Hipp Organic Vegetable Lasagne

...been fairly loyal to the HiPP Organic brand. I like to know that I'm giving my son the best possible start in life and organic seems to be the way to go.

As the HiPP website states: "HiPP Organic baby foods are made from naturally good ingredients grown without chemical pesticides, nitrates, growth hormones or other unwanted extras - and the meals are produced without artificial additives, E numbers or processing chemicals."
...(i.e. 7 months), I chose HiPP Organic again. Boots had a special offer - 6 jars for £3 (normally 67p each). I bought 6 jars, one of which was the vegetable lasagne meal.

===Ingredients:===

Organic vegetables (tomatoes, carrots, celery, onions), organic cooked lasagne pasta, organic skimmed milk, organic cooked rice, organic grated hard cheese, organic cream, organic vegetable stock (salt, organic rice flour, organic ... more

Since starting to wean my son, 2 months ago, I have been fairly loyal to the HiPP Organic brand. I like to know that I'm giving my son the best possible start in life and organic seems to be the way to go.

As the HiPP website states: "HiPP Organic baby foods are made from naturally good ingredients grown without chemical pesticides, nitrates, growth hormones or other unwanted extras - and the meals are produced without artificial additives, E numbers or processing chemicals."

So, when the time came to move my son onto the stage 2 range of baby food (i.e. 7 months), I chose HiPP Organic again. Boots had a special offer - 6 jars for £3 (normally 67p each). I bought 6 jars, one of which was the vegetable lasagne meal.

Ingredients:

Organic vegetables (tomatoes, carrots, celery, onions), organic cooked lasagne pasta, organic skimmed milk, organic cooked rice, organic grated hard cheese, organic cream, organic vegetable stock (salt, organic rice flour, organic vegetables (with celery), organic yeast extract, organic vegetable oil, organic spices), organic spices (basil, oregano, pepper)

In the past I had rejected any baby food with salt in (why oh why put salt in baby food?), but I decided that since my son was a little older now, that I could probably risk the tiny amount that was in this jar.

By the way, the HiPP website also states: "The food in our jars is sterilised within vacuum-sealed jars during the jarring process, and this sterilisation ensures that no food spoilage will occur through growth of bacteria or moulds." So again I ask 'Why oh why put salt in baby food?'

The Taste Test

Like all baby food, it does not look particularly appetising. It was the normal orangy/brown colour, fairly runny with bits of what I assume were pasta in it. The food that I had been making for my son myself had been steadily getting thicker, but I had not yet left any 'bits' in it, so I was eager to see how he would take to it.

The smell was not particularly offensive until I warmed the food (I just put the open jar straight into the microwave for 20-30 seconds). As the food got warmer, the smell became stronger and I did not find it particularly pleasant (see later in the review).

My son took the 'taste test' - I could not bring myself to. He was not impressed. At first, I assumed that the reason he was spitting it out was because of the bits of pasta in it. So, I kept shovelling the food into his mouth and he kept pushing it out of his mouth with his tongue. It was another of those meals that ended with him covered head to foot in baby food. The main difference between this meal and all of the other messy meals was that this time it was not caused by him putting his hand into the food and spreading it around. This time it was because he just did not want that food in his mouth.

My son had his second jar of HiPP Organic today (Vegetable and Chicken Risotto). This he enjoyed and ate it all up. Again, this had 'bits' in it and he had no trouble at all eating this food. I can only assume that he took offence to the taste of the Vegetable Lasagne.

The Aftermath

As soon as my son finished his meal, I wiped him down and noticed that his face, chin and neck were VERY orange. Other baby foods have stained his face in this way, but never this much. I immediately put him in the bath and tried to wash it away. Because his skin is very sensitive, I normally only use water in his bath, but that had no effect on the stain. I tried some Johnson's Soft Wash and again there was no effect. My son looked like he had a very bad fake tan.

I'm relieved to say that 24 hours later, the stain has faded and he looks like himself again. But that is when I discovered the other consequence of the HiPP Organic Vegetable Lasagne.

He did a rather smelly nappy today. Nothing particularly unusual there, you might think (and you'd be right). The unusual thing was that the nappy smelt exactly like the Vegetable Lasagne! Yum.

Conclusion

Although, I am still a fan of the HiPP Organic brand, I will NEVER be buying the vegetable lasagne again. The only reason I'm giving it a 2 star rating, is because it's organic and, therefore, healthy - if you ignore the added salt. Why oh why add salt to baby food? 

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