Baby food doesn't only have to be for the little ones. But would you eat it?
Lady Gaga, Cheryl Cole and Jennifer Aniston are said to swear by it. Gwyneth Paltrow is also allegedly a fan, as is Madonna.
But how won over are you by the concept of filling your diet solely with baby food?
The newest dietary fad
This year, the answer to all women’s problems – the aesthetic ones, anyway – appears to lie in jars of baby food.
Since it emerged that ‘celebrities’ were feasting (or not, depending on how you look at it) on this particular culinary trend, our everyday baby food has been flying off the shelves with unseen haste – alone suggestive that it’s not only our tots who are tucking in.
Popularity soars
Up and down the country, figures are showing that we are suddenly eschewing aisles packed full of ordinary food: curry ingredients, frozen foods, cereals – and just about anything adult-sized, really.
Instead, we appear to be spending quite a lot of time in the baby ones. Wet baby food sales in the UK this month are up by just over 20% compared to last year and the dry variety is up a staggering 61%.
In particular, Heinz, one of the world’s most famous food companies, has seen its sales of ‘Heinz Mum’s Own Creamed Porridge’ soar by 100%, with the rest of its stock (including Caribbean pork, rice pudding, Sunday chicken dinner) performing in an extraordinary, but brilliant, fashion.
It’s not just Heinz Baby that is reaping the rewards, however. HiPP has been doing well, as has Ella’s Kitchen, a father-run company, which boasts a range of wholesome and healthy children’s food, and has been watching profits roll in.
In order to sate the public’s appetite, its produce - which includes anything from toddler-favourite ‘Seriously comfortable Cottage Pie’ to a four month old’s puree of sweet potato, pumpkin, apples and blueberries - has recently been upgraded to counter shelves and front-of-house positions in supermarkets and their smaller-shop equivalents. They’ve begun to practically spoon-feed customers with it.
What’s the appeal?
Apart from the pretty packaging and occasionally brightly-coloured plastic spoons that accompany the jars at no extra charge, what is the main drive behind this great fad?
'I developed a cleanse where you can still eat and it's a lot of puree foods,’ explains Jennifer Aniston. ‘I was very careful about the foods I chose to put in it.
'I wanted something where you can eliminate toxicity, break bad habits but still have your digestive system going. That is when the baby food cleanse was born.'
So now you know how she does it. But is this at all a sensible way to watch one’s weight?
Sensible or gormless?
The concept of eating ‘mini-food’, or otherwise, food in the small, diminutive portions in which baby food is sold, is favourable to those who feel the fear of summer – and all its promised skimpy outfits – upon them.
Dieticians are always suggesting a reduction of one’s portions may in fact help with the shedding of pounds. Though taking into consideration the meagre 125g on offer, I’m not really sure baby food was what they had in mind.
In fact, I’m sure it’s not.
Baby food has restricted amounts of salt and sugar, meaning they frequently carry no more than 100 calories a pot. To make sure an adult has enough calories, ‘goo food eaters’ tend to consume several a day.
Wouldn’t it be more sensible to just eat three – proportioned – meals like the rest of us?
And how could it be in any way economical to buy crates of these tubs, when pureed food is so easily whizzed up in seconds – at no cost – at home?
Kids only
While I personally cannot remember the taste and flavours of my own baby puree diet, I’m not one to suggest that the baby food produced by Heinz, and other companies like it, is not appetising enough for us all to enjoy.
In fact, I’m tempted to try a spoonful. But only a spoonful.
If the label says ‘baby’, I’m in favour of leaving that particular produce for that particular demographic.
After all, if adults were meant to consume liquidised, nutrient-restricted, minuscule portions in order to be eternally healthy, what would be the point of all the choice? And supermarkets?
Celebrities, have your ‘goo food’. I’ll act as a grown up and have a proper meal, thanks.