Episode 39: Navigating the Supermarket Aisle!

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Episode 39: Navigating the Supermarket Aisle!

This week, we're gliding through the aisles of a supermarket-- an adventure to uncover the healthiest choices for our little ones. Join me as we navigate through aisles and discuss how to make informed decisions that nourish our kids and foster healthy eating habits

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Links
https://nourishwithkarina.com/feedingbabies
https://nourishwithkarina.com/3-week-feeding-kids-reset

Highlights:

Introduction (00:00.00)
Easy Feed Podcast Episode Summary: Nutritious Food Reviews (00:29.58)
Supermarket Experiences with Children (02:49.954)
Label Reading and Children's Involvement in Food Shoppin (05:07.81)
Taking Kids Shopping with Parents (07:21.27)
Choosing Organic Fruit and Vegetables (09:36.428)
Buying Fresh and Frozen Vegetables (11:49.396)
Optimal Vegetable and Bakery Selection for Childre (14:13.836)
Choosing Healthy Bakery Treats (16:39.948)
Making the Best of Bad Situations (18:56.13)
Condiments and Spreads: A Guide(19:30.83)
Choosing Healthy Nut Butters and Yogurts (21:49.804)
Yogurt and Sugar Content in Food (23:58.594)
Choosing Healthy Kids' Foods (26:06.242)
Healthy Kids' Food Choices (28:32.558)
Choosing Healthy Crackers (33:07.49)
The Impact of Modern Farming on Meat Quality (35:24.568)
Dessert Options for Families (37:51.074)
Food Reviews and Membership Overview (40:01.038)

Show notes

READ TRANSCRIPT

Show Notes

Episode Highlights:

1. Healthy Alternatives in the Dessert Aisle: Discover why frozen yogurt can be a better option than ice cream and how to manage portion sizes to keep sugar intake low.

2. Understanding Food Labels: Learn the importance of checking ingredients and nutritional information, especially for products like yogurt drops and muesli bars, to avoid hidden sugars.

3. Navigating the Meat and Fish Sections: Tips on selecting high-quality, locally sourced meat and fish to ensure the best nutrition for your family.

4. Crackers and Snacks: How to choose healthier cracker options and the benefits of pairing them with nutritious dips and spreads.

5. Managing Salty Snacks: Why it’s important to limit salty foods like chips and veggie crisps and how to introduce healthier snack alternatives like popcorn and fava beans.

This episode is packed with practical advice to help you make better choices for your kids at the supermarket. From understanding deceptive food labels to finding the best alternatives for your child’s favourite snacks, we've got you covered.

As always, thank you for tuning in! Remember to check out my website for more food reviews and nutritious recipes at nourishwithkarina.com . You can also join my Nourishing Kids Membership for access to exclusive content and programs designed to make mealtime a breeze.

Stay healthy and happy, and I’ll chat with you next week!

Introduction (00:00.334)
You're listening to the Easy Feed Podcast, episode number 39, a walk through the supermarket aisle. Hi there, I'm Karina Savage and with over 20 years experience feeding children, including my own, I've learned all the secrets that busy mums need to get their children eating better and actually enjoying healthy foods. So a huge welcome to the Easy Feed Podcast.

Easy Feed Podcast Episode Summary: Nutritious Food Reviews (00:29.58)
A very big welcome back to you. I hope that you are enjoying these Easy Feed podcast episodes. I am enjoying recording them because I just like chatting about how we can better nourish our kids and talking about all these deceptive food manufacturers that jam all this sugar into our food. just did a food review yesterday actually of one of the brands and you check it out on my Instagram, Nourish with Karina. I tell you this

Product is worse than Cadbury milk chocolate. This product is targeted at toddlers and it is full of sugar. Sorry. I've just like jumped straight into ranting about a toddler food, but you know, that's why I love chatting to you because I just love sharing little tips and insights on how we can quite easily better nourish our kids by simply not choosing some of these products.

despite them being marketed to us as healthy for our toddlers. So anyway, back to the beginning, welcome. I hope that you are enjoying these episodes and please reach out to me if there's anything in particular that you would like me to talk about because I'm always open to suggestions. But I got quite excited about today's episode, I walked through the supermarket aisle because I was envisaging myself walking through the aisle and what I would

say and what I would talk to the different areas of the supermarket and what we could potentially think about in each of those sections. Well, I'm not going to cover every single section, but I am going to cover a few. I'm going to cover the fruit and veg. I'm going to cover the bakery, breads. We're going to talk about jams and sauces. We're going to talk about yogurts and custard, cereals, chips, popcorns. You name it, we will probably talk about it.

