For the first tastings at the beginning of weaning mothers and fathers often choose fruit homogenized. If you don't have time to make them at home, you can find many flavors, brands and formats available in the supermarket, pharmacy or organic shops. But how to choose a quality fruit homogenized?
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For the first tastings at the beginning of weaning mothers and fathers often choose fruit homogenized. If you don't have time to make them at home you can find them available many flavors, brands and formats at the supermarket, which periodically offer discounts on their flyers, in pharmacies or organic shops. But how to choose a quality fruit homogenized?
Even in the case of baby food it is good read the label carefully of the single product. The ingredients used to make the baby food should be as simple as possible and the lists short. In the case of fruit, therefore, the best thing is that only that is present.
Da avoid instead the homogenized ones in which there is more added sugar (fruit already contains enough and is completely natural). In fact, very young children, if they are immediately accustomed to very sweet flavors, could then have difficulty in appreciating the taste of other foods, such as vegetables.
Read also: HOMOGENIZED: HOW TO CHOOSE THEM CAREFULLY AND THE INGREDIENTS TO AVOID
As always we advise you to prepare your fruit purees as much as possible at home. It doesn't take much time and the result will certainly be healthier and more genuine since you can choose the sweetest and highest quality seasonal fruit yourself without adding additional ingredients (including sugar). But there are many other reasons why it is better to prepare baby food and baby food at home, we have listed them here.
Read also: WEANING: 10 REASONS TO PREPARE HOMOGENIZED PRODUCTS AND JELLIES FOR CHILDREN AT HOME
However, if you happen to buy ready-made fruit purees, how to choose a quality product? To help you make a more informed shopping we have put compared to the best known and most used fruit homogenized products, the ones that you probably also have at home or have ever bought.
Index
COMPARING LABELS
Homogenized with plum - Plasmon
ingredients: Plum (84%), water, corn starch, concentrated lemon juice, vitamin C.
Omogenizzato alla banana - Mellin
ingredients: Banana puree (70%), water, lemon juice, corn starch, vitamin C.
Homogenized mixed fruit - Nipiol
ingredients: fruit (puree and juice * 68,5%), (apple, banana, apricot, orange), water, sugar, corn starch, concentrated lemon juice, vitamin C. * from concentrate
Homogenized organic apple and pear - Humana
ingredients: apple puree (43%) *, pear puree (39%) *, pear juice (14%) from concentrated juice *, concentrated pear juice (3%) *, thickener: locust bean gum, vitamin C . * from organic farming.
Organic apple and plum baby food - Alce Nero
ingredients: Plum puree * (80%), apple puree * (14%), concentrated apple juice *, rice starch *, Vit. C. *Biological
Organic Golden apple baby food - Hipp
ingredients: Fruit * 96% (Golden apple * 59%, apple juice * with low acidity from concentrate), ground rice *, rice starch *, antioxidant: ascorbic acid. * from organic farming.
Organic pear homogenized - Holle
ingredients: Pear * 100%. * from biodynamic agriculture
Homogenized of 4 organic fruits - Baby Kiss
ingredients: Fruit * 90% (Apple *, Banana *, Pear *, Apricot *, Apple Juice * and Pear * obtained from concentrated apple and pear juice), Water, Corn Starch * and Vitamin C. * from organic farming
Organic pear and blueberry homogenized - Heart of nature
ingredients: Pear * 89,8%, blueberry * 10%, concentrated lemon juice *, vitamin C. Gluten free. * From organic farming
Organic pear and banana naturello - Achillea
Ingredients: Pear * 67%, banana puree * 30%, cassava syrup *.
COMPARATIVE TABLE
Now let's compare specifically in the different fruit homogenized products: the percentage of fruit used, whether there is or not added sugar, sweeteners o other ingredients and the total amount of sugars. This comparison table will make it easier for you.
THE EXPERT'S OPINION
We asked Stefania Gangemi, naturopath and natural nutrition expert, to give us some advice to choose a fruit homogenized. Here's what he told us:
“The baby food industry offers more and more products, created by starting with the main nutritional components and adding 'natural additives', which are often produced in the laboratory. Additives can be of different types and with different functions, for example tapioca, corn flour that helps the texture, citric acid that prevents oxidation, or vegetable oils, until recently even palm oil, to improve taste and conservation. The spread of baby food is to be linked to belief that the transition to food must take place through "special foods" created specifically for the child. In reality, apart from the "lack of food education" that leads us to use this type of products, in which the taste, flavor and even the smell of food is canceled, as well as the child's discovery of food, the lack of chewing, let's not forget that often the nutritional value is not what we imagine ".
What are the characteristics of the baby food on the market?
“By analyzing what appear to be points in favor of baby food, we realize that this is not the case: 1) all the parts considered“ indigestible ”are eliminated, such as fruit cellulose, which are actually necessary for good intestinal functioning. 2) the nutritional qualities (vitamins, minerals) compared to a fresh food are considerably reduced the nutritional "energy" of the food is lost. 3) contain a high percentage of sugars and added preservatives that alter flavors and make the child lose contact with the real taste of food. 4) last but not least, we lose, indeed we have lost, the seasonality of food, the succession of the seasons and what nature offers at any time of the year ".
So what advice would you give to our readers?
The best thing would be "Try" to make baby food at home or, for the more daring, try self-weaning, they leave the child free to explore food at his own pace, with his hands, making eating a "complete" experience in his growth.