Baby food: a good option for the baby? 2026

What we commonly call baby food, the little jars sold in hypermarkets and pharmacies, have been prepared following strict quality controls that guarantee that the baby is well fed.

Around six months, milk stops meeting all the nutritional needs of children and new foods must be progressively introduced into their diet. The complementary feeding stage begins (or the daily washing stage, as parents know), in which babies have to get used to new flavors and textures and baby food helps them in this process.

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It is best to prepare them at home (depending on the time we have), varying the degree of grinding of the food depending on the baby's progress. But the little jars are a good occasional option for outings or trips.

Some pediatricians advise giving children gluten-free fruit and cereals from the age of four months (that is the reason for making “starter” baby food), but in general it is recommended to start complementary feeding at six months, the age at which they can begin to eat fruits and vegetables, cereals with gluten (progressively) and meat mixed with vegetables. For fish it is better to wait until eight months. The regulations require manufacturers to indicate the minimum age for which a product is indicated.

Know how to buy

Industrial baby food is sold in supermarkets and pharmacies and, many times, the number of different brands and varieties can confuse parents. A series of recommendations will help us choose the right jar for our child:

How to give them to them

• Normally, jars of fruit are eaten at room temperature, while jars of vegetables, meat and fish are best served warm. It is best to heat them for ten minutes in a bain-marie or in a bottle warmer (many give the option of heating baby food). If the only option is the microwave, you have to be careful, since these devices heat the food unevenly and the baby can burn itself. When you take out the jar, you have to stir the contents well and try it first (many brands also recommend stirring the puree before putting it in the microwave).
• Some parents find baby food tasteless and add salt or sugar to their taste. This is a mistake, because children get used to strong flavors that can make them reject other foods. In addition, excess salt can cause kidney problems (due to sodium) and sugar contributes to the development of cavities.
• If we are going on a trip and we intend to feed the child with baby food, it is better to play it safe and buy puree of a certain brand and flavor that we already know he likes or at least give it to him to try a couple of days before. Otherwise, we risk rejecting food and going without food.

Conservation

Once opened, most baby food jars can be kept in the refrigerator for 24 hours, but especially in summer, some specialists advise throwing them away on the same day if the baby has not drunk the whole thing.

Advisor: Ramón Tormo, head of the Pediatric Gastroenterology unit at the Quirón Hospital in Barcelona.