At first glance, you’d never know they were apricots, void of the bright orange colour we’ve come to associate with the soft little fruit. So when I stood scanning the shelves of my local health food store for organic, dried unsulphured apricots – Isla’s next culinary offering – I could be forgiven for missing them entirely.
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| Sulphured apricots |
In my bid to give Isla the healthiest food possible, I opted to forgo colour for purity. Sulphur dioxide (SO2) is used in dried apricots and other fruit to preserve their colour and increase their shelf life. According to Healthy Child Healthy World’s Chemical Encyclopedia, sulphur dioxide and five of its sulfite relatives are approved for use as preservatives in foods such as canned fruit and vegetables, dried fruits (except prunes and black raisins) and applesauce.
The amount of sulphur dioxide found in any food isn’t enough to affect most of us, however in sensitive individuals (particularly asthmatics), ingestion can cause asthma attacks, skin rashes and upset stomach. So why on Earth would I give it to my perfectly pure baby?
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| Unsulphured apricots |
As it turns out, Isla cares little what colour she eats. In fact, she gobbled up her brown apricots. And in a (slightly delayed) stroke of genius, it occurred to me that I could add (odourless, flavourless) organic coconut oil to Isla’s fruit dishes, as well as her veggie ones, ensuring she gets much-needed fat in all her solids. As my naturopath wrote in one of her emails:
“The MOST important nutrient for babies is fat!! Fat!! Fat!! Your breast milk is over 50% saturated fat, so as we introduce solids keep this in mind, especially if you are planning to raise her without meat. In fact, most beta carotene found in squash, etc. requires fat to convert to Vitamin A.”
So it is, for the next six days, Isla will eat fat-laced, suphur-free, brown-coloured apricot-y pure goodness – and apparently enjoy every bite.
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