When my children started to eat solid food I usually made my own. I liked to know exactly what was in their food and I always used organic ingredients. When my oldest son was about a year I discovered the organix range of baby food. I was looking for some easy to carry snack foods to take on a transatlantic flight and decided to give it a go.

The company
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Organix was set up in 1992 by Lizzie Vann. Her idea (apart from to make money)! Was to raise standards in the quality of children’s foods and give babies a good healthy start in life. At the time using organic ingredients was a new concept as far as baby food went. To-day Organix markets a range of foods suitable for babies and children from 6 months. Organix promises that all their food is produced using organic methods. Organic farming means that no pesticides or chemicals are used. This is not only better for us and our children but for the environment too.

Organic fruit and veg contains less water and more vitamin c than its non organic counterpart, another reason to go for organic food when ever possible.

Organix guarantees that their food has no genetically modified ingredients, no E numbers and is lower in fat, salt and sugar than its rivals. They have an interesting web site at www.organix.com, where you can look up and compare the content of their food and compare it to rival brands. For example the average fat content of a pack of organix corn snacks contains 15% fat compared to 28% for a pack of pom bears-aimed at young children.

What’s on offer?
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Organix does not have a huge range of foods to choose from like some of the big boys and not all supermarkets stock Organix.
For weaning Organix make very good baby rice. They suggests that this is suitable for babies from 4 months but the world health organisation guidelines state that milk alone is best for babies until about 6 months. Organix baby rice does not contain any fillers, unlike some of their rivals.

In addition to their baby rice Organix makes fruit purees. These come in 4 pack sizes and each pack has 2 different purees. These are great for travelling but expensive for every day use. They cost £1.47 per pack. Compare that to just a few pence to puree your own!

For older babies and children Organix makes a great range of snack foods called Goodies. They don’t suggest you feed these to your children every day, but use occasionally. These are also great when you are travelling. Again they are expensive with a small pack of corn snacks costing 34p. Organix also make crunchy carrot sticks, but as carrots can be easily cut up and put in an airtight container, I have never bothered with these.

One of my son’s favourite snack foods was Organix rice cakes. Again these are low in salt and fat. They are a really good finger food and not messy! Another favourite are the Organix fruit bars, these cost £1.98 for 6 bars and they come in various flavours.

They also make various biscuits but I have not tried these so can’t comment.

The verdict.
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This is of course according to my son! I first bought these when my son was about 1 year old. I took a variety of snack foods when we flew to America. I wanted foods that would be easy to carry, not be too messy and take a while to eat! I bought several packs from the Goodies range in different flavours and shapes. My son really liked the herb flavour corn snacks. They look like a small packet of crisps but without all the junk! These are good for older children too. I found the tomato flavour snacks a bit messy-so be warned!

Another favourite was the fruit bars-I liked these too! They are not too sweet and soft to eat. They really do taste of the fruit too! If you pack these I suggest you put the box in a small plastic container as they are soft and squash easily!

My son is now 3 and stills enjoys Organix as a travelling treat. The rice cakes are another good snack.

Other information.
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Organix is not available in all supermarkets and even when it is sold there is often a limited range on offer. Waitrose, Sainsburys and Tesco all stock Organix. They are often on special offer so stock up then!
Organix does cost more than many of its rivals but organic food costs more to produce.
If you go to the Organix web site you can join (for free) their children’s food club. Log in to get good information on nutrition, recipe idea, lunch box ideas and lots more.

I highly recommend Organix and hope you will give them a try.