Weaning is a bit of a rollercoaster, but it doesn’t take most parents too long to realise that different babies’ reactions to new flavours can vary wildly. Some little ones are mini-foodies, hoeing into anything and everything with a (grotty) smile, while others are more like restaurant critics, nibbling delicately and turning their noses up at even the most lovingly prepared dinner. It’s enough to leave many a poor mum wondering where on earth she’s gone wrong.

Turns out there may just be a good reason for this fussiness – and (cue relief here) it’s nothing you did. In recent years, scientists have taken a better look at how we perceive flavour, and found that around 25% of us are what they’ve dubbed “supertasters” – meaning their tastebuds are much more sensitive to flavours, especially bitter ones. Women are more likely to be supertasters, as are people  of Asian and African descent… and yes, babies can be supertasters as well.

How can you tell? There’s a simple online test for adults, but until your baby can point and click, it’s really a matter of parental guesswork. If you’re curious, you can set up your own small experiment by giving your baby a tiny smidge of something strong-tasting, like lemon or Kalamata olive, on the tip of a clean pinky finger, and watch the reaction. If your little guinea pig looks at you like you’ve just tried to poison her, you may indeed have a supertaster on your hands.

So what does this mean? Unfortunately, there’s no link between “super” tasting ability and any other useful powers – and while scientists have found that supertasters’ dislike of fatty and salty foods helps prevent overweight later in life, this ability can also mean they’re less likely to eat healthy green cancer-fighters like broccoli, kale and brussels sprouts. Turns out that the compounds that help protect against cancer also taste slightly bitter, which makes these veggies a challenging proposition for a supertaster.

The best solution? If your little one turns up his supertaster nose at green veg, try and try again. We can all learn to like new flavours, even if they seem strange at first, and the health benefits green veggies offer your baby are way too terrific to give up. Studies have shown that it can take babies up to 10 tries of a new taste to accept it, so put on your ‘patient’ hat and start with small quantities – freezing tiny bits in an ice cube tray can help cut down on waste. Blending green veg with fruit purees is another good tactic – you can start with mostly fruit, and increase the percentage of veg as you go along. (And if you’re out and about, or just sick of the blender, our Spinach, Sweet Potato & Apple Puree is a popular choice, too…)

Let us know how you go! Oh, and keep the camera handy – photos of hilarious reactions may just win a prize…

Happy Thursday from Plum HQ, where we have a burning question on our minds:

Do you ever taste your baby’s food?

A surprising number of parents we’ve polled say no, sometimes with a rather funny look on their faces, as if we’ve asked them to sample some Iams puppy kibble, or nosh on gerbil mix. And we get that, we really do. After all, plenty of the baby foods on the market do taste rather… shall we say, unappetising?

That’s why we’d like to invite you to take what we’re calling the Plum Challenge. Just choose any Plum recipe and taste it yourself, back-to-back with any of our competitors’ products. We’re that confident that the quality, purity and depth of flavour in our recipes is second to none. And to reward you for being so brave, we have 200 copies of “Harden’s Eating out with Babies & Toddlers 2011″ to give away to the first 200 folks to submit a review. It’s an extra-handy guide to over 1,000 of the UK’s best baby and toddler-friendly restaurants, cafes and pubs, and  there’s even a 50p-off coupon inside, so you can save on your new favourite flavour of Plum.

The fine print: All entries should be emailed to yummyyummy@plum-baby.co.uk. They need to be 200 words or less, and should specify which Plum recipe you tried, and which competitor’s product, along with what you thought of them both. Feel free to include your little ones in the taste test as well, if you like, and let us know what they thought too. Honesty and humour are always a plus, and the most colourful entries will gain a spot on the “Your Plum” section of our website. We need to receive your entry by Thursday, 23 February at 5:30pm, and you must include your full name, address and postcode for mailing of prizes. Winners will be notified by Friday, 24 February, and prizes will be posted on or before Wednesday, 29 February.

Weaning can be a tense time for parents. After all, here’s this small person, so new and pure, and it’s up to you to decide what to put in that little mouth.  So you read all the books, you ring your health visitor a few dozen times, and (if you’re anything like me) your vegetable steamer and food processor start to get more use than they have in years. Relax – that’s a great start.

Most parents, however, will sooner or later find themselves standing in an aisle full of baby food, scratching their heads and wondering where to begin.  So we thought we’d give you a few key things to look for on the label.
First, have a look at the ingredient panel. Don’t be intimidated by all the numbers! What you’re really looking for here is nutrient density –  the nutritional bang for your proverbial buck. This is an especially good thing to pay attention to when babies are first weaning, as they usually drop a milk feed around this time, and they often don’t actually consume very much of those first solid foods – it’s more about experimenting and enjoying this new experience.

Nutrient-dense foods are actually very easy to spot: just think colour. Bright green spinach, orange pumpkin and sweet potato, burgundy beetroot, vibrant berries – the rainbow colours are sure signs these foods pack a big nutritional punch, and ideally you want to see as large a percentage of these ‘superfoods’ as possible on the label. Luckily, they also have wonderful flavours for your baby to explore!

