Handmade Baby Food vs. Commercially Produced, Store Bought
Baby Food
Food from your baby food catering business will be
differentiated from commercial, factory produced baby food
in the following ways:
People & Production
Your baby food is made-by-hand by individuals who are
committed to the quality of the baby food. At least one
certified chef is on duty at all times supervising the
process and ensuring that ingredient and cooking standards
are met. The food is made in a state-of-the-art commercial
kitchen like the ones used by top chefs.
Commercial baby food is produced in mass in a factory or
co-packing facility. More often than not, baby food is not
the only food product produced in the facility. Typically
baby food is made by workers that do not have culinary
training and do not have a passion or commitment to high
quality baby food.
Hand Selection of Ingredients
Each and every ingredient in your baby food, down to the
smallest berry, is hand selected to ensure that it is of
the highest quality and to make sure that it is completely
ripe.
Commercial baby food is made from massive deliveries of
bulk produce that arrive on loading docks. Food quickly
passes by workers on conveyer belts—there is little
time for manual inspection.
Source & Quality
The majority of the ingredients in your baby food are
locally grown. They are picked only when fully ripe and go
from the field to our kitchen within a matter of days,
sometimes hours.
Produce used to make commercial baby food comes from
multiple sources and multiple countries. It is often
picked before fully ripened, to withstand the long
transport from the field to the factory. Sometimes produce
becomes over-ripe or rotten as it sits on trucks, in
warehouses, or on loading docks for days or weeks.
Organic
You use only 100% organic ingredients that are never stored
near other non-organic ingredients or produced alongside
non-organic foods.
Even foods that are made with organic ingredients can be
contaminated with pesticides when they are transported or
stored with or near non-organic ingredients or produced in
a facility that also makes non-organic food products.
Commercial baby food is often made in large factories or by
co-packers that also produce non-organic foods.
Washing
All of produce used in the production of your baby food is
individually washed or scrubbed by hand.
In commercial baby food factories, produce is either rinsed
as it passes under a sprayer on a conveyer belt or it may
be allowed to sit in a vat of water to be cleaned. Often
the process involves cleaning agents or chemicals.
Preparation
All the produce used in the production of your baby food is
peeled, cored, or diced by hand. This provides a second
inspection of the ingredient before cooking.
Produce used to make commercial baby food is peeled,
processed, and cut by machines in large batches. Seeds,
stems, rotten spots, etc. can easily go over looked and may
be included in the final product.
Cooking
The majority of your baby food made using produce that has
been gently steamed to ensure that the vitamins and
nutrients are not "cooked out" of the food. This process
also helps the food to retain its natural color. Some
foods are baked or roasted whole to ensure that the natural
juices are retained.
Commercial baby food is boiled in large vats or cooked
quickly in giant, super heated ovens. Both processes are
designed to cook the food as quickly as possible so large
amounts can be produced at once. The food must be cooked
at high enough temperatures to be sterilized in order for
it to sit in a warehouse or on a store shelf for long
periods of time. Essential nutrients and natural colors
are lost. Vitamins and color must be added back into the
food. This is accomplished using either synthetic
materials or fruit/vegetable concentrates or dyes. Some
food dyes are made using ground insects.
Processing
Your baby food is pureed in small batches which are weighed
and measured by hand. Each batch is checked and rechecked
to ensure a smooth or creamy texture.
Commercial baby food is ground in large, industrial vats.
Sometimes tons of food is processed at once.
Texture
You add only a small amount of distilled water to your
food—just enough to allow for a smooth puree.
Because we add such a small amount of water, there is no
need to add thickening agents.
Large amounts of water are added to commercial baby food to
"thin it out". This allows the company to get more baby
food out of each pound of produce (water is cheap) thus
increasing company profits while nutritionally cheating
babies. Thickening agents, such as starch, are then added
(starch is cheap too). Thickening agents also "stabilize"
factory-made foods by keeping the complex mixtures of oils,
water, acids, and solids well mixed.
Quality Control
At every point in the cooking and pureeing process the
temperature of the food is checked and rechecked to ensure
that the correct temperature and consistency is being met.
Temperature is monitored during the cooking process to make
certain that vital vitamins and minerals are not "cooked
out", and as food is cooled to avoid pathogen growth.
Most of the production is often monitored by computers
rather than humans.
Packaging
Your baby food is packaged by a person, giving it one final
quality check.
Commercial baby food is packaged by big machines that
squirt food into jars or containers with no one overseeing
the process.
Freshness, No preservatives
Your stores/kitchen/etc.make fresh baby food daily. You
only make enough food to fulfill the needs of for the
current week. Your baby food is sold or delivered to
customers within 24 to 48 hours of being made. There is no
need to add preservatives and no food is wasted.
Commercial baby food is made in mass. Tens of thousands of
"units" of baby food are produced each day. Commercial
baby food can sit in a warehouse or on a store shelf for up
to 2 years. The companies must add chemical or natural
preservatives to keep the food from degrading. Even frozen
baby food in the grocery store can sit in the freezer for
months before it is sold.
----------------------------------------------------
Mischelle (Schelly) Weedman-Davis left her 15-year
high-tech career to become a stay-at-home mom but later
became the founder of Sprouts Baby Food, Inc. She now uses
her talents to support her husband's Seattle law firm, the
Davis Law Group so she can spend more time with her family.
http://www.InjuryTrialLawyer.com . But she remains
committed to infant nutrition and helping others that want
to start their own baby food business.
No comments:
Post a Comment