Physicians and scientists at the American Council on Science and Health reported today that some much-touted concerns about the safety of commercial baby food are, in fact, unwarranted.
In a newly released booklet, Feeding Baby Safely, the ACSH panel urged parents to forgo unfounded fears and to focus instead on scientifically based practices that ensure the safe feeding of babies and toddlers. The ACSH scientists noted that "either commercial or homemade baby foods can be appropriate and healthful for the infant" and that the "safety and nutritional value [of baby food] depend to a large extent on parents' following safe preparation and handling guidelines."
One common and serious threat to babies' health is bacterial contamination. Because of this danger, the proper handling of food is of particular importance. As Feeding Baby Safely points out, making sure that commercial baby foods remain safe is relatively simple; but the safe preparation of homemade baby foods can take considerable time, knowledge, and effort. Home preparation also carries a greater risk of introducing disease-causing bacteria.
Furthermore, even when properly prepared, homemade baby foods offer no special advantages in terms of nutrition or safety. The retention of nutrients in commercial baby foods is comparable to that in homemade baby foods prepared to best preserve the foods' nutrients. Commercial baby food processors can also take precautions not available to home cooks, such as setting standards for pesticide residues stricter than those of the federal government and conducting tests to determine nitrate levels in the foodstuffs to be processed.
According to ACSH President Dr. Elizabeth Whelan, "Levels of pesticide residues in baby food products are well below federally mandated guidelines and at those low levels, they're highly unlikely to be dangerous to anyone. The foods parents buy to prepare at home cannot be guaranteed to have lower levels of such compounds."
This timely new ACSH booklet assures parents that their infants can be fed well and fed safely with either commercially prepared or homemade baby foods. Feeding Baby Safely deals clearly and concisely with such topics as how to guard against food poisoning, how to decide which type of milk or formula to feed, how to identify sources of allergic reaction, and even how to prevent "juice abuse."