"baby food" news and stories

Each Thursday, we round up a selection of scrumptious links from our friends over at YumSugar. Here's what they've got cooking this week:

• Tyler's ultimate baby food, for the discerning toddler.
• Track the development of a Joe, a cup of Joe, to be exact.
• Skip the brown-bag PB & J for a muffuletta or nine other delectable sandwich options.
• Spring may be on its way out, but lamb is still here, as evidenced by these delicious lamb chops with mint-pistachio pesto.
• A rose by any other name -- test your berry brain skills.
• If you couldn't get into esteemed Eton College, the next best thing is The Eton Mess -- a strawberry dessert.

Plum Organics has recalled two flavors of baby food on fears of possible botulism poisoning.

The baby-food company recalled 4.22-ounce pouches of its apple- and carrot-flavored baby foods with a "best by May 21, 2010" date and a UPC of 890180001221, the New York Daily News reports.

The baby food recall is for Plum Organics sold in Toys "R" Us and Babies "R" Us stores. Botulism is a muscle-paralyzing disease whose symptoms begin with 6 to 10 hours of ingesting the toxin.

For more on recalls, visit Slashfood's main page, and click food poisoning information for more on the subject.

[Via New York Daily News]

Last week, ABC News revealed in an article that a baby formula from China was made illegal in the U.S. after the death of a Chinese infant was traced to its food. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration officials believe there is reason to be concerned that some formula from China may have slipped into markets serving Chinese consumers in the United States even though its sales are prohibited.

This concern is based on an FDA probe in 2004 that found this Chinese formula on the shelf of Chinese grocery shops. Do you remember that, in 2007, deaths and illnesses of hundreds of cats and dogs were linked to pet food ingredients from China? FDA officials believe that the Chinese baby formula may be tainted with melamine, the same ingredient found in that pet food. The FDA relieves concerned parents by affirming that U.S.-approved baby formula is safe.

When I first saw this device on Inventor Spot, I thought it was a bit redundant. At first glance it seemed like it was just a food processor dressed up in baby clothes. Then I read a bit more and saw that the Beaba Babycook actually cooks the food as well as pureeing it.

I know you can make baby food without the extra machinery, and it's just one more thing on the counter, but it could be a real help for parents who want to make their own baby food and don't already have a food processor or blender. I don't have kids, but I gather that it can take a lot of time to make all of your baby's meals from scratch. Anything that saves time and uses fewer dishes seems like it would be a helpful invention.

What do you think: is the Beaba Babycook a helping hand or useless clutter?

There's no doubt that parents are more and more feeding their babies organic foods. The question now isn't whether or not the food should be organic, but how that organic food is packaged -- glass jars, directly from the vegetable bin, or frozen. With no kids of my own, and basically no knowledge of this part of the kitchen, I'm looking at Cookie Magazine for advice. Cookie Magazine writers Deirdre Dolan and Alexandra Zissou say that while jarred foods are probably the most convenient, they're not the most nutritious because the foods are heavily cooked and many have preservatives to prolong shelf life. They taste tested organic baby foods on their own kids and highlighted these seven, most frozen:

• Bobo Baby
• Mom Made Scoops
• Taste Bud
• Bohemian Baby
• Plum Organics
• Happy Baby
• Baby Cubes