From farm to high chair: We track the rise of better-for-you baby foods

Innovative baby food brands are addressing concerns over harmful contaminants and promoting transparency by offering healthier, nutrient-dense products made with clean, sustainable ingredients.

Heather Carter, Associate editor

October 23, 2024

7 Min Read
baby food and milk

At a Glance

  • Brands like Babylife Organics, Once Upon a Farm and Serenity Kids are offering healthier, better-for-you baby foods.
  • These companies are prioritizing food safety, sustainable practices, supply chain traceability and transparency.
  • They are working diligently to provide peace of mind for parents seeking cleaner options to feed their children.

As a parent, it can be daunting to walk down the baby food aisles in grocery stores in search of healthy options that aren’t packed full of added sugars or harmful additives and preservatives. Over the last decade, however, more CPG brands have emerged to try to address this growing problem in the United States — offering a range of better-for-you products for children that are made with healthier ingredients and less things to worry about (when it comes to food, at least).

The most recent Consumer Reports testing, conducted in June 2023, added to the trepidation most consumers already face when tasked with purchasing food for tots, as it found alarming levels of arsenic, cadmium and lead in the country’s leading baby and toddler foods. The nonprofit tested 50 products from the top brands — packaged fruit and vegetables, snacks, cereals and prepared entrées — and found about two-thirds (around 68%) contained “worrisome levels of at least one heavy metal.”

The testing revealed other shocking findings but pointed to one reassuring factor: About one-third (16) of the products contained “less-concerning” levels of the heavy metals, prompting the organization to suggest that “all baby food manufacturers should be able to achieve similar results.” And with that statement, it wasn’t wrong.

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Tackling the heavy metal issue in baby, toddler food

Babylife Organics, founded by food industry veterans Doug Brent and Richard Harford, is the first baby food brand in the U.S. to become Regenerative Organic certified and “address the serious concern of heavy metals in baby food.” Harford detailed the company’s proprietary 4-point heavy metal testing system, known as Soil to Spoon Transparency, which sets them apart from the sea of baby foods currently on the market.

Babylife product lineup

“We’ve developed this four-step process to test the products — all the way from the soil of the farm through the finished goods — and that’s a unique approach,” he explained. “Having been in the industry, I understood very clearly how most of the baby food companies source a product. [Typically], they go to the Northern and Southern hemispheres to buy different ingredients based on the time of the year. It’s all done through brokers. They don’t know exactly what farm it’s coming from all the time. It’s just a very difficult supply chain for the organic baby food companies in the U.S. They don’t have a full closed loop system and control all the way through their own manufacturing.”

Babylife Organics does have control over its supply chain, however, by eliminating all of the middlemen. Since the beginning, it partnered with Elite Naturel, a fair trade, USDA organic company in Turkey that works with more than 8,200 certified farmers. Elite Naturel is a one-stop shop for all of Babylife Organics’ products — handling everything from farming to production at its facilities in Turkey before shipping the finished goods, which are also certified USDA organic and Non-GMO Project Verified, to the U.S. for sale.

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Back of Babylife Organics pouch with QR code

The real gamechanger for Babylife Organics is the heavy metal test results it provides on each of its jars and pouches via a QR code, allowing anyone to view what is actually contained in the products before purchasing them. Harford said the company is the first baby food brand in the U.S. to do something like this and provide the parts per billion for arsenic, cadmium, lead and mercury for every batch of finished foods. Even more, each independently tested product complies with the standards established by the European Union Food Safety Policy and the Clean Label Project’s First 1,000 Day Promise Certification.

“Transparency has been lacking in this category,” Harford said. “We saw this problem in the market, and we knew how upsetting it was for parents. We knew we could create peace of mind for them. It wasn’t just an opportunity; it became a responsibility.”

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Ensuring food safety, placing sustainability at the forefront

Once Upon a Farm, co-founded by Cassandra Curtis, John Foraker and actress Jennifer Garner, also places transparency and sustainability at the forefront of its operations — particularly when it comes to baby and toddler food. “Our dedication to improving childhood nutrition remains unwavering,” Jane Kuhn, director of sustainability at Once Upon a Farm, said. “We also recognize that a commitment to ‘systemic improvement’ requires us to look upstream to the people and ecosystems that grow our food. For this, we are bringing a closer eye to fair labor practices, and we remain steadfast in our commitment to sourcing high-quality, organic ingredients from suppliers who share our values.”

Once Upon a Farm pouches, oat bars and puffs

Kuhn said The B Corporation is the first CPG brand to source and pay premiums on fruit certified by the Equitable Food Initiative (EFI), with a goal of procuring 7 million pounds of produce from EFI-certified suppliers in 2024 to cover about one-third of the ingredients in the company’s core portfolio.

