It's a fact of every parent's life. We wish we had the time to cook, strain, mash and personally, lovingly prepare our baby's food, but reality doesn't allow for that all the time. What do we do, we hit the supermarket and the seemingly endless aisle called "Baby Food". How do you go about picking and choosing from the vast array that takes up the better part of an entire supermarket aisle?
First of all remember that most doctors today agree that until babies are four or six months of age, they do not need solid foods. Mother's milk or formula provides everything most full-term babies need until then.
Flake cereal is a good first food, because it's a good source of iron. When the time comes to use pureed foods, and you're not making your own, choose from single basic fruits, vegetables and meats.
Avoid sugar, salt, and modified starches in commercial baby food by reading the labels and being selective. Don't worry about creating a traffic jam in the aisle, this is important. Commercial baby foods are often high in water content and low in solid content. The foods appear solid, because tapioca and modified starches are added as thickeners. Avoid paying fruit and vegetable prices for modified starches and water.
You will probably be best advised to avoid purchasing baby desserts, combination dinners, and foods that you can buy better and cheaper in their natural state elsewhere in the grocery store. For example, mash your own bananas instead of buying strained bananas.(and talk about a terrific natural container, its even unbreakable if you drop it!)