show that the toxic effects of rice are most concerning in infants.
What about whole grains for babies?
Some people argue that a baby doesn’t produce enough amylase to properly digest grains. But I actually recommend being cautious with grains for an entirely different reason. Grains can be difficult to digest, even for many adults with mature digestive systems. Grains have substances called phytic acid that inhibit the absorption of minerals like iron and calcium.
When we look to ancient cultures for wisdom, babies have been fed rice or other grains as a first food in many countries around the world. They also weren’t using arsenic-containing pesticides that significantly increased the arsenic levels present in their rice.
However, it’s important to note that these whole grains used by these cultures were carefully prepared using traditional methods.
If you do include grains as a part of your family’s meals, I suggest properly preparing them by soaking, sprouting, or fermenting/souring to increase nutrient absorption and digestibility. I also prefer waiting until baby is reliably consuming 3 meals per day with ample amounts of food at each meal. Babies tend to prefer ‘filling up’ on grains if given the choice, but like baby cereal, whole grains don’t contain the essential nutrients that a baby requires in high doses during this age (fat, calcium, vitamin D, choline & naturally occurring iron). This leaves less room in their tiny tummies for the other foods that are much higher in these nutrients. Lastly, grains are pretty bland, and time and time again I see that if baby was introduced to these foods in larger amounts at an early age, it’s much harder to diversify their palate later on.
Early exposure to a variety of flavors is key!
If you eat low-carb yourself and don’t regularly include grains as part of your family’s meals, remember that little ones still require sources of healthy, whole carbs, such as winter squash or root vegetables. It’s also beneficial to expose your baby to gluten before the age of 12 months to help reduce their risk of developing allergies.
Pablum is Healthy Baby Food – Canadian-Made – Glimpses of Canadian History, one vibrant moment at a time
- By Susanna McLeod
- Feb-28-2022
- Fascinating Canadian History
Childhood malnutrition was a troubling issue for parents and doctors in the early 1900s. Toronto doctors set to work, developing infant food with essential ingredients.
What food contained the magic blend of five vitamins, wheat and wheat germ, oats, alfalfa, corn meal, bone meal, and brewer’s yeast? And when mixed with milk, formed the tasty breakfast for baby? Still a staple in infant diets today, it was Pablum, the flaky cereal that boosted nutrition and filled little growling tummies with comfort.
Illness from malnutrition was a serious problem for infants in the early 1900s in North America. The lack of essential vitamins and minerals caused difficulties, including ricketts – a medical condition that causes softening of bones, particularly in children. Much investigation and experimentation in nutritional science using the hungry stomachs of both animals and babies kept laboratory staff busy. Three doctors at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto came up with a solution: an easy-to-eat cereal that contained the necessary elements in one food. Dr. Frederick Tisdall, Dr. Alan Brown and Dr. Theodore Drake named the infant specialty Pablum, meaning “food” in Latin.
Pablum an Instant Nutritious Meal
Developed at Toronto Sick Kids Hospital, Pablum fortified baby cereal came in a canister, ca 1930 to 1940.
Combining the healthy ingredients together, the doctors found that the cereal required a long cooking time. This was not a handy method for mothers with hungry babies waiting impatiently for food.
Using the same method for producing dried milk powder, the cooked cereal “was dripped on a red-hot revolving drum,” according to Sick Kids Hospital, and quickly scraped off. “The mixture came off the drum as a bone-dry, flaky powder.” The cereal was ready – only milk or formula was needed for an instant nutritious meal for baby.
Pablum Raised Research Funds
Pablum was the second baby food created by the three pediatricians. The cereal was formulated after Sunwheat, their first food development. Sunwheat was a biscuit for toddler nutrition that contained nearly all the same ingredients, but was not in a suitable form for the youngest children to eat. Along with good taste, both Pablum and Sunwheat were easily digested and did not cause constipation or diarrhea. Sunwheat was sold by the McCormick’s company, Pablum by Mead Johnson. Pablum was a popular item with parents, continuing to sell well today in a variety of modern flavours. Sale of the baby food produced royalties that were paid to the Toronto Pediatric Foundation’s research department for 25 years, said Mount Allison University.
Nutritional Improvements
The Canadian doctors used their in-depth knowledge to make another improvement in nutrition.
Magazine advertisement for Pablum baby cereal, ca. 1952. The delicious fortified cereal improved baby health.
Adding Vitamin D in flour for bread, noted Mount Allison University, “eliminated the need for daily doses of cod liver oil for many children.”
Pediatricians of Great Achievement
Dr. Fred Tisdall was the lead physician on the the nutrition project at the Hospital for Sick Children. The enthusiastic, imaginative doctor was born in 1893. He joined the Hospital in 1921 and became Director of the Nutritional Research Laboratories in 1929. The author of two textbooks on Pediatrics, he also wrote numerous articles on the subject and was a member on several significant health-care boards. Dr. Tisdall died unexpectedly at age 56.
Born in Webbwood, Ontario in 1891, Dr. Theodore Drake graduated from the University of Toronto in 1914.
(Known as community area, Webbwood was in northern Ontario, close to Elliot Lake.) He was a Medical Officer with the Canadian military during World War I, where he developed nutritious diets for military personnel and POWs. Drake joined the Toronto General Hospital after the war, becoming Head of the Research Institute. His work was recognized when he was bestowed membership in the Order of the British Empire. Dr. Drake died in 1959.
Graduating in 1909 from the University of Toronto School of Medicine, Dr. Alan Brown was born in Clinton, Ontario in 1887. (His mother was one of the first two female students to attend that same medical school, said International Pediatrics, Vol. 15/No. 3, 2000 article (The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto). Completing internships at hospitals around the world, he accepted employment at the Hospital for Sick Kids. Dr. Brown became known as a pioneer in pediatrics, having reduced the infant mortality rate by nearly half in only a year’s time.
He died in 1960.
All three doctors spent their careers improving health and extending the lives of children in Canada and internationally. The creation of Pablum was one great achievement among many for the dedicated men.
This article first appeared on Suite101.com in 2009. (C) Susanna McLeod
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