Once Upon a Farm also utilizes a cold-pressed process for its pouches and bowls, an innovative technology that Kuhn also said was an industry first. The high-pressure processing (HPP) involves placing packaged food within a high-pressure chamber filled with cold water to which pressure is applied. “What makes this method truly incredible is the immense pressure that moves through the packaging into the food itself for a certain amount of time to kill vegetative pathogenic and spoilage bacteria,” Kuhn explained. “The pressure interferes with the bonds in the cells of the bacteria while leaving the precious nutrients, taste and texture of farm-fresh ingredients unscathed.”

Once Upon a Farm's smoothie and milkshake pouches

The company has a diverse supply chain, sourcing more than 100 ingredients nationally and internationally for all of its products, which are certified USDA organic, Non-GMO Project Verified, and contain no added sugars, artificial flavors, colors or preservatives. “Favoring organic and sustainable options is better for you and better for the planet,” Kuhn said. “The next generation is our future. By offering nutritious and organic snacks and meals that kids of all ages crave, we not only support their health but also integrate healthy food purchase decision habits as they grow older.”

Focusing on nutrient-dense foods

For Serenity Carr, co-founder and CEO of Serenity Kids, sustainability was top of mind for her and her husband Joe when creating their company, but also a need to provide the fundamental fats and proteins required for childhood development. When they decided to undertake this mission, Carr started researching all of the available organic baby foods on the market and found most lacked the essential nutrients for when babies transition to solids.

“What we’re still trying to do in the baby food aisle is to bring protein and fat where there’s just empty carbs — that’s our M.O.,” Carr said. “We know that we want balanced macronutrients. Our goal is to revolutionize the baby food aisle, to revolutionize kids’ nutrition and change away from feeding babies just fruits all day long.”

Serenity Kids' meat and veggie pouches

Serenity Kids focuses on offering nutrient-dense foods with no added sugars or preservatives. The company created a range of pouches with ethically sourced meat — grass-fed beef and bison (which are also Land to Market certified), free-range chicken and pasture-raised turkey — vegetables and fruits. The product lineup also includes four flavors of nondairy smoothies, five flavors of grain-free puffs and toddler formula made with organic A2 milk from grass-fed cattle.

All of the vegetable and fruit pouches are certified USDA organic and Non-GMO Project Verified; the free-range chicken pouches are certified USDA organic and the wild caught salmon pouches are Non-GMO Project Verified. The nondairy smoothies, which feature grass-fed collagen and 5 grams of protein per pouch, and puffs are all certified USDA organic. Some flavors of the puffs are also Non-GMO Project Verified and certified gluten-free under GFCO.

Serenity Kids World Explorers lineup

The company also introduced a World Explorers line in 2024 featuring global flavors — Coconut Curry with Chicken, Chicken Tikka Masala, Chicken Mexican Stew, Salmon Teriyaki, Beef Kebab and Beef Chimichurri — to help expand babies’ palates and ultimately deter picky eaters. It’s a concept that’s proving successful for similar brands like Globowl and Lil’ Gourmets.

“We’re trying to raise the health of the whole country, starting with babies, by introducing them to a wide variety of flavors, including herbs and spices,” Carr said. “To know that babies are eating the most nutrient-dense food makes me happy.”

With innovations like heavy metal testing, sustainable sourcing and nutrient-rich options, baby food brands are creating a new level of trust and transparency for parents everywhere.

About the Author

Heather Carter

Associate editor, SupplySide Food & Beverage Journal

With over a decade of diverse professional experience under her belt, Heather has journeyed from the bustling world of local news reporting to the intricate realms of trade publishing. She has covered a wide array of topics, ranging from architecture and design to the food and beverage industry.

During her illustrious career, Heather also ventured into the realm of public relations, where she gleaned invaluable insights into the art of strategic communication and brand storytelling. Yet, her heart has always been anchored in the vibrant world of F&B, a passion deeply ingrained in her roots as the daughter of a seasoned chef. She has always held a profound appreciation for the role food plays in shaping cultures and connecting people.

With each story she tells, Heather seeks to illuminate the profound impact of food and beverage on people’s lives, celebrating its ability to evoke emotions, foster connections and weave the fabric of our shared human experience.

As SupplySide Food & Beverage Journal's associate editor, she co-publishes a weekly news column, Business Bites, which showcases the latest industry news, highlighting key business updates, food and beverage innovation, industry events and more. Some of her other articles touch on important topics, such as ultra-processed foods, plant-based foods primed to change the food landscape, international flavors and ingredients, as well as better-for-you CPGs. She also frequently covers top trends at various industry events and has moderated first-of-their-kind education sessions at Informa events.

She can be reached at [email protected].

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