But in the interest of not making this a five hour long podcast episode, I'll give you my top tips, but of course you get a whole lot more detail when you join nourishing kids if you're interested. Because you know, that's my one stop shop for helping mums to more easily nourish their kids and have quick wins in the kitchen and in the pantry and in the fridge. So before we go through the different aisles of the supermarket.

Supermarket Experiences with Children (02:49.954)
The question is, do we actually take our children with us to the supermarket? And this just takes me back to so many stressful checkout scenarios where the kids are literally fighting as I'm trying to pay for the groceries. They've already sucked down a yogurt or that pesto power as you're walking around the supermarket aisles with them going, I want the Tim Tams and I want this and I want that. And then you've got the...

I don't know what is it when you're checking out that they just can't behave and they're like, even if it starts as mucking around and like almost like a tip tag situation where they start tapping each other and then it escalates into full blown war and then you're trying to pay and my gosh, it's a nightmare. So I feel like I have been scarred by so many supermarket experiences, not to mention the risk of kids falling out of trolleys.

I had a horrible story the other day of a toddler. think the trolleys changed in a particular supermarket and they became a lot more slippery. So you basically touch them gently and they rolled very easily versus the old school ones where, you know, you feel like you're doing a gym session, pushing them around the supermarket.

this trolley just moved very slightly, but it was very quick and kind of slippery. And the toddler just fell out onto the floor, up having to go to hospital. And that's a disaster scenario as well. And I think the grandma actually was looking after the little one at the time. So imagine how she felt. It was, not a fun situation. So to take them or to not take them is, I think, dependent on what you're trying to achieve.

If you are trying to smash out and also I guess what's possible, sometimes you have no choice. They have to come with you. Right. I remember I used to pick this awesome supermarket simply because it had trolleys with double seats. So we could have both children secured in the trolley. You could zip around and that was the time when, you know, I had no family support. moved into state and they were not at preschool or kinder yet. So.

Label Reading and Children's Involvement in Food Shoppin (05:07.81)
That was great. Sometimes you have no choice. If you do have a choice, then I think it really depends on what you're trying to achieve. If you're trying to smash out a supermarket shop, or you actually want to read some labels, then who has time to read labels, right? It's funny. I put this TikTok post up recently because yes, now I'm doing a little bit on TikTok and I put a thing up about labouring. I think it was something that I'd done on Sunrise.

recently about toddler snacks and whatnot. And I was putting something up on how it's more important to read labels and you know, what to look for and people are like, that's great. Good to know. And then one person was like, we have to be told to read labels now. I'm like, well, I'm not telling anyone to read labels. I think we know that it's good to read labels. Well, most of us do, but it's like,

Do we have time to read labels? That's more to the point. And that's why I do food reviews and whatnot, because who has time to read all the labels all of the time? And sometimes it is confusing as to what to look for as well. So hopefully this episode helps you navigate a little easier, but still, you know, whether or not you label read will depend on how much time you've got and how confident you are, but also.

Whether you've got kids around or not, if you've got kids in tow, no way you're to be elaborating. It's literally grab, throw and go. The time when I think it is beneficial for children to come with you is when you have the time. Maybe it's when say you've got one at school or preschool and one at home and you want to have a bit of fun and you want to get them to pick out some peas or beans or.

whatever it might be, getting them involved in choosing food, holding the bag of peas and maybe even peeling a pea in its pod whilst you're going around the supermarket aisles, grabbing a macadamia, little sneak in a little macadamia out of the bag of scuba macadamia that you put in the bag. You know, obviously not if your child's too young and it's a choking risk, but I remember my son trying macadamia and enjoying them going around the supermarket. mean, it was only one or two big deal. The fact that I was celebrating because

Taking Kids Shopping with Parents (07:21.27)
It was just a different environment and taking kids shopping with you sometimes, especially when you're walking around the fresh fruit, veg aisle or the nuts or, you know, areas where you've got healthier food can be beneficial because then your kids may be interested to try it. Because kids are naturally inquisitive. They actually are naturally inquisitive.

