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CUB Organic Plant Based Sweet Potato, Beetroot & Carrot with a Pinch of Ginger | Chewsday Review

Back to the baby aisle this week as I’ve been requested to review the CUB Organic Plant Based Puree range found at Coles. Today’s review features the Sweet Potato, Beetroot and Carrot with a Pinch of Ginger Puree. If you have read my past Chewsday Reviews on squeezie pouches, you’ll know they aren’t my favourite thing… BUT they can absolutely have a time and place, so how do these ones stack up?

Ingredients

Water, Organic Sweet Potato (20%), Organic Parsnip Puree [Organic Parsnip, Organic Lemon Juice], Organic Beetroot (8%), Organic Carrot (7%), Organic Pea Protein, Organic Brown Rice Flour, Organic Leek Puree [Organic Leek, Organic Lemon Juice], Organic Pear Juice, Organic Lemon Juice, Rosemary (0.1%), Ginger Puree (0.1%), Allspice.
May Contain milk, soy, fish, sesame, and cereals containing gluten

Positives

Negatives

This product is mostly water, and that is a very cheap filler! Ingredients have to be listed in descending order of weight (i.e. the ingredient of most quantity is listed first and it decreases from there). This means this product AT LEAST 20% water, but it could be as high as 60%.
Pre-prepared baby food like this is much more expensive than homemade food. At $1.95 per pack this works out to $16.30/kg, which is much more expensive than any fruit or veg off the shelf.
After 6 months of age, babies need a source of iron at every meal. This puree contains pea protein, which is rich in iron. However, from the ingredients list we can’t tell how much of this is added and iron isn’t indicated on the nutrition information panel… so my guess is it’s not very much
Despite being a ‘savoury’ product, this contains significant amounts of sweet potato and has added pear juice, making it much sweeter than a vegetable only puree. Sweet potato and pear are both nutritious foods, but we don’t want bubs to get hooked on sweet tastes only without being exposed to other savoury options.
Squeezie packs are convenient and less messy than spoons, and they also retain some of the more heat-sensitive nutrients when compared to jars/cans. BUT they really don’t help babies to develop biting and chewing skills that they need for other foods. This would be best decanted into a bowl and eaten with a spoon/dipper.

Marketing

“Organic” is plastered all over this product and ingredient list. Remember, organic doesn’t mean healthier.
“Plant based” is another buzz word that could have you tricked into thinking a food is a more nutritious option, but ‘plant based’ doesn’t really mean much at all. If ‘plant based’ is used to mean no meat (as is the case here), it can be a clue that you need to check if the food provides enough protein or iron to be a complete meal.
“No artificial colours, flavours or preservatives” All true.

Alternatives

There’s nothing ‘wrong’ with this product, but I don’t think the content is the same as the marketing. Keep in mind that it’s probably a more ‘watered down’ puree than you would make at home and it’s unlikely to be a complete meal in terms of protein and iron content- it’s really just a vegetable puree with a little bit of fruit!
Homemade purée is always going to be cheaper option and you can control how much comes from veggies versus water/milk. Having said that, I appreciate there are always times when you need a convenient back up option.