Baby Mama Drama with Making Baby Food at Home

Okay, I'm not here to rant or hate on stop and shop. I shop there habitually and personally really like the place as a business, aside from running into half of the people I graduated with every time I enter one around here. BUT... I do have a problem with something they did. Or, published, rather. My mother gets those mini-magazines they make sent to our house. As a food person, I decided to look it over as I ate breakfast one morning this past summer. In it, there was a section on making baby food at home. As part of my Lifespan Nutrition course I took in college, I had to do a project about introducing foods to babies: when to introduce certain foods, how to tell if a baby is hungry, how to tell if a baby is having an allergic reaction to food, when to spoon feed, etc, etc. So, I was interested and dove in to the article. It was written by an R.D. [Registered Dietician], and I have to say... as a nutrition major... I was a little unimpressed. She mentioned all the wonderful things about what to feed a baby and how to make baby food at home, but she missed the vital part about the dangers of certain vegetables.

Some vegetables contain high levels of nitrates. Nitrates are naturally occuring compounds that are found in the soil, and also in virtually every vegetable known to man. Adults have acids in their stomachs that fight nitrates converting into the harmful substance nitrites. The conversion is what leads to nitrate poisoning. Food sources that have higher levels of nitrates are carrots, broccoli, spinach, cabbage, and other root or leafy vegetables. Granted, nitrate poisoning is pretty rare, it is still something that most mothers (and fathers) make themselves aware of, and with good reason. Freak accidents happen more frequently than people like to admit. Although the poisoning is rare, it is not unheard of- and I thought it odd that a registered dietician would not make mention of it when they had spoke of other dangers when making baby food at home.

Maybe I am just being a tad too tenacious... but when it comes to babies and their parents, I feel it is never too much to be too informed.

"I don't know what I'm eating!"