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Do your kid’s squeezey food packets have mold in them?

Do your kid’s squeezey food packets have mold in them?




What kid doesn’t love a squeezey packet. My 5 year old still asks for them. And I have to remind her that those are for little children (she is a big girl after all). When I first saw those as a new mom, I thought, oh wow, how fun. And of course I also thought, oh wow, how wasteful. Sometimes I am my own pain in the you know what. The reality of being me is that anytime I evaluate something I would like to add into my life, I need to know how “wasteful” it is and how much damage I will be doing to myself, my family or the earth. My goal is to leave this place I call home (planet Earth) better off when I leave than when I came here.

And I am not a saint, it is just part of my DNA to question whether I truly need something out of convenience or could I be doing a little bit more to help out the planet. Afterall, we only have one, and once it is filled with trash, well……..they are still trying to figure out how to ship the selected few to outer space…..

So anyway back to that not being a saint type of mother, I bought my daughter the organic squeezey packets, really as a “treat” sparingly when she was 2. They do make a great companion for long road trips, which my family loves to take!

Then one day, my awesome husband said to me, hey you know they make reusable baby silicone squeeze packets for homemade and pureed food. And before I knew it we were making tons of baby food recipes from scratch when she was 2. K was baby led weaned with table foods so baby food recipes weren’t common in the early days.

It was great. We had a solution we felt good about.

Why am I telling you about this? Well if you have been watching the news lately, GoGo Squeez applesauce packets had mold in them and they had to do a recall. Guess what my homemade Silicone squeeze pouches did not have? Mold.

Don’t get me wrong, I grew up with a grandmother who went through the Great Depression, so I learned all about scraping mold from food and continuing to eat it. Hey, I am still alive and healthy! But when it comes to feeding your baby fresh food mold just won’t cut it.

Mold means trouble.

And unfortunately it happens to lots of packaged foods out there.

Sadly for GoGo Squeez it happened to a product that goes to babies and small children, which is, really bad. Mom is going to think real hard about picking up a GoGo Squeez again, whether or not they ever have this problem again.

But here is the opportunity. The silver lining.

Instead of feeding your child food that was pureed, some time in the distant past, why not make your own squeezey packets?

I promise you it is NOT that hard. You can prepare enough for several days and just refill the silicone squeezey packet, AFTER you wash it out at the end of the day…..mold will have no way of growing because you are cleaning your packet, letting it dry and refilling it with fresh food on a daily basis.

The refill pouches are great because

  1. you don’t produce lots of waste (yeah: love the Earth!)
  2. you control the ingredients (yeah)
  3. your little precious is eating fresh food, not food that was prepared months ago (yeah)
  4. you get to wash out the container and make sure it is clean (= no mold)
  5. you save money (cha-ching)

It is a win-win. And I get to selfishly convince you to lessen your production of waste for all of us…..lovingly, of course.

Note on Silicone

Silicone is great because it isn’t plastic, doesn’t contain BPA, BPS or any other Bis-phenol numbered compound (even BPA free products still contain toxic chemicals).

For the most part, you should steer clear of plastic, especially with young ones. Silicone and glass are safest for reducing exposure to chemicals from storage containers. Silicone has a really high heat point, it won’t break down easily which is good for you because that means you won’t consume it easily.

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Baby Food Recipes

Opt for organic whenever your budget allows. You may need to add a little water to some of these to make them pour more easily into the pouch.

Try some of these or make your own. All veggies and hard fruit will need to be cooked until fork tender. Allow to cool to room temperature. Store pureed food in fridge and fill your packet daily.

  • Straight up pureed apples (aka applesauce) with or without cinnamon
  • Pureed carrot and apple
  • Pureed beet and carrot (kids actually love cooked beets because they are so sweet!) *beets stain
  • Pureed blueberry and pumpkin *blueberry stains
  • Pureed blueberry and apple
  • Pureed peas, carrots and apple
  • Pureed squash (depending on sweetness, may get away with this on its own), or add pear
  • Pureed pear, blueberry and broccoli
  • Pureed cauliflower, apple and squash

Really the list could go on. Use a funnel to fill the silicone squeeze packet up and you are good to go!

So, let me know- what baby food recipes have you tried, and are you going to try and use a Silicone squeeze pouch?

To you and your family, here is to reclaiming your health,

Dr. Maggie

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Dr. Maggie Luther

Dr. Maggie received a Naturopathic Medical Degree (ND) from Bastyr University as well as Advanced Herbal Training from Blazing Star Herbal School. From a young age Dr. Maggie has been in love with the natural world, while at the same time questioning everything having to do with making the world a healthier place. As a thought leader in the wellness field Dr Maggie knows the new frontier in medicine is better focused on health and healing rather than simply treating symptoms, natural or otherwise. Wellness is about restoring health to every organ system in the body. This strengthens the body and mind, creating a resiliency from which health can flourish. From there, daily health promoting habits allow the body and mind to be able to weather the inevitable ups and downs life throws our way. Having healed many conditions in herself, Dr. Maggie knows firsthand that healing and the maintenance of health is not about reaching a final destination, but is a journey where every day you get to learn what contributes to your health. This is the foundation of preventative medicine: when it comes to our health we need to be living a proactive life, rather than a reactive lifestyle. Only then will we see true healing occur on every level.

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