Todays Lunch: Mushroom and Flounder cakes, apples with almond butter and raisins, raw cashews, and peas.
Fish is one of those foods that toddlers either love or hate. With many health benefits, it is a great food to introduce early in life! My kids have been eating fish since they were babies, so the earlier you introduce, the better! Often times, we think of fish as “adult food” or only feed our children processed fish sticks or shapes. The problem with the processed versions is they have tons of additives that take away from the fish being good for us. The brand Mrs. Paul’s slogan is “100% Whole Fillets” which sounds like a great option. However, here are the ingredients:
Ingredients: Alaska Pollock (Fish, Sodium Tripolyphosphate to Retain Fish Moisture), Bread Crumbs (Wheat Flour, Sugar, Salt, Yeast), Water, Vegetable Oil (Cottonseed and/Or Canola, and/Or Sunflower, and/Or Soybean With Tbhq and Citric Acid As Preservatives), Wheat Flour. Contains 2% Or Less of: Wheat Flour (Enriched With Niacin, Ferrous Sulfate, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid), Salt, Soybean Oil, Modified Food Starch, Salt, Sugar, Wheat Flour, Extractives of Paprika (Color), Dextrose, Leavening (Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate, Sodium Bicarbonate, Monocalcium Phosphate), Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Spice contains Fish (Pollock), Wheat. Manufactured On Equipment That Also Processes Other White Fish.
While this ingredient list is one of the better I’ve seen there is one HUGE red flag, Cottonseed Oil. I recently talked about cottonseed oil in my post about Non-Dairy Creamer, and my rule with this ingredient is if I see a company using it I NEVER purchase from them again. Cottonseed oil is highly refined and cheap. It is high in saturated fats and low in monounsaturated fats. Companies claiming they may be using one of the three are almost certainly trying to throw you off by putting a few other oils in there that aren’t as horrible for your health. Cotton crops are also sprayed with high levels of pesticides which could end up in the oil. All the way around, I would NEVER feed my children cottonseed oil!
I also see the letters TBHQ, an abbreviation for Tertiary Butylhydroquinone. Any abbreviated preservative is a red flag because I want to feed my children food, not science experiments! TBHQ is linked to a TON of issues and side effects ranging from nausea or hyper activity in children to damage to our DNA. Sorry, but no thank you on that note Mrs. Paul’s!
I also see soybean oil and modified food starch, both likely sources of GMO’s, which we also stay away from.
Toddlers and Fish
If your toddler has decided they don’t like fish, here are a few things to try:
- Vary the type of fish you are trying to serve
- Vary the way you are trying to serve, for instance try cakes
- Pair with other foods your toddler likes
- Put into casseroles or other dishes where fish isn’t the main ingredient
How do you get your kids interested in fish?
