Archive for the ‘baby food products’ Category
Saturday, May 19th, 2012
Stand up for real food today!
The goal of Jamie’s campaign is to change the way people eat by educating children about healthy and natural food, giving families the skills and knowledge to cook again, and by motivating people to stand up for their rights to better and healthier food. Basically, help people return to their roots – cook the way they used to, fresh and wholesome foods without harmful additives, preservatives, hormones, and chemicals. A nutritious and fresh dinner need not take long to cook – I do it every day, in less than half an hour.
Start by visiting your local farmer’s market this morning and making a great and healthy dinner with local, wholesome ingredients (and if they are organic, so much better). Find great events around you by visiting Jamie’s site.
Sign the global petition now to join Chef Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution Petition.
Tags: Food Revolution Day, healthy eating, healthy food, Jamie Oliver, Jamie Oliver Food Revolution, obesity
Posted in baby food products, food products, General Topics | No Comments »
Thursday, May 17th, 2012
Although some evenings are easier than others, getting my 4-year-old to eat her vegetables is always a challenge. The only vegetable she is willing to eat is broccoli (I am not counting tomato sauce right now).
I still make her eat her fair share by incorporating the greens in a way that she will not immediately recognize the hidden ingredients. Some parenting experts caution against hiding and pureeing the vegetables. According to research published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, children require repeated exposure to a new food in order to become familiar with it and, eventually, accept it as part of their regular diet. If a certain vegetable (say sweet potato) is hidden, kids won’t realize that the sweet and delicious food they are eating is, in fact, a vegetable and will not recognize it when you make it next time in its natural form, or when they are offered the vegetable in a school setting. Thus, they are more likely to refuse it.
I agree that hiding vegetables is not ideal (and definitely not a time saver). I try to incorporate vegetables openly, but if that does not work and she refuses to eat them, I go back to pureeing until such time that I can slowly build the “offending produce” into her diet.
Being open worked with broccoli – I cut the florets into small pieces and initially dipped them into ketchup (her favorite condiment). She did not resist. I slowly reduced the amount of ketchup and now its just steamed broccoli florets. No matter how hard I tried, this tactic did not work with brussels sprouts, kale, lentils, cauliflower, or even carrots. But I keep trying.
As for incorporating vegetable purees – here are two of my favorites.
- Macaroni & Cheese: puree steamed cauliflower and melt the cheese into the “sauce” before adding the pasta
- Penne & Tomato Sauce: puree steamed cauliflowers and red lentils, add a bit of tomato sauce and salt, then add the pasta
If you have any good recipes, do not hesitate to share.
Tags: health food, healthy eating, heatlhy food for kids, organic food, vegetables, vegetables for kids
Posted in baby food products, food products, General Topics | No Comments »
Sunday, May 13th, 2012
Safety concerns have long surrounded organic and conventional baby formulas, whether in powder, concentrated, or liquid form. I am sure you all remember the most recent health alert concerning the presence of arsenic in baby formulas and other baby foods (and may have read my post about it, which researchers discovered was a result of the brown rice syrup and other brown rice products (brown rice is known to absorb arsenic from water). A couple of years ago baby formulas containing DHA and ARA received attention, some claiming that DHA and ARA derived from laboratory grown algae and fungus should not be in organic (or conventional) formula.
These concerns still exist today, coupled with some others:
- BPA in the lining of various canned / bottled formulas (better to choose powdered formula)
- Possible presence of pesticides and hormones in formulas derived from conventional cow’s milk (choose organic formulas)
- Contaminants in water (use filtered or spring water when preparing the formula)
- Hazardous materials such as BPA or phthalates in baby bottles (select BPA-free plastic, silicone, or glass bottles)
As the above concerns are relatively easy to remedy, let’s return to the arsenic and the algae/fungi issues.
It is very difficult, if not impossible, to find a baby formula that contains neither. Bright Beginnings Organic, Earth’s Best Organic, Parent’s Choice, Organic Similac, and Organic Vermont Organics are all said to contain Martek DHA/ARA.
What exactly is the issue? Consumer groups say that Martek extracts the DHA oils from laboratory-grown fermented algae and the ARA from a non-toxic soil fungus using hexane, a chemical that is suspected to be a neurotoxin and is dentified as a hazardous air pollutant by the EPA in the same group as other cancer causing agents. Further, some argue that the algae is laboratory grown and, thus, it and its byproducts should not be considered organic.
Martek says that its DHA (marketed as “life’sDHA” present in a large number of products containing DHA) is “from algae, a vegetarian source of DHA. It’s produced, from start to finish, in an FDA-inspected facility with controls in place to ensure the highest quality. And because it is not from fish, there is no risk of ocean-borne pollutants. life’sDHA™ comes from a source that has not been genetically modified and is both Kosher and Halal. life’sDHA™ is accepted by the FDA for use in U.S. infant formulas and is the only DHA currently used in U.S. infant formulas.”
