# my pear baby food turned brown, ok?



## wombat (Nov 3, 2002)

I just pureed some really ripe pears for dd who's 7mo. I didn't cook them. They turned brown pretty quickly. I'm gonna give her some for lunch and the rest I froze. Is it ok they turned brown? I mean I can't put lemon juice on baby food.

Also if I puree fresh food and I'm gonna use it that day, how long does it last? Like, can I carry it around in my bag today to feed to her in a few hours time? Or should I put a cool pak in my bag?


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## Potty Diva (Jun 18, 2003)

Why can't you put lemon juice on babyfood?


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## HotMama (Oct 26, 2002)

Citrus is a frequent allergen, thus it is better to wait to introduce. Pears turn brown, but they still taste good. My pear butter is always brown. I'm sure there's some product that will keep them lighter (lemon juice alone hasn't done it for me), but why bother. Brown is beautiful!!


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## cathe (Nov 17, 2002)

The brown is just caused by oxidation. Same problem with bananas, apples, and avocados. Although it doesn't look too good, it is not harmful - luckily infants don't care what color their food is. My 4 year old refused has just gotten very conscious of foods with a little brown - my dd's were having sliced apples with almond butter to dip. They were taking their time and the slices started to brown and then she didn't want them.

As for making purees and keeping them for later. The health department/food safety guideline recommendations are that anything unrefrigerated more than 2 hours should not be eaten.

For infants, you want to be especially careful. It wouldn't hurt to keep it with a cold pac. Also, if you have frozen food, you could grab that and it would be thawed by the time you plan to use it and you don't have to worry about keeping it cold.


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## wombat (Nov 3, 2002)

Thanks for the info. Well dd ate them and seemed to like them.

I was allergic to citrus and acidic foods like tomato as a child so I really don't want dd to have any. We can live with brown pears then.

Cathe, I just got your book and I love it. I would have thought I'd have to cook the pears but I like your idea of just pureeing the ripe fruit.


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