BBC Panarama pouch documentary

I use Ella’s kitchen pouches for my baby as well as fresh veg blended, but now the documentary has put me off 😬 I used the pouches as it said it was just 80% veg and 20% water and that’s it but surely they can’t say that and it actually isn’t? I’m not judging anyone who uses pouches or doesn’t use pouches tbh, sometimes it’s easy for on the go snacks for babies x

I make my own purées and meals using the Ella’s kitchen weaning book. That way I know exactly what’s going in them x

What’s this about?? I haven’t seen it or heard of it! Have never used pouches anyway as I make everything fresh but I’m curious to know what this is about 🧐

@Dana https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/apr/28/leading-baby-food-brands-making-high-sugar-meals-study-finds

@Daizee it is just veg & water, there is no additives or preservatives, however it’s the way they’re processed that make them not great for babies. When you break down fruit & veg it releases all the sugars so they’re higher concentrations of sugar (albeit it naturally) and all the vitamins and minerals are drawn out when they’re processed for packing, so you’re essentially just feeding sugar, water and the tiniest bit of fibre, which when babies need vitamin rich food, it’s not great to be filling them up on stuff that has actual no substance! X

Ahh right I get you. I don’t do it all the time of course I just do it when we’re going out most of the time x

It's completely put me off fruit pouches, but I'll still use the vegetable ones. I definitely check the back to see how many grams of sugar are in it, and I'm ignoring the age recommendation on them. Generally avoiding the "super smooth" ones and going for the ones marketed for older babies which have more lumps and texture On a side note though, pouches are really handy for making quick pancakes, especially if it's one they're not particularly keen on. e.g. the other day I tried my son with some lentil curry pouch and he didn't like it, but then i made it into a pancake and he ate it up. Squirt a bit of the pouch into a bowl, add flour, then a splash of milk if it needs it. I don't use measurements just go by how it looks, then spoon it onto a preheated pan, flip, and voila. A perfect weaning food pancake

I’ve never given pouches because I’d heard about the sugar content of them due to the process the ingredients go through. I also can’t get my head around the fact that most don’t need to be stored in the fridge 🤣 doesn’t make sense to me. I have been given a few which will be used for emergencies xx

I have used them sometimes, but mostly make our own food. I have a few I'll use up but totally avoiding any fruit ones now. Will just get savoury ones if we are going out. I'm going to start blending our own dinner for him this week so I don't have to cook extra stuff. Breakfast I've been doing overnight oats/chia seeds/wheatabix/quinoa porridge that's been batch cooked so I don't have to prep stuff in the morning.