Commercial Infant Foods: Content and Composition

Abstract

The relative contribution of strained foods to total dietary caloric distribution is important when assessing the appropriateness of a particular food choice. Because protein intakes by most infants in the United States are generous, the high carbohydrate content of the typical strained food can be helpful in adjusting the distribution of calories. The fat content of most strained foods is low and those foods higher in fat are also comparatively high in protein content. Therefore it is difficult to find strained foods to contribute greater amounts of dietary fat without also increasing the percentage of calories in the form of protein. For this reason it is not possible to achieve a satisfactory distribution of calories in the diet of an infant fed skim milk. With the exception of home-prepared fruits with low sugar content, baby food prepared in the home will probably have a higher caloric density than commercial products. Care should be taken not to overfeed infants when feeding home-prepared baby foods. The appropriateness of United States baby foods for use in developing countries and a physiological rationale for age of introduction of strained foods were discussed. A basic need is to ensure that the strained foods of the future are formulated with emphasis given to nutritional need and least cost, as well as to mother's taste and to the manufacturer's profit.