baby food

I sent this link through email to some of you, but I figure it's worth mentioning here also. You assume that you're getting your baby off to a good start, nutritionally, when you buy those little baby food jars. Sadly, not so!
http://www.cspinet.org/reports/cheat1.html
The short version for those of you who don't want to read the whole thing:
Baby foods are greatly overpriced compared to similar regular foods. Examples include applesauce and fruit juices, as well as diced fruits and vegetables for toddlers. The nutrient content and physical characteristics of those baby foods do not differ significantly from those for adults. However, the baby foods cost up to several times as much per unit weight.
Foods made with starchy fillers cheat babies and consumers while increasing company profits. As discussed above, Gerber and Heinz replace up to 70% of their second- and third-stage fruits with water and then thicken them with chemically modified tapioca starch. They also add starchy fillers to all their regular second- and third-stage dinners.
Good news: Earth's Best 4-ounce jars of baby food cost about 25% more than its competitors' products. Earth's Best's dinners provide more protein and vitamin A than the comparable products made by Gerber and Heinz. Earth's Best uses no modified starches and minimal amounts of other thickening agents. In addition, all of Earth's Best's foods are made with organically grown ingredients, which is a definite plus for the environment.
So if you have to , this would be a good brand to go with.

Conclusion: It is clear that parents still need help in choosing the most healthful foods for their babies. Disclosure of the characterizing ingredients(s) on the front of the label and percentage-ingredient labeling on the side or back of the label would give parents the tools. Thus, one product might indicate on the front label "85 percent bananas," while another might state "50 percent bananas." Some companies would probably say that such labeling would reveal trade secrets, but the fact is that the only secret today is from parents--competitors know roughly what each other makes. It is also possible that certain companies, such as Beech-Nut and Growing Healthy, would favor percentage labeling, because it would give them a competitive tool. In any case, percentage labeling would encourage companies to compete on the basis of quality.