If, earlier, semolina porridge was considered a mandatory first complementary foods, today many parents prefer to start complementary foods with puree. Stores sell many jars of puree of different compositions. They can be vegetable, fruit, meat and fish.
Usually start with vegetable compositions, and then enter cereals and children’s cookies into the diet. If mashed potatoes are the first additional meals, then you need to choose it especially carefully. General purchase rules are fair for all types of puree.
Be sure to select the composition in accordance with the age of the child. If it is written on the jar that it is for 7 months, then at 5 or 6 to give the baby food. Manufacturers, making baby food, take into account the features of a particular age of this age. They relate not only to the composition, but also the degree of crushing the product. For children of 4-6 months, homogenized nutrition is created, it is brought to a puree state to 7-9, and for children older than 9 months, mashed potatoes are made large.
For obvious reasons, you can not buy baby food in minimarkets or stalls. Unfamiliar pharmacies also do not fall into the trust zone. But even when buying in a large supermarket, you need to pay attention to the composition. There should be no dyes, taste amplifiers, preservatives. Ideal mashed potatoes do not even contain salt and sugar, although both can be added to baby food.
A short shelf life is one of the quality indicators. The composition should not be stored for more than 2 years in a closed state. If milk is added to it, then the shelf life cannot be more than a year. The manufacturer must indicate the shelf life of the product after opening. In a qualitative version, it does not exceed 3 days.
It is worth paying attention to additional markings on jars in which children’s puree is located. For example, on some of them you can see the inscription «Terminated». This means that the product was subjected to severe heating during processing. There is no harm from this, but a large share of vitamins in it can not be counted.
Mashed potatoes can be produced in glass, tin cans and cardboard boxes. It is best to purchase glass jars with a product: the packaging does not contain additional impurities and is safe. How an alternative can be considered cardboard options. But tin jars are not the best choice, since the metal is quickly oxidized and can reward power with excess substances.
These are only the main subtleties of choosing children’s puree.