Cooking & KnowingIn the section Cooking & Knowing health journalist Tijn Elferink delves into a nutrition topic that is confusing. This time: is Babe baby food healthier than other jars?
The story of Babe Baby Food reads like a novel: “Jasmine Azadbari discovered her love of cooking on a stool in the kitchen, where as a little girl she helped her mother prepare feasts for the whole family.” Azadbari gave up her life as a ‘successful tax and notarial lawyer’ and followed her passion. She learned to cook in De Librije’s studio from star chef Jonnie Boer. To ‘change the world of baby food forever’ she started Babe, available for purchase at Amazon and Bol.com.
Azadbari states that a lot of children’s food in the supermarket is unhealthy. She refers to a report by Unicef, which shows that only thirty percent of infant nutrition falls within the Nutrition Center’s Wheel of Five. However, the report is not only about baby food, but also about breakfast cereals (think of Kellogg’s), spreads (such as jam and chocolate spread), children’s desserts, biscuits and drink packets.
superfoods
Infant nutrition is different from meals for babies, says Iris Groenenberg, nutrition and health expert at the Nutrition Center. According to her, there is something to argue with Babe. For example, it is claimed that the diet only contains the best superfoods: ,,Superfoods do not exist; there is no single food that contains everything you need. Variation is important”, says Groenenberg correctly. It would also have at least eight ingredients per flavour, but, says Groenenberg: “It is better to let babies get used to separate flavors from four months.” According to her, it is even unwise that it is free of gluten, lactose and allergens. “It is good to expose children from four months to allergens, precisely to prevent allergies.”
And then the whole grain oatmeal that is in it: ,,Fine, of course, from 12 months. But before that, the intestines still have to get used to the fiber. Food for young babies therefore sometimes contains white pasta or white rice, but that is not a problem in this case.”
In the podcast, Tijn Elferink and Ellen den Hollander discuss Babe’s healthier baby food: ‘They have adjusted quite a few claims on the site.’
“Babe is for eight months and older,” clarifies Azadbari. She has since changed that on the website. “From that age you can offer multiple ingredients at the same time.” The fact that Babe does not contain gluten, lactose and other allergens is not a problem, according to the chef, because babies get enough other foods that do contain those allergens. And by superfoods, Azadbari says he means products that contain ‘many vitamins, minerals and antioxidants’.
According to Azadbari, baby food in the supermarket contains hardly any nutrients. Olvarit says that their baby food contains the same amount of vitamins and minerals as home-prepared food. “Pots in the supermarket do contain nutrients,” says food technologist IJsbrand Velzeboer, who advised Babe. “You can see that on the label. It is probably meant that they do not contain a rich palette of nutrients, as is the case with Babe.”
100 percent vitamin retention
Velzeboer was brought in by Kesbeke, the pickles manufacturer with which Babe works. What makes Babe special is the mild heat treatment, says Oos Kesbeke, grandson of founder Charles Kesbeke. According to Velzeboer, normal baby food is heated to at least 100 degrees. Babe is pasteurized at 72 degrees. This ensures ‘100 percent vitamin retention’.
“With a mild heat treatment, much less vitamins are lost,” says Velzeboer. “Vitamins are always lost, especially vitamin C. If you store the juice of squeezed oranges at room temperature, the vitamin C will be gone within a few hours.” Azadbari emphasizes that food is processed as quickly as possible, so that 80 percent of the vitamins are preserved. Babe has since removed the claim about ‘100 percent vitamin retention’ from the website.
To prevent harmful bacteria, the Nutrition Center recommends heating food to at least 75 degrees. It will be, says Velzeboer. “Babe’s food is not heated to 72 degrees, but between 75 and 80 degrees.” That too has now been adjusted on Babe’s website.
acidified
According to Velzeboer, there is something else that makes Babe safe. ,,To preserve the food in a natural way, it is slightly acidified with lemon juice without the acid taking the upper hand. Just look at a jar of pickles, you can keep them for years. Kesbeke has a lot of experience with that.” This means that Azadbari stands firmly behind its product. ,,Mea culpa that the communication about Babe was not completely correct. That does not alter the fact that we have the best infant nutrition currently on the market.”
The judgement
Warming baby food gently and acidifying it with lemon juice is basically a smart and interesting idea. But superfoods do not make it healthier and even with mild heating, vitamins are not 100 percent preserved. Making your own baby food is the best, but there is nothing wrong with a jar every now and then. And Babe is an excellent choice.
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