nostalgic for a rusk (Farleys Rusks)

Member Name: georgiesue

Product:	Farleys Rusks
Date:	29/09/08 (75 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: most babies love the taste, can be given solid or mixed with milk

Disadvantages: sugar, sugar, sugar

Farleys rusks are an old name, been around for ever and their success as a brand I truly believe comes from the fact that so maony of us have such fond memories of eating them when we were children.

When I had my first child and reached the stage where I was well into weaning I spotted the farleys rusk in the supermarket and felt a pang of nostagia. Both me and my sister loved these little biscuits not just as babies but when we were young children. All my close family had said to me why dont you get her some rusks and so I bought a packet and put them in the cupboard for a while and forgot about them.

When she was about 9 months old she was a bit grizzly one day and I thought she may be hungry so I got a rusk out and decided to mix it up in a bit of milk to see what she would make of it. That is one of the benefits of rusks as baby can either eat them as a biscuit or have it as like a form of porridge so if you are a bit underconfident about giving your baby a biscuit you can try them mushed up first.

I was just about to give my daughter a spoonful of the rusk mixture when, nostalgia wafting again, I decided to try the mixture . I was really shocked. To say it was sweet was an understatement and the really suprising thing was I had bought the reduced sugar rusks because I was concerned about the normal rusks sugar content. And I mean they were really sweet, sickeningly so. I couldnt give it to my daughter, it just didnt feel right and whilst the packaging will tell you about all the added vitamins they contain it felt akin to just pouring sugar down her neck. Goodness only knows how sweet the normal rusks taste.

Now I know kids will eat sweet things and in moderation I dont think thats a problem but when theyre babies I just think its so important to limit sweet, sugary things in the hope that baby will develop a palate that is receptive to healthier alternatives.

So my advice is give rusks a miss when you have little babies and yes when your children are older a biscuit is never going to harm them but no matter how you market it rusks are a sweet sugary biscuit so at the moment they're not for me or my babe.

Summary: questionable nutritional value