Tips for food preparation and safety

Take a look through the handy tips below to make the preparation of your baby's food as healthy, hygienic and safe as possible.

Tips for food preparation

• Before steaming and puréeing fruit, peel, remove the seeds and any bits that may choke the baby and cut up into fairly small pieces. Do the same for vegetables.

• Give your baby meat, cooked any way you like and then puréed. Don't forget fish, chicken and chicken livers, which are cheap, quick and easy to prepare. Thin down the meat with vegetable water or soup.

• Always choose the freshest looking vegetables (not wrinkled or dull-looking ones), and cook them as soon as possible.

• Handle fruit and vegetables gently. Don't cut them until you have to and don't crush and bruise them as this destroys any vitamin C present.

• Cook vegetables and fruit in as little water as possible, with a tightly fitting lid, so that they are cooked by steaming rather than by boiling; this helps to retain the vitamins.

• Cook soft-skinned fruit and vegetables in their skins because this helps to retain the vitamins and it will also give your child fibre. You may have to remove the skin if it's tough and therefore likely to choke the baby.

• Use cast-iron cooking pots. A little iron is absorbed into the food and so helps to keep your child's iron supplies topped up.

• Always make the food a suitable consistency for your baby's age. For example, a thick milk for your six-month-old baby; a thicker cream for your seven-month-old baby and a slightly chunky mash for a nine month old.

• Don't use copper pans for green leafy vegetables as copper breaks down vitamin C.

• Don't cook tinned foods for too long - you will destroy the vitamins.

• Don't add salt or sugar to your child's food; the immature kidneys can't handle a heavy salt load and you will be doing your child a favour if you don't encourage a sweet tooth.

• Avoid using too many saturated fats in your cooking - use safflower or corn oil instead.

• Don't prepare vegetables or soak them in water a long time before you cook them or you will destroy the vitamins.

• If making food in advance, cover it and leave to cool slightly. Put it into the refrigerator as this will discourage bacteria from growing.

Dr Miriam Stoppard

New Babycare
Copyright © 2009 Dorling Kindersley
Text copyright © 2009 Miriam Stoppard

Posted 30.06.2010

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