Notes from Judy about our purees
The baby meals have 80-110k calories per 100g of food which is what the World Health Organisation recommends for weaning babies. We have included in each baby meal a food which is a good source of iron because your baby’s iron stores will have been depleted by the age of 4- 6 months. High iron foods from the beginning of weaning are recommended for all babies. The high iron foods we chose are lentils and chickpeas and in each meal they are combined with potato and vegetables. There are 2 advantages when lentils and chickpeas are combined with potato or sweet potato: 1. The vitamin C in the potatoes helps the iron in the lentils and chickpeas to be absorbed. 2. The proteins from the lentils and chickpeas combined with the protein in the potato provides first class protein that is found in milk, meat and fish. The meals all have a good balance in combining vegetables along with the high iron foods and starchy foods. The starchy foods provide B vitamins and fibre and the vegetables provide vitamins A & C, fibre and antioxidants.
Notes from Judy about our meals
Iron remains a very important nutrient for toddlers as about 1 in 8 toddlers develop iron deficiency through not eating a balanced diet. Lack of iron slows down growth and development. We have included a high iron food in each of the toddler meals. Some contain meat or salmon which provide haem iron – a form of iron that is very easily absorbed. The other meals contain lentils in combination with potato or pasta which together provides both iron and a combination of proteins to give first class protein. These meals also have plenty of vitamin C to increase the absorption of the non-haem iron in the lentils. These meals are well balanced containing vegetables as well.