Why are jars of food bad?

[riab]

I'm interested to know what other mums think about jarred food (babies) and if you think its bad why?

Mostly just because they are expensive and don't taste of what is supposed to be in them.

Baby food in a jar is extremely convenient and easy, my cupboard is full of them! Just a shame that my dd2 has always refused to eat them, instead insisting on 'baby led weaning'. I really must find someone to give the jars to before they go out of date! I don't blame her for refusing jarred baby food, it does stink, I wouldn't be able to eat it, so how can I expect her to eat it?

I don't think they're bad - in fact they are very handy for when you are out and about. People can be such snobs!

DS often prefers jars, he eats plenty of 'finger food' for chewing practise and I try and ensure he gets veg and fruit.

But for example today he wanted macaroni cheese, I didn't have any veg handy prepared for him so i scooped out a jar of HIPP mixed veg into the mac cheese mix.

For me its because of the price.
I could make the stuff in bulk and freeze it for a fraction of the price, know whats in it, that i would eat it and that its all fresh stuff.
I used to make two dishes a week and freeze it.

DS chucks out half of what I cook for him so jars aren't that much more expensive in some ways. PLsu I HAAAATE Cooking!

Have you ever tasted one? My dd will only ever eat 1/2 a jar, even when mixed with fresh veg. I think they have quite a high water content too so they are not as nutritious as home cooked food (even when you are a terrible cook like me ) But if your baby is happy to eat them, why not?

my dd will eat the jars but straight after it starts her reflux off in an instant and projectiles it all back up again, yet if she has snap frozen food she is fine, there must be something not nice in there for this to happen, but i suppose its just down to what the baby prefers

They're not "bad" per se , after all they do have to pass some basic nutritional guidelines. However some contain additives/preservatives/fillers which may be couched as "natural" and lots of water which wouldn't be there in homecooked versions, they have a preserved taste/smell like canned carrots and potato which may not be the same as freshly cooked, textures tend to be uniformly smooth or diced. A baby used to a diet of them may well not make an easy transition into lumpier and standard family foods. However they are convenient and nutritionally usually ok.imho preferable to the powder reconstituted ones.

before I starte weaning dd, I swore I would not give her jars or desserts!!, but after a few weeks of slaving over the cooker to have her refuse EVERYTHING i had cooked I am sorry, but I resorted ti jars and yogurts, just to get anything in her!!
I was so disheartened when she refused my food, whereas if she refuses jars then i dont take it personally!
She gets loads of fresh stuff in the forms of finger food, such as fruit , veg ,toast etc so hey I am passed caring now

After spending 20 minutes pushing peas through a sieve to make just two ice cubes worth of pea puree I have to say that for some things jars are better!

I really like the Boots Organic jars as they don't have any odd additives at all, compared to e.g. Cow and Gate Organic which can still have things like ascorbic acid in them. Plus, they don't taste or smell too bad at all.

fuffyanimal - ascorbic acid is otherwise known as Vitamin C - and is good for you

see here

I thibnk they re disgustingly priced and the packaging must cost more than the food inside.

I am a very lazy woman, but I am also quite frugal, and I would rather buy 2 sweet potatoes, boil and mash, freeze into jar sized lumps than buy jars.

If I want that truly authentic jar tste, I can always take a teaspoon of real food and mix it into 100 grams of flour and water.

Saying that, I don't actually object to them, they are hardly a bad thing. Ds1 had loads, but I was a bit clueless then.

no cos I think they taste gross

have always found it straightforward enough to mash/puree a bit of our food for weaning baby

think they have to get used to eating the family's food.

And at the weaning stage you have a bit of leeway if they refuse jars as most of their nutrients still come from milk.

They are not bad: they're expensive, not as nice as freshly-cooked homemade food, and some have fillers like starch (but then plenty don't).
Jars are not the FruitShoots of the weaning world.

the trouble i've had is that texturally (is that a word?) they are different from 'real' food. my DS has gotten used to the texture of jars a refuses to eat anything different (yet will eat toast and dry shreddies!) it's even gotten to the point that he won't eat the lumpy jars!

i use jars as sometimes the crap dh and i eat is much worse than a jar and some nights, we dont eat at all.

Iota - thanks, you've taught me something. Now why can't they say on the label: Vitamin C, rather than Ascorbic Acid? Surely they know people read the labels looking for nasties.

2babies0bumps
I know what you mean - I eat late, or not at all or eat crap some nights. and when we eat good food its often VERY highly spiced. My HV told me to just cook it and then mash babies portion and then add the spices t ours!!!

i didn't feel like patronising the poor women in pointing out that that is hardly the proper way to cook decent spiced food and as we grind our spices fresh, fry them in oil and garlic and then start in with the rest of the ingredients it wasn't an option for us.

I know what people mean about the texture but DS didn't get teeth until he was 13 months so lumps were out of the question. I also check the water content and additives - I try to get organic ones and check ingredients listings most of the time.

GuppinBuppin, i thought ds would never start eating lumps but he eats lumpy stuff quite happily now so I wouldn't worry too much. I started him off with plenty of finger food and gradually progressed him onto lumps!

I am perfectly capable of burning even the simplest cooking endevour - I have thrown away 6 pans in 12 months because they boiled over/boiled dry and burnt. I did cook and mash alot of veg and fruit for the first months and stuck to organic until he was 7 months old, home cooked until he was 8 months old.

I gues my biggest ocncern has been the amount of water there is in the jars, but as DS is putting on weight at his growth rate i don't tihnk it can be too bad.

Had anyone switched form jars to totlaly home cooked and found it making a real difference in sleeping?

I find I add water to home cooked baby food anyway, as bf dd doesn't take a bottle or cup too well yet and she needs water now. I weaned her onto organic pots as I ws travelling at the time, but now I'm home I've made lots of ice cubes of home cooked, but she was off her food for a while so I wonder if she got a taste for the pots. I think they're OK but I suspect they boil the stuff for ages (tastes like it anyway), which must reduce the nutitional content. I still use a pot once in a while for ds who's 2y3m, as a pasta sauce for instance, if he's not had much meat & veg lately and if dp and I are having something spicy for dinner. They're handy.

My 1 year old and nearly 5 year old both eat spicy food. We cook it for us then remove what I am giving LO's and add yoghurt and/or milk to take some of the bite out of it. They love it. Mine have always had what we have had and are great when we take them out, never order off the children's menu. I have always used Hipp Organic as a stand by when they were younger. IE when out to GP's who eat crap or if we are going to be eating out and not with them.

thats a good idea about adding yogurt to take the edge off spices.

DS does seem to love salty flavours (he got into the drawers and found stock cubes and marmite which he hid and ate!), cheesey flabours and sweet stuff. He also likes brown sauce and ketchup.

(hides head in shame)