Hooking children on whitefish

While baby-food manufactures in North America are just beginning to realize the importance of regularly including seafood in young children’s diets, the market for fish-flavored baby food in Europe and Asia is well established, but there’s still room for growth.

While it’s suggested that parents seek pediatricians’ advice prior to introducing seafood, especially shellfish, to the diets of infants aged 10 to 12 months, whitefish — specifically cod haddock, flounder and sole — are considered among the safest species to start with, as they are easier to digest and contain the lowest levels of allergens.

In Europe and Asia, manufacturers Heinz Baby and Hero Baby España lead the baby-food sector.

“We made a strategic decision to launch fish-flavored baby food because fish is one of the cornerstones of a baby’s complete, nutritional, varied and balanced diet,” said Alfonso Corbalán Garcia, product manager for Hero Baby España, in an e-mail to SeafoodSource. “We work with soft whitefish such as whiting, hake, sole or monkfish with a taste especially adapted to infants. Our hake recipe is the most popular and has the highest sales by volume.”

Meanwhile, Heinz produces Baby Fish Puree recipes for infants aged eight to 10 months, as well as Fish & Vegetable Cereal, Salmon & Carrot Cereal and Salmon & Tomato Puree for the Chinese market.

The fish-in-baby-food debate resurfaced in the United States late last month when University of Illinois food-science professor Susan Brewer recommended that children eat fish regularly.

She cited two important reasons for including seafood in young children’s diets: “First, babies need a lot of the omega-3 fatty acids found in fish for brain, nerve and eye development, and when they switch from breast milk or formula to solid food, most of them don't get nearly enough. Second, children’s food preferences are largely developed by the time they’re five, so I urge parents to help their kids develop a taste for seafood early.”

Brewer suggested that parents experiment with pink and red salmon: “When salmon swim upstream to spawn, their flesh begins to get very soft. At that point, the meat is not firm enough for fillets, but it’s perfect for baby food.”