Nature’s One does NOT use Martek DHA / ARA (it derives the DHA / ARA from eggs through a water process). So what is the problem with Nature’s One? It’s main ingredient is brown rice syrup.
Not being a doctor, scientists, or just part of the process or knowing first hand how these components and formulas are made, it is hard to decide what and whom to believe – the USDA and the manufacturers or the consumer groups and certain researchers. If you have the option, you may be better off breastfeeding and just avoid the whole issue. And if you cannot or do not want to breastfeed, pick your “poison.” If safety is a greater concern than the organic integrity of the product, you might decide to go with the DHA/ARA products – the USDA/FDA claim the laboratory grown algae and fungi are safe. Nature’s One seems like a wonderful product, and perhaps all that is needed is some additional reassurance from the company that the products contain no arsenic.
Tags: arsenic in baby formula, baby formula, baby formula with DHA, baby formula without DHA, brown rice syrup in baby formula, organic baby formula, toxins in baby formula
Posted in baby food products, General Topics | No Comments »
Saturday, May 5th, 2012
and I expect to have it ready and posted this weekend.
In the meantime, check out this great blog entry from Red Rabbit (When Sweet is Just too Sweet), a company that delivers farm fresh, organic, and whole foods to kids in various New York City preschools! When I look at the menus for the upcoming week, I often wish I were still in preschool…
Tags: healthy food in school, healthy school food, natural foods for kids, organic foods, organic school food, Red Rabbit
Posted in baby food products, healthy baby | No Comments »
Monday, April 23rd, 2012
And that one ingredient is added sugar.
I make every effort to eat whole, unprocessed foods that are natural, organic, and (whenever possible) local. That means cooking dinner every night, even if it is nothing but a quick, 15-minute vegetable soup (onions, carrots, kale, and garbanzo beans) or scrambled eggs with steamed broccoli & brussels sprouts. After all, Michael Pollan is one of my favorite authors…
Of course, for most of us working parents /adults living in a big city it is practically impossible to use only whole foods we buy at the farmer’s market – an 8:30 – 6:30 daily office schedule makes that a “nonstarter.” Thus, we reach into our cabinets and take out a box of organic whole wheat pasta for dinner or a natural cereal bar for an afternoon pick-me-up. Naturally derived or organic, without hydrogenated oils or BHT, but still processed.
Reading ingredient lists and labels as much as I do, I am increasingly worried about the amount of added sugar in these natural / organic processed foods. Recent reports and studies are adding to this momentum.
Now, take a look at some of the containers and boxes in your cabinet, fridge, or freezer. Look at both the nutrition panel (by gram) and the ingredient list (by rank) as naturally occurring sugar and added sugar are lumped together in the nutrition panels. (Changing that would be great, wouldn’t it)?
Garbanzo beans from Eden Foods- no problem. Beans, water, and seaweed in a BPA-free metal container. All carbohydrates are naturally occurring in beans.
Plain Greek Yogurt from Wallaby – no issues. Organic cultured pasteurized milk in a BPA-free plastic cup. All 7 grams of carbohydrates are naturally occurring in milk.
Cascadian Farm’s Purely O’s – a good choice. All 23 grams of carbohydrates, including 1 single gram of sugar, are naturally occurring in organic whole grain oats, whole grain barley and other organic ingredients. NO added sugar.
Frozen cherries from Whole Foods’ 365 house brand – only organic frozen fruit – no preservatives or additives. Only naturally occurring sugar in fruit.
Stonyfield Yobaby Meals 3 in 1 – 15 grams of carbohydrates, including 14 grams of sugars, in a 113 gram serving size. Added sugar is only 3rd on the list, preceded by organic milk and fruit and vegetable purees.
Now, dig deeper into that cabinet or fridge.
Kashi’s GoLean Crisp Cinnamon Crumble – 34 grams of carbohydrates, including 10 grams of sugars, in a 51 gram serving size. Cane Juice Crystals is the second ingredient.
Cascadian Farm’s Fruitful O’s – 23 grams of carbohydrates, including 8 grams of sugars, in a 28 g serving size. Cane sugar is the second ingredient listed.
Nature’s Path Berry Strawberry Flax Plus Chewy Granola Bar - 25 grams of carbohydrates, including 11 grams of sugars, in a 35 gram bar. Cane juice is part of the first ingredient (granola), and invert cane sugar is fourth.
I LOVE what Kashi, Cascadian Farm, Stonyfield and other organic and natural food producers have done – eliminating GMO ingredients, using rBST-free milk, taking out all artificial colors and preservatives, and using eco-friendly packaging. All fantastic choices that help us live greener and healthier in our fast-paced, nature-unfriendly world.
But, when it comes to certain processed foods, I think it is time to reduce the amount of added sugar.
Kashi, Cascadian Farm, Nature’s Path and others out there – can you help?
Tags: added cane sugar, added sugar, artificial sweeteners, bad sugar, how bad is sugar, too much sugar
Posted in baby food products, food products, General Topics, smart mommy | 1 Comment »
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