Protect Your Baby from Botulism, Choking Hazards, or Any Unsafe Food, Make Homemade Baby Food

Have you read recent news reports about Plum Organics of Emeryville, California, recalling some of its apple and carrot portable pouch baby foods, because of concerns of possible contamination by botulism? Are you ever worried about the food your baby is eating? While such incidents as the current one involving Plum Organics may be rare, and while it is likely your baby will never get sick from the baby food he eats, why not be sure your baby's food is safe from botulism or anything else harmful--why not make your baby's food? It really isn't hard. After all, this isn't the first time baby food has been recalled over concern for safety. In 2007 Gerber recalled packages of its rice and organic oatmeal cereals, because of a concern the clumping of the cereal could cause a choking hazard.

The baby food that might be contaminated with botulism was sold at Toys-R-Us and Babies-R-Us stores. The product that was recalled was sold in 4.22 ounce pouches. It has a best sold date of May 21, 2010. The UPC Code is 890180001221. The product is being recalled because the company is concerned the food may be contaminated with Clostridium botulinum, which often causes botulism which is serious and can be fatal. No illnesses have been reported in connection with the food.

If are worried about botulism or choking hazard and your baby's safety and you really want to ensure that your baby's food is safe, it is not hard to make enough that can last for days or weeks, maybe months, as Rebecca Livermore demonstrated in her article, How to Make Homemade Baby Food, on www.associatedcontent.com

The first step is to buy fresh fruits and vegetables. You might consider apples, pears, and bananas. For vegetables, consider green beans, carrots, and peas. The safest thing to do is buy organic food, but if you choose not to do that, make certain you watch each item well to wash off any pesticides.

The next thing to do is to peel and steam the vegetables until they are soft. You do not need to cook bananas. After that you should puree the fruit or vegetable in a blender until it is the consistency you want. To be certain everything is of the right consistency and blends adequately, you might want to add water.

After you have done these things, put your homemade, safe baby food into ice cubes. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze. After your homemade baby food is frozen, remove the frozen cubes from the trays and place in either plastic containers or plastic bags.

When you are ready to feed your baby, remove as many of the cubes as you think he will eat and defrost in a microwave to a comfortable temperature. That should probably take less than 30 seconds. Test the temperature to make certain it is not too hot. If you do not have a microwave you can defrost outside of your refrigerator, if you are going to serve within an hour, or inside your refrigerator.

The age of your baby can affect how you prepare the food, as Cloe Xanthis reported in her article, Feeding Baby Solids: How To Make Homemade Baby Food on www.associatedcontent.com. For example, if your baby is just starting to eat solid foods, you would not want to add any seasoning, but if your baby is older, you might add nutmeg or cinnamon to sweet potatoes. At any age, you would not add salt or sugar! Another example of a difference, if your baby is just starting out on solid foods, you would not want the food to be like soup, but you would not need to blend as much for an older baby.

You will need to cook almost everything your baby eats--except for a few things like bananas, mango, papaya, and avocado. Don't use canned foods, as they may have too much salt or other things that are not good for your baby. Stay with fresh items.

Some other foods that might be good for your baby are: asparagus; artichokes; white potatoes; apples, avocado; peaches; pears; blueberries; and apricots.

If you've always wanted to do whatever you can to protect your baby from anything that can harm him, including botulism, choking hazards, and other negative side effects from food, why not make your own homemade baby food?

Citations: Baby food recalled, may be tainted with botulism no author, Yahoo.com

Gerber Recall - Choking Hazard Prompts Baby Food Recall, no author listed, Huliq.com How to Make Homemade Baby Food Rebecca, Livermore, Associatedcontent.comFeeding Baby Solids: How To Make Homemade Baby Food Cloe Xanthis, Associatedcontent.com