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Veggie Hero Nutra Organics | Chewsday Review

Is it a food? Is it a supplement? Is it the world’s most expensive vegetable powder??! Nutra Organics’ Veggie Hero claims to be a solution to fussy eating (Uh-oh, I might be out of a job!) but just how does it fare when placed under the microscope. Check out the link in my bio to find out my thoughts.

Ingredients

Carrot* (24 %), Pumpkin*, Prebiotic Fibres (Psyllium Husk, Green Banana Starch*), Apple*, Mango, Lucuma*, Broccoli, Rice Extract*, Tomato, Barley Grass*, Wheat Grass*, Alfalfa*, Organic Wholefood Vitamin & Mineral Extracts* (Broccoli*, Spinach*, Kale*, Pumpkin*, Sweet Potato*, Sunflower Seeds*, Kelp*, Chlorella*, Maitake Mushroom*, Shiitake Mushroom*).
For a ‘superfood powder’, this contains a whole lot of regular ol’ carrot and pumpkin
The website states “our premium fruit and vegetables are gently refractance window dried” – so basically just some fruit and vegetables that have been dried and then ground into a powder.
Allergens: none
May contain: milk, egg, soy, sesame, fish, crustacean, mollusc and tree nuts

Positives

Negatives

One of the benefits of vegetables is the fibre content and by drying them into this powder most of the fibre content gets lost. A 20g serve of this powder contains less than a gram of fibre – not enough to replace vegetables in a meal.
These have got to be the most expensive dried vegetables I’ve ever seen – especially considering ¼ of the tin is carrot. This tin will set you back $44.95 for a 200g tin – that’s about $225 a kilo!
These kinds of products that encourage parents to ‘hide vegetables’ in food aren’t a solution to fussy eating and don’t give kids the chance to learn to like vegetables. I never recommend hiding vegetables as tricking kids doesn’t set them up well for a lifetime of healthy eating (and it often doesn’t work!)

Marketing

“Nutrient dense meal booster”. Technically speaking, this doesn’t actually provide a whole lot of fruit or veg. Each serve is only 5g of powder, so even though the fruit and veg have been dried then ground, we’re a long way off a serve of fruit or vegetables.
“Supports immunity, growth and development”. There isn’t much energy in here, so it isn’t going to do much for growth. This powder does contain some vitamins and minerals, but this isn’t always a good thing. Kids don’t need ‘extra’ vitamins. More minerals is not better. This won’t help your child not get sick at daycare (and it won’t improve immunity). To give some context, the amount of folate in a serve of this powder is equivalent to ⅓ of an apple. The amount of vitamin C is about half of an apple. So essentially, if your child eats a bit of fruit then this isn’t really giving them anything extra. If your child is iron deficient (something that can affect their immunity) then they need a therapeutic iron supplement, not dried carrot.
“Made from certified organic ingredients”. True, but this doesn’t mean it is any more nutritious.

Alternatives

I always recommend a food first approach over supplement products like these. A child eating a variety of foods (or working towards eating a variety of foods) is likely to be getting everything they need from their food without needing any supplements.
If you are concerned about a nutrient deficiency or if your little one only eats a few select foods, I would recommend having a chat with your GP or a paediatric dietitian to give you some guidance instead of reaching for a product like this.
If you currently use this product then I’m confident it’s not harmful (other than to your wallet) but I’m less confident that it’s actually helpful.