Investigating baby food ingredients

Everyone agrees baby food should be nutritious and safe. Nobody wants to harm babies, right? Why then do food companies routinely put profit before the health of your child? Tony goes in depth in this video touching on both Pedialyte and baby food.

Pedialyte

Pedialyte is a popular product for children to provide electrolytes and prevent dehydration. A simple glance at the product tells us there are obviously food dyes in it, based of its unnatural color. Most Pedialyte products contain more than one food dye, as was the case with the bottle in the video (Blue 1 and red 40). Think about this for a moment – does a 1 year old baby care what color his beverage is? Or is that food dye put in the product to make, you the parent, more likely to purchase it? Food dyes are highly controversial. The internet is loaded with testimonials from parents who have seen improvements in their childrens physical health and demeanor since removing food dyes from their diet.

Food dyes have been linked to behavioral concerns in children, as even the FDA has admitted, “Some evidence suggests that certain children may be sensitive to them.” For information on the mountain of evidence showing that food dyes cause harm, click here.

Got meat?

Red flags, bells and whistles should be going off when you see meat in baby food. Babies do not eat steak or chicken naturally because their teeth and digestive tracts aren’t mature enough for them. Many people fear their children will not get adequate protein without meat in their baby food, however, as shown in the video, baby food with peas in it have almost as much protein as chicken dinner baby food.

When meat is used in baby food, it is likely not high quality meat because it can easily be concealed after the meat has been processed. Food companies are not going to use fresh cuts of grass fed beef in baby food when they can profit more from grounding up leftover meat scraps, that they’re unable to sell to other sources, for the same price. If the meat they use isn’t organic (it rarely is) you’re almost surely getting growth hormones and antibiotics with the meat as well.

Making baby food yourself is not difficult. Sweet potatoes and peas are popular ingredients and can be easily mashed, just make sure you’re letting your food processor run for an extra long time to eliminate choking hazards.

Sources: https://www.fda.gov/food/food-additives-petitions/color-additives-questions-and-answers-consumers