Assessment of quality and safety aspects of homemade and commercial baby foods

Dietary Guidelines in some countries recommend avoiding commercially processed baby food, while others encourage the consultation of ingredients and nutritional information. Therefore, the objective of this study was to systematically analyze different baby foods obtained from commercial market and homemade produced, in order to verify whether comercial products have low nutritional and unsafety attributes. The samples were analyzed for chemical composition, physicochemical aspects, texture, microbiological and mycotoxin contami-nation, and pesticide residues. Results showed that, in general, commercial samples have a higher energy density and better ratio of macronutrients. The sodium, pH, and texture of both products were in accordance with the recommendations. None of the baby foods evaluated were contaminated with yeast and molds, total coliforms, or Escherichia coli; however, Salmonella sp. was confirmed in one homemade sample. Pesticide residues were detected in all analyzed baby food samples; however, at lower levels than the limit of quantification. Ochratoxin A was detected in one homemade baby food sample (5.76 mu g /kg). Considering the samples evaluated, com-mercial baby food samples appeared to be safer in relation to microbiological, pesticide residue standards, and mycotoxin contamination. Therefore, it could be concluded that the quality of commercial and homemade baby foods still needs to be improved, as well as more studies related to a critical analyses of both types of processes used.

Automated summary

This study systematically analyzed commercial and homemade baby foods and found that commercial products generally had better nutritional attributes and were safer in terms of microbiological, pesticide residue standards, and mycotoxin contamination. However, both types of baby foods need improvement.