BACKGROUND In Baby-Led Weaning (BLW), infants are offered 'finger' foods from the start of the complementary feeding period instead of being spoon-fed. Healthcare professionals have expressed concerns about adequacy of iron and energy intake, and about choking, for infants following Baby-Led Weaning. METHODS We developed a modified version of BLW, Baby-Led Introduction to SolidS (BLISS), to a...

Objective: The impact of different weaning methods on food preferences and body mass index (BMI) in early childhood is not known. Here, we examine if weaning methoddbaby-led weaning versus traditional spoon feedingdinfluences food preferences and health-related outcomes. Design, setting and participants: Parents (n1⁄4155) recruited through the Nottingham Toddler laboratory and relevant internet...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW Infants are traditionally introduced to solid foods using spoon-feeding of specially prepared infant foods. RECENT FINDINGS However, over the last 10-15 years, an alternative approach termed 'baby-led weaning' has grown in popularity. This approach involves allowing infants to self-feed family foods, encouraging the infant to set the pace and intake of the meal. Proponents o...

Background: Commercially produced infant food has a different taste profile and nutritional content to homemade baby food and its consumption is now very widespread. This change in early food experience may lead to a reduced dietary variety and a decreased microbial load exposure. Objective: The purpose of this study was to gain insight into parental perceptions of complementary feeding, specif...

A method based on solid phase extraction and derivatization with acetic anhydride followed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry was validated for the determination of bisphenol A (BPA) in baby foods. The average method detection limit (MDL) was 0.18 ng/g for a 5 g sample. Method repeatability was demonstrated with the replicate analyses of various different types of baby foods; relative stan...

Purified menhaden oil (PMO) was characterized and microencapsulated. Baby foods containing PMO and microencapsulated purified menhaden oil (MPMO) were evaluated and compared. PMO had higher total omega-3, total saturated, total monounsaturated, DHA, and EPA contents than MPMO. Emulsion containing PMO (EPMO) exhibited viscoelastic characteristic and droplet size of EPMO was around 2e10 mm. The D...

Furan is naturally occurring at low levels in many foods and drinks.1 Furan consumption is of concern because it has been classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) as possibly carcinogenic to humans, based on studies with laboratory animals. The U.S. FDA has recently published a report on the occurrence of furan in a large number of thermally processed foods, especial...