Feeding your child organic baby food can limit your child’s exposure to potentially harmful toxins and preservatives in foods. Many parents will agree that feeding their infant organic baby food is not only healthier, but it also teaches the child, from a very early stage, that healthful nutrition is of the utmost importance. Compared to adults, the immune systems, hormonal systems, and central nervous systems of babies and children are more vulnerable due to their immaturity. Consequently, babies and young children may be more susceptible to the pesticide residues potentially found in non-organic produce. Also significant is the fact that babies consume more food per pound of body weight than adults in the beginning stages of their life cycles.

What to Buy?
In order to limit an infant’s exposure to harmful pesticides and synthetic ingredients, organic baby food should be bought as much as possible. There exists a wide variety of organic food products on the market to accommodate the different stages in a child’s life. A baby can start out with organic carrots, peas, and sweet potatoes for vegetables, and organic bananas and apples for fruit. Once the child is ready to move on to solid food, certain items, such as dairy, eggs, meat, poultry, apples, peppers, cherries, celery, grapes, peaches, pears, potatoes, raspberries, spinach and strawberries should be purchased organic. If the organic baby food on the supermarket shelves does not appeal to you, you can make your own by simply cooking organic produce and blending it into puree.

Understanding Labels
Choosing to use organic baby food is the easy part; deciphering food labels in the supermarket is another matter. The USDA seal is not found on all organic foods as it is not mandatory. However, the item must be at least 95% organic in order to bear the certified organic stickers. If the packaging claims it is 100% organic, then the item must contain only organically produced ingredients. If it is simply labeled organic, then 95% of the ingredients are considered organic, and the item cannot contain sulfites. If the product label states that it is made with organic ingredients, the product must contain ingredients that are at least 70% organic, and the label is required to identify the organic ingredients when a percentage is shown.