I used to be a skeptic on this, I didn’t really think there was a difference for the baby, but, there was a study by the EPA in 2005 that changed my mind. They we’re able to find traces of pesticides usually organophosphate pesticides, in babies urine, who were eating traditional baby foods. When those babies switched to organic baby foods, those traces of pesticides disappeared.
So I got to think, sometimes if you can do the organic, it might be the right thing to do. Why is that? Well, doctors and parents are growing increasingly concerned about infants exposure to some of the chemicals we use in commercial farming. Particularly in organophosphate pesticides, antibiotics, and hormones. Infants, because they’re developing rapidly, are more susceptible than adults, and even older children to the damage these chemicals can do. Also, when you make baby food, you take large quantities of fruits, vegetables, meats, dairy, poultry, whatever, and often concentrate them, and that allows the chemicals to concentrate as well. Now, you don’t necessarily have to get all of your baby food organic, there are some things that are a little more likely to carry contaminants than others. So if you’re going to prioritize, I would look a things like, dairy, meat, eggs, think about, apples, strawberries, raspberries, celery, these are all things that are more likely to carry some of the contaminants that we reviewed, and if you go on the web, you can find another more comprehensive list. Now there are some things that are a lot less likely to be contaminated, amongst some of them are favorite things, bananas, avocados, asparagus, some of the tropical fruits, like mangoes, and papaya, and pineapple. These are fruits that are not as likely to be grown with pesticides or other chemicals, and in general, you can feel pretty good about buying commercial, non-organic baby foods, if this is what you’re buying. To summarize, organic baby foods present a much lower risk of toxins, such as organophosphate pesticides, antibiotics, or hormones to babies. Babies may be susceptible to damage for those chemicals, so, when you can find a good alternative to commercial baby foods, try and use that.