The challenge for you when your child start with complimentary feeding is to prepare the meal. Especially when time feel so limited. Then, what can be the solution for preparing complimentary food in record time without sacrificing the nutrition? Pre-packed Complementary Food can be the answer. But, often concerns arise when giving your child pre-packed food. Is it actually safe?

Assumption that circles in society is that homemade food is better than a pre-packed food because it contains preservative. But the fact is not like that, Dr dr Damayanti Sjarif, Sp.A(K), a member of Work Unit in Nutrition Coordination and Metabolic Disorder of the Indonesian Pediatrician Society advice the use of homemade complimentary food and pre-packed breastfeeding complimentary food side by side because the nutrition content can complete each other.

Two advantages of pre-packed complementary food are:

• Time
  The time taken to prepare home-made complementary food is much longer than it is to prepare pre-packed complementary food
• Convenient and Practical
  Pre-packed complementary food is packed in a measured amount for one portion of feeding. Pre-packed complementary food can be use straightaway, not like homemade complementary food which has to be reheated before each use.

Some of the circulating assumptions about pre-packed complementary food for breastfeeding among others are:

• Last longer because it contain preservative
  Complementary food which are made by factories do not contain preservatives at all. This has been the rule from BPOM or National Agency for Food and Drugs Control and Kodeks. If it contains preservative, then that pre-packed complementary food for breastfeeding will not get the permit to enter the market.
  Pre-packed complementary food is made with freeze dry technology that is drying out all of the ingredients before processing. The water content will be minimal; even can be none at all. When it is dry, bacteria can’t grow and live. This is why pre-packed complementary food can last for a long time.
• Pre-packed food uses real vegetables and fruit, true or false?
  Through BPOM supervision, all of the ingredients should all be natural ingredients. The technique of processing the ingredients to become the main component of pre-packed complementary food is the milling technique, which is the food making process to become a flour or powder.
• How about the difference of nutrition value of a pre-packed complementary food compared to a homemade complementary food?
  Pre-packed complementary food has gone through a fortification or the process of adding certain nutrient to support child’s nutritional fulfillment. For example one of the nutrients added is iron. Iron requirement as much as 11 mg daily for 6-8 months old baby is really needed because at this age baby is very prone to iron deficiency. Other nutrients that are usually fortified into factory made food include vitamin, DHA, omega 3, and mineral.

Apart from that, some research results reveal some advantage of pre-packed complementary food to breastfeeding. According to research by National Health Services, England, pre-packed complementary food in the form of sweet food like pudding have the same energy amount as homemade sweet complementary food. To perfect and make food more varied, pre-packed complementary food can be modified with adding animal or plant protein like eggs and beans.

So, giving your child pre-packed complementary food to breastfeeding is not a taboo thing to do. There is nothing more nutritious than pre-packed and homemade complementary food to breastfeeding, both can be given side by side so child’s nutritional requirement for their growth and development can be fulfilled.