The ingredients to avoid, generally speaking, are white stuff: plain potato, white rice, and thickeners and bulking agents like cornflour, tapioca flour, or modified food starch. (The exception to the ‘white’ rule is our favourite superfood here at Plum, quinoa, which has the same mild flavour as rice but contains stacks of nutrients and more protein and fibre than any other plant food we could find. Check out how great it is here!)
So, to boil it down to one piece of simple advice: go for colour and avoid pasty fillers that won’t give your baby anything but a full tummy. And most of all, enjoy this time – it’s one big messy adventure!

Eva gets stuck into her superfoods

Do you read labels when you buy prepared baby foods? What do you look for?

Now you and your baby can look forward to 4 new delicious pouch recipes from Plum, which have been especially created to aid development and satisfy delicate little tummies. The new recipes help to support infant development by introducing babies to a wide range of distinguished flavours and nutritious meals.

Our new Stage 1 pouches include:

• Parsnip, pea & pear, worthy of a Sunday roast accompaniment. This soft mushy mash is a sure favourite, and a good way to introduce savoury tastes to your baby, who will be still hankering for sweet things after milk.

• Mango & banana, with only the best Alfonso mangos for their natural sweetness and rich flavour, great for weaning and as a dessert

All stage 1 pouches are 100g RRP 99p.

And now for puddings…
Our new Stage 2 pouches have fork mash texture and not only taste great but also encourage chewing and speech development. The
brand new nutritious and filling Bread & Butter and Apricot & Apple Rice Puddings (100g at RRP £1.19) will satisfy your baby’s hungry tummy by providing a sweet pudding, without any added sugar.

The Apricot & Apple Rice Pudding is a traditional rice pudding – made even tastier with a twist of fruit. Whereas the Bread & Butter Pudding is based on an authentic recipe, which will take you back years - it’s a Plum kitchen favourite and is guaranteed to leave your
little one asking for more!

Anybody for a snack?
Oaty Chomps (Stage 4 / 12+ months) are available in two delicious flavours of Pumpkin Pie and Strawberry Cheesecake (RRP £1.99 for five 20g bars). They combine a fantastic combination of fruit or vegetables with quinoa, providing you with another way to feed your child their fruit and veg.

The small, individually wrapped bars are perfect for taking out and about and they provide the complex carbohydrates that energetic children need, keeping them happy in between meals. They are just the right size for little hands to feed themselves and the moist texture of the cereal bars mean that more food ends up in the mouth than on the floor!

When & where can you buy them?
The Plum pouches and Oaty Chomps are available from Ocado and Sainsbury’s from end of January and the pouches in Asda from February, with launches in other leading supermarkets to follow.

Here at Plum we’re very excited as we’ve been busy working on our new advertising campaign, which is due to go digital via online banners as well as appear in pregnancy/parenting magazines very soon!

But ahead of that, we wanted to give all our Plum parents a sneak peak. Check out some of our adverts here and let us know what you think via Facebook or Twitter. We’d love to hear from you!

Plus over the next couple of months we’ll be giving away 200 FREE Plum samples!

So if you spot any of the Plum adverts online or in a magazine, capture the advert and send it to us on an e-mail (yummyyummy@plum-baby.co.uk) with details of when and where you spotted it, together with your name and address. This competition will close Friday 23rd March 2012 shortly after which we will randomly select and announce the winners, full terms and conditions apply.

Following the launch of our recent Stage 2 Salmon & Spinach Risotto, we thought we’d focus on spinach today. As you probably know spinach is not only nutritional, it’s rich in antioxidants, and has many other additional benefits including:

1. It’s high in water including around 90%, therefore is very good at contributing towards keeping baby hydrated (if eaten raw) so good for those little ones who are poor drinkers.

2. It’s high in beta carotene due to its deep green colour, this is an antioxidant so great for preventing cancers and heart disease later in life, also converts to retinol (vitamin A) which is good for vision.

3. It’s a reasonable source of calcium for a vegetable

4. It’s high in iron but not easily absorbed in the body so needs to be eaten with a source of vitamin c such as fruit juice to maximise absorption.

Does your baby enjoy spinach? If so what’s your little ones favourite spinach recipe?
Love your greens,
Plum

Here at Plum we can’t believe it’s nearly 2012, 2011 has just flown by!

It feels like only yesterday that we launched our stage 1 single pots, Hardens Eating out with Babies & Toddlers guide, exhibited at The Baby Shows (Feb & May), launched the Stage 1 Breakfast Pouches, Yogurts, Stage 1 Spinach, sweet potato & apple, more recently the Stage 2 Salmon & spinach risotto and Stage 2 Raspberry Munchy Fingers!

In the past year we have also supported Bliss through our on-pack and Facebook promotion, launched our very own The Weaning of Life guide and ran the hugely successful 12 days of Christmas competition with Mumsnet! It’s been a busy year to say the least.

Our resolution for 2012 is that we hope to bring you more nutritious and delicious recipes, products and more starting from January…

What’s your new years resolution? for you and your baby? and what would you like to see more of from Plum in 2012?

Whether you’re busy opening presents and capturing those special moments, or  preparing the Christmas feast or on your way out to see friends or family, we’d like to wish you a very Merry Christmas from everybody here at Plum!

Hope you have a lovely Christmas and New Year!

Love, Plum x