Homemade baby food vs. Beechnut?

Question

I recently bought a jar of butternut squash from beech-nut baby foods, and it listed the ingredients as squash and water needed for texture. Why are some moms so adamant that making their own baby food is SO MUCH BETTER than buying pre-made? It involves the same ingredients (pureed, steamed food + water to thin it out.) What's the big deal?

Answer 1

Fresh food contains more vitamins and nutrients than canned. Canned foods lose nutrients during the canning process due to the high heat. So making babyfood fresh is better for the baby, especially if you're using raw foods rather than cooked foods. Some cooking methods retain more nutrients than others, so it's best to be aware of that as well.

Answer 2

Canning Homemade Baby Food

Answer 3

I used both homemade and jarred baby foods. A jar of baby food is... what... between 65 and 85 cents per jar? I can buy a whole butternut squash for a couple of dollars and make over a dozen baby servings out of it and store it in the freezer.

If I have the time and the inclination, I'll spend an entire morning making a freezer full of baby food and then I'll be set for the month.

But jars are convenient, too. I don't advocate one or the other, but if I didn't have a full-time job, too, I'd rather make my own and freeze it.

Answer 4

if you arent a home mom and dont have time, so be it for store bought. BUT... I think about the statistics of overweight americans vs foreign countries these days and wonder where it starts.. Food companies are in the business for business, not the health of a baby.. They dont care, they want profits.. Do you "really" know whats in the store boughts?. Also are the factories that can them really sanitary, did the worker go to the bath room, take a pee and not wash his hands then came back and worked the jarring machine? what if a cocroach crawled up the factory floor and jumped into one of the thousands of jars? Or what if the factory used harsh chemical pesticides to reduse the cockroaches?.. Did the canned food stay on the factory shelf for a year in heat before even being shipped?.. At least if you make it at home, you did it within the moments before your baby ate it, you know what goes into the food.. think about it.

Answer 5

I honestly don't know. I think the whole concept of "baby food" is overrated wether you buy it or make it. Most babies who are ready for solids are ready for some texture and can probably handle self-feeding some finger foods, so what's the point of purees? I hear so many moms brag about all the stuff they pureed for their baby and I just have to shake my head and wonder how they think that is really any better than the jarred food. To me, it's a lot more work to achive the same result.

Answer 6

I was watching the today show this morning and they say that a jar of baby food(the ones with prsevatives and such) could posibly sit on a shelf in a wearhouse and store shelves for years before being sold. Some peole just don't like that idea. It is just a personal perspective of setain mother on what there baby should eat and if they make it they know exactly what goes in to there food.

Answer 7

You are correct about the ingredients about stage 1 and 2. It's stage 3 that has a lot of unneeded fillers. By making your baby food you can include so many other foods such as lentils, zucchini, etc. The stage 3 baby food also smells like spaggetios, which is not healthy and they get used to the flavor of "junk food". Making baby food is so much cheaper too.

Answer 8

Well, you know EXACTLY what is going in it. You can thin it with breastmilk instead of water if you want. It's fresher than jarred food. It's really very simple to do and isn't time consuming at all.

Some jarred foods contain more than just water and the veggie or fruit.....some contain sugars, starches and fillers! You really have to read the labels.

Beechnut is actually one of the BEST brands out there and when I wanted jarred foods I would go out of my way to find it. (Not all stores here carry it.) They usually don't have all the "extra" junk added to the food.

Homemade is much cheaper.

Answer 9

I made homemade baby foodfor my son. I wanted him to get the very best, and I wanted to know exactly what he was getting. I would use the same food as what we were eating before we added any spices. I would make enough mashed potatoes so there was enough for him for lunch the next day. Also the food taste like food, have you ever had jarred baby food. its cheaper, healthier and your baby will get use to the vegetables you feed him and you wont have a problem to get the baby to eat the same food as you.

Answer 10

It's the process and the cost that they don't like. If they make it at home, they know exactly what's done to the food and they can make more of it for a low price. I have made my own food before but the jarred is definitely more convenient for me. Idk, I never saw it as a big deal.