They do get fussy, they are fussy, they can drive us nuts, but they are also very naturally inquisitive. So if we set up the right environment for them to be naturally inquisitive, it can really help move them to enjoying a much wider variety of foods. So we just have to use those little opportunities because they are all opportunities. And taking a child shopping with you is an opportunity. You may at the end of the checkout,

Sometimes in Woolies at the checkout, they have fresh tomato plants to plant. You may buy one of them at the checkout. You may buy a little pot of herbs and plant that. again, growing tomatoes at home may get them to like cherry tomatoes. Growing herbs at home may get them to cut parsley into a pasta sauce or a pizza scroll. And then that might get them eating them. Wow. Now they're eating something green and it started because you were at the Woolies checkout together and you found a pot of parsley. So all these little opportunities can be.

big opportunities to actually broaden your child's intake. So it's about trying to stay open -minded, trying to use those little opportunities because they can become much bigger. And then once they like one herb, then you can move to another herb. So I would take your child with you if you've got the opportunity to spend a bit of time and use it as a bit of a learning fun.

morning in the supermarket. I mean, I'm not saying spend three hours there, perhaps go in with your coffee. As long as they don't knock it out if it's in the hold or in the trolley, but go in there and just have a bit more of time to spend around the fruit and veg and say, let's pick something purple. Let's pick something orange and you can just make a fun. in the fresh fruit and veg section with your child in tow, then I would make it fun. would slow down. I would talk about just fun stuff. wouldn't go, broccoli is good. It's going to.

Choosing Organic Fruit and Vegetables (09:36.428)
you know, make you grow strong muscles. I wouldn't do that because, well, I mean, you could, but I don't know. Then it sort of borders on what you say at dinner and then that's the pressure whole thing. Like eat your broccoli. Whereas I would say, wow, look at the funny little dots on that. Or that looks like a green flower or just making it fun rather than trying to link it back to nutrition or them eating it. I mean, you can, but then I think you just walk a finer line. That's all. So.

walking around, making it fun in the fresh fruit and veg section. It depends on what supermarket you are in. Some supermarkets have a brilliant organic section. And look, I always glance across. It depends on what supermarket I'm in. Some you just go like, there's basically no organic here. So you don't even bother. But well, actually no, a lot of the food chains, the big ones now will wrap it in plastic.

and pop it in the fridge section. So I actually still do cast my eyes across. So I'll always compare the organic broccoli and the regular broccoli or the organic carrots to the regular carrots, because especially with the root vegetables, like the carrots, often they're not that much different in price. And I think it's much better to buy organic if possible. Organic tomatoes, I think I heard had about eight times the iron content of regular tomatoes, which is incredible. So

I believe that if we can buy organic and it's the similar price, then it's always going to be better. It's going to be higher in nutrition. It's going to be lower in chemicals, nasty chemicals that are deemed safe to spray onto the crops. So yes, if there's not going to be much of a difference in cost, I would buy the organic version. But if it's a significant hike in price and that's not within your budget, then just stick to the regular. But I would always try and

buy the fruit and veg that looks freshest. Now, look, if you're doing a home delivery, which I've just started doing, and I think is an absolute godsend, then you don't have control over fruit and vegetables. So in that situation, you are at the mercy of the picker or the packer. And you know, a lot of the time they do pack good stuff, but

Buying Fresh and Frozen Vegetables (11:49.396)
It's out of your control. So if you're in the supermarket, then obviously have more control. But if you're ordering it, then check the price of the organic carrots versus the regular carrots. And if there's not much of a difference, then I would pop the organic carrots on your shopping list if you are doing an online order. But at the end of the day, it's about trying to buy fresh. It's about trying to keep it lasting longer. that's where I've got an episode on saving money on groceries with an expert in that space, Rachel Kuhn. And she talks a whole lot about

keeping food fresher for longer, freezing baby spinach. And we've got a whole lot of tips in that podcast episode for you on trying to keep food lasting longer, saving money on groceries, throwing less food out. So definitely buying it fresher means it's keeping longer, but it's also how you store it that will help keep it fresh for longer. And also things like wrapping it in paper towel, wrapping berries in paper towel to keep the moisture out will keep it fresh for longer and whatnot as well.

