Baby food again

[Guest guest]

Here is a take on weaning food and fermentation:

http://www.fao.org/docrep/x0560e/x0560e06.htm

Lactic acid fermented weaning foods are traditionally produced in

developing countries, both to improve the safety of the food and to improve

its digestibility. Starchy porridges are commonly fed to weaning infants in

developing countries. The consistency of these gruels, combined with the

small capacity of the infants stomach, means that it is physically

impossible for the child to consume adequate energy to meet its high

demands. By acidifying the porridge through lactic acid fermentation,

starch is hydrolysed into shorter chains of glucose and dextrose, which

reduce the viscosity of the porridge and increase its energy density. Thus

the child is more able to meet its energy requirements.

Fermentation is a traditional method of reducing the microbial

contamination of porridges in Kenya (, Ngesa, Onyang, Alnwick and

Tomkins, 1996) A study in Tanzania has shown that children fed with

fermented gruels had a 33% lower incidence of diarrhoea than those fed

unfermented gruels, owing to the inhibition of pathogenic bacteria by

lactic acid forming bacteria (Svanberg, 1992).

There are a number of interesting " fermented foods " mentioned there, though

no details of how to produce them.

For fermenting gruel, mixing it with kefir should work easily enough.

Heidi Schuppenhauer

Trillium Custom Software Inc.

heidis@...

[Guest guest]

> There are a number of interesting " fermented foods " mentioned

> there, though no details of how to produce them.

>

> For fermenting gruel, mixing it with kefir should work easily

enough.

Also, the basic recipe for making oggi in Nourishing Traditions is

probably modifiable for other grains. I'd test it on yourself first

though, it would not be good to get a yeast-heavy ferment that

produces a fair amount of alcohol. That doesn't make good baby

food. :-)