It’s really disappointing to see how many unhealthy items are being sold on the basis of being made for babies. Doesn’t that frustrate you? Here’s a list of 5 items you’ve probably been told to give your baby but shouldn’t.
I have found it my calling to raise awareness and knowledge about baby nutrition. Our goal is to baby-proof the things that need it and also make amazing food accessible for you all.
Why do we resort to unhealthy items like cereals and biscuits? Because they’re easy and convenient. But today, at Little Melly we stand up and say: we are too. You CAN have both. That’s our value proposition♥️
1. Cream Cheese
There are several types of cream cheese as well as several brands. You can find cream cheese squares, cream cheese tubs, and cream cheese jars. Some options are better than others as their sodium content does differ, but in general, they all have the following:
a) High Sodium
Just one square of cream cheese has around 105mg of Sodium. A baby’s Sodium limit under the age of 1 is just 400mg.
b) Preservatives
Here’s a sample ingredient list from one of the brands, extracted online: “Processed cheese curd, water, butter, milk protein, salt, milk mineral concentrate and the substances polyphosphates, calcium phosphates, sodium citrate and carrageenan.”
c) More Processed Than Other Cheeses
While all cheese is actually processed, these kinds are much more treated than others. They are actually no longer called cheese but cheese products.
2. Rice Cereals
Rice has inorganic arsenic naturally. It’s not something added in, but it also can’t be avoided. Consuming too much rice is dangerous for this reason, even for adults.
Rice also has no real nutrition to offer. This is why rice cereals are often fortified with vitamins. Why get excited about that when you can get vitamins naturally from other foods? This is just a marketing hoax. It’s much more beneficial to offer ingredients that give us vitamins naturally.
Lastly, boxed rice cereals are heavily processed and also have preservatives in them.
3. Baby Biscuits
Here is a sample ingredient list from one of the top brands that manufactures baby biscuits: “flour, hydrolyzed wheat, sugar, whole milk powder, caramel, flavorings, antioxidant: ascorbic acid, vitamin B1.”
Do you read anything beneficial in these ingredients? This product might make me most upset of all because it goes as far as disregarding the AAP’s recommendation on sugar. The AAP advises that no sugar be introduced to our children until age 2 (and for good reason).
Even if the sugar was removed, we can directly see from the ingredients list that there is no real base of healthy ingredients. Flour, the majority of the components, is similar in concept to rice. In addition, artificial flavorings and preservatives are used.
This product unfortunately makes me most upset of all, especially when specialists advise parents to include it in their child’s breakfast every morning.
4. Fruit Pouches
While most fruit pouch brands are now moving away from preservatives, the concept of fruit pouches is still a poor one. Why? Here are a few reasons: first, it teaches our kids poor eating habits. We want our little ones to get acquainted with chewing, observing the colors and shapes of their food, and experimenting with textures. Fruit pouches usually remove all the pulp leaving just a smooth texture.
This brings me to the next point: fruit pouches are in essence just the sugar of the fruit. The fiber content is lost. This is also why the AAP advises against juices until age 1. We want to eat the fruit and not drink it.
5. Mortadella (and Other Deli Meats)
Have you ever seen the ads for mortadella where children are enjoying them in school? They position this product as the perfect sandwich for school. This is really unfortunate when the product itself should be avoided totally for children. The white chunks you see in the meat are pure pork fat, and the whole meat is simply made up from pork scraps. Let’s not forget to mention the chemicals that are used to make mortadella!
In conclusion, I do want to clarify: We're not here to make your lives as parents even harder.
We're here to show you the truth when others don't.
And we're here to also say: you can have both convenience and nutrition. This is why Little Melly exists today: to show you that’s possible.
Check out our products page!
