'Heinz' Is Not Enough (Heinz Baby Food)

Member Name: jusophine

Product:	Heinz Baby Food
Date:	15/04/01 (169 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Ready to eat where ever you are.

Disadvantages: Bland and watery.

UPDATE: 19/04/01.- In this op I have stated that heinz don't produce organic baby food. today I found a new range of organic dry food for babies produced by Heinz. of course to be true to my Dooyoo addiction, and fair to those who have read or will read this op, I purchased some. review to foolow shortly.
Jusophine.

When you think of baby food manufacturers, the name Heinz probably figures high on the list. The company's experience of making baby food is unquestionable. But do we buy the food because of its quality, or because of it's high profile name? This is my opinion of Heinz 'tinned' ready to eat baby food for babies of 4 months plus. But first, a little background garb.

Henry John Heinz began selling produce from his mother garden at the age of 12. By the time he was 25, the Heinz name was well known. Their first product was grated Horseradish, bottled in glass, 'to reveal it's purity'. By 1896, at the age of 52, the 'Pickle King' had become a millionaire and celebrity, famous for his maxims that he used to enthuse his employees; "Heart power is better than horse power", and "Quality is to a product what character is to a man."

By 1900, over 200 Heinz products were being sold wordwide. The company has continued to grow, and today markets over 5,7000 different varieties in over 200 territories and countries, 46,900 emplyees we presume, continue to be enthused by the companies approach to motivating it's work force by treating them well.

Now this is just an outline of the company. I'm not trying to flog it's food for them, just demonstrating the size of the company. Who wouldn't trust their reputation when selecting commercial baby foods for their infants weaning diet.

In the U.K, we have strict regulations about the manufacture and sale of commercial baby foods. Ready to eat baby foods such as Heinz 'Golden Sweetcorn, Vegetables and
Chicken', are prepared by a standard procedure of recipe formulation, preparation, cooking, chopping and retorting at temperatures and conditions which vary with the type of product. Products have to be labelled with instructions about use, the ingredients and nutritional information, other information about additives and especially non-additives, such as salt, artificial flavours, colours, gluten and egg.

Yes yes yes, Heinz conform to all these standards, and they say that; "Since 1869, H J Heinz has been providing families with wholesome, nourishing goodness that is second to none." They provide a range of infant cereals and jarred foods that are fortified and suitable for baby's immature digestive system.

Being able to buy prepared baby food is a life saver sometimes. It's convenient when travelling as you know it won't go off what ever the temperature, as long as the tin or jar remain sealed. Heinz tins of baby food can be bought for as little as 49p, and supermarkets often have a promotion going where if you buy a certain number of tins or jars, you get 1 or 2 free.

I have purchased Heinz baby products for both my children, firstly because of the name, and secondly because of the price. Recently however, I have started making a lot more food for my daughters weaning diet myself. When I have bought commercial baby food, I have tended to go for the more expensive 'Organic' varieties. They look good and taste nice. Heinz cannot offer the same organic range at present.

I now realise that there is more to a product than it's name and competitive price. Heinz canned baby food has a wall paper like texture that turns to liquid when heated. A baby learning to eat solids needs to be fed food of a texture that provides a 'bolus' to stimulate the passage of food to the back of the tongue and subsequant swallow reflex. This food just runs out of the mouth and down my daughters chin.

><br>The food has a dull appearance. These days it is perfectly acceptable for baby food to be of a vibrant colour. Hipp Organic's range includes a bright orange carrot recipe and vivid green with spinach. Apart from their beans and bacon recipe, all the recipes suitable from 4 months are bland in appearance.

Why do Heinz think that baby food should have a mild, bland taste. When I make my own baby food from fresh ingredients, I manage to create plenty of flavour despite the lack of added salt and sugar, so why can't they. You want your baby to make an easy transition from baby food to family food, so why not give them a realistic taste of whats to come. Flavour doesn't have to come at a cost of harming immature kidneys.

So what conclusions have I drawn from my witterings? Well there is a place for Heinz baby food. A place where no other choices exist. One of their 'territories' where there are no competators and no fresh produce to make baby food yourself. Yes their food is relatively cheap, but it's a false economy. Better to go for another brand, or better still, make it yourself. It's about time a company the size of Heinz reviewed it's weaning range and looked around at what it's competators are producing. The Heinz name is no-longer enough.

21/04/01: Updated:
Well I have given Heinz Organic porridge suitable from 4 months ago(well my daughter has kindly abliged, and I can tell you that her face was not such a picture. This is my fault though as I added hot water to the powder as I do with all the other brands of infant breakfast cereal I have used. The only problem as I discovered afterwoulds was that you are mean't to mix it with your babies usual milk. This if fine if you are bottle feeding, but a pain in the neck if you are breast feeding. Who wants to have to sterilize their breast pump just for that, or stand there squeezing their boobs into a bowl at 7.30 in the morning.

A
nyway, the porridge, as Goldie Locks would say, was lumpy, and tasted of nothing. This may be because most infant porridges are incredibly sweet, but then so is breast milk(don't ask how I know). This was more like wall paper paste.

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