My little one will soon be six months old so it's time to start thinking about starting her on solids. We received a Baby Bullet as a gift. I thought all I needed to do was go out and buy plastic ice cube trays for freezing food and I would be all set.
You can buy ice cube trays that are BPA free, but is that good enough? When I was looking into plastic vs. glass bottles, I read that even BPA free plastic bottles can still have some chemicals that leach into the milk/formula.
What IS the Baby Bullet made of? Is it safe for baby food prep? What about silicone? Is silicone safe for babies? So many questions.
Alicia from The Soft Landing contacted Baby Bullet and asked:
"What Type of Plastic is the BPA-free Baby Bullet Made From?"
Response: "The Baby Bullet food contact plastic (blending cups, storage cups and Batch Bowl) is made of BPA-fee AS (Acrylonitrile Styrene). Other parts of the unit are made from ABS (Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene) and PP (Polypropylene), and the Batch Tray is made of silicone. Only the motor housing is made of PC (Polycarbonate) which is not a food contact item). All materials above are BPA-free except but the PC (Polycarbonate) Motor Housing."(Source: The Soft Landing)
I didn't find anything saying that Acrylonitrile Styrene will seriously harm you, but I did read that research on risks associated with AS is ongoing. As I mentioned above, most plastics release chemicals so I simply don't trust that any plastic is safe.
I found an interesting article on silicone. You can read it on the Safbaby website. It sounds like silicone is a safer alternative than plastic, but how safe is it? Am I just thinking too much about this? I feel like after all my googling I don't really have a solid answer.
Glass is still the most eco friendly option. It is reusable, recyclable and made from natural raw materials. Yes, it is more expensive than plastic. I am sure it is more difficult to get frozen food out of a glass container as well. My mom suggested small glass canning jars as an alternative to plastic ice cube trays which I think is a great idea. It's almost important to make sure glass containers are freezer safe.
I would love to hear your thoughts on this or if you have read any good articles on plastic, silicone or glass food storage. What do you use for your baby food storage?
Welcome to the world of making baby food;) My quick disclaimer-I was in your place 4 years ago when I started weaning my 2nd daughter. I couldn't understand why there were so many different plastic options and there is not enough research on silicone for me to be comfortable SOOO I started Wean Green;) We manufacture glass food containers and the primary reason I started the company was because I wanted them for my own babies, ha! So I have a few pointers:
ReplyDelete- You are so right-if you use glass make sure it is freezer safe-the word to look for is 'tempered'. If it is not the glass will actually microscopically chip off into babies food! Also-do NOT reheat in glass that isn't tempered, trust us;)
- If you are using a plastic, try to look for a pp plastic (#5). Some of the chemicals to watch out for are BPA, PVC's, & Phthalates.
- you don't need a fancy machine to blend the food;) Although we LOVE that there are so many companies marketing little blenders and steamers to children, most of them are plastic. A tempered glass blender does the trick and it has a longer shelf life in your kitchen.
A few quick selling points on why I love glass:
- it is non-porous (so it won't hold onto foods and stain-think tomato sauce)
- the food will actually just fall right out of glass after it thaws a wee bit (because glass is non-porous and doesn't hold onto anything;)
- there is not a single harmful ingredient in glass- it is made out of sand!
- Glass is infinitely recyclable...yes infinitely!!
- the cost difference is actually not that much! Glass is more durable than the plastic so the chances of having to replace are less so in the end you may actually SAVE a few bucks by purchasing glass.
I hope this helps! I don't want to get infomercially on you, just hoping to help make it easier:)
Best of luck!
Melissa
Wean Green CEO