So with your fruit and veg, buying it fresh, if it's a whole lot more expensive to buy it fresh, then look at the frozen aisle as well, because frozen veggies are snapped frozen when they're freshly picked and the nutrition can be very high in them as well. So you don't lose a lot of nutrition. In fact, sometimes it's higher because it hasn't sat out the back of the fridge at Coles or Woolies for three months. So check out the frozen veg because I mean, the texture does change a bit. You've got...

broccoli and beans, they're partly cooked, so they are more mushy. Unfortunately, my daughter, I think I actually put her off green beans by going from the fresh to the frozen and now she doesn't like them. I'm like, damn it, we'll get back there. But yeah, it can be at a very affordable way, especially if you're making like big casseroles and all blending them up into sauces, then the frozen can be cheaper, last longer. And they're always there just grabbing guys. So

Yeah, have a think about that as well. Because sometimes I think we just grab the fresh, but we could actually also grab the frozen and it can actually last longer and be cheaper and be easier. yeah, horses for courses depends on what you're making. If you're making a fresh salad, of course you want it to all be fresh. I don't think you can really use frozen cucumber and tomatoes anyways. So salads is a bit more targeted. So salads, you do have to buy the fresh, but most of the time with the other veggies,

Optimal Vegetable and Bakery Selection for Childre (14:13.836)
I think it's meal specific. With the veggies, I will always say try to leave the skin on where possible because leaving the skin on allows, and this is not obviously when you're buying it, it's when you're getting a home and cooking it. The skin is a rich source of fibre and often you've got antioxidants and other nutritional benefits just underneath the skin. So wherever possible, leave the skin on your fruit and veggies because you're going to only benefit your child. I know that...

Children sometimes struggle with the skin and skins of pear and apple are often problematic. But that's where I would say, finely slice it. Finely slice them into apple chips or pear chips so they're very thin, round and they've got a tiny bit of skin around the edge. And that way you're actually going to get them to eat the skin, but it's not going to be too chewy. OK, let's move on to the fresh bakery section.

Now, I think the best options in the fresh bakery section are things like sourdough. The way it's been fermented actually has a lower GI, which means a slower release of carbohydrates into the bloodstream. Now, ideally you choose a wholemeal or a whole grain sourdough, but my kids who doesn't love a white sourdough. So I think, you know, if you're in the white world, a white sourdough is the best option out of all of them.

A freshly baked sourdough is going to win over a packet white bread any day of the week because it has less additives or has no additives and preservatives and it's going to be much higher in nutrients than something that's in a packet that's been sitting on the shelf for a month. Now look, a lot of kids are at that packet white bread stage and there is absolutely no judgment because we're not far off that my kids

love the white sourdough, but then they're only on wholemeal bread. that they've gone off the grainy bread, unfortunately. They used to, but have lost that battle recently, but we'll get back there. But yeah, look, definitely in the fresh bakery aisle, I would go for a white sourdough or a wholemeal or a whole grain sourdough or a croissant as a treat as well. And I would stay away from the finger bands and chocolate donuts and scrolls.

Choosing Healthy Bakery Treats (16:39.948)
As much as possible, would choose a croissant over a scroll in terms of the sugar content. mean, they're all quite processed, those sweet treats, but a croissant is going to have less sugar in it than something like a finger bun or a scroll or whatnot. But look, it comes down to how often they have it. And if it's a special treat and you're out and it's like a once on a weekend thing, no big deal. Enjoy it. Savour every mouthful.

In the fresh bakery section, I would be going for like a sourdough. I think that's, that'd be my first choice and a whole grain sourdough. Absolutely. And then moving to wholemeal and white sourdough. Your ciabattas and your pan de casas are also, you know, they're fresh, but the sourdough, way it's fermented is going to be more nutritious and better for you. If we move on to breads now, there is a incredibly ginormous

range you have, I think in most brands, you've got the white, you've got the wholemeal, you've got the whole grain. At the end of the day, it really depends on where your family's at. If they like grainy bread, then I definitely would be going for something with a higher whole grain concentration. If they're at the wholemeal stage, then I would just be picking the freshest wholemeal option I could. And if they're at the white stage, then

If you could do a white saldo, then great. Otherwise I would go for a low GI white or a high fiber white or a vitamin enriched white. You can also get vitamin enriched wholemeal, especially if you worried about your child's not getting enough iron because you can definitely get those white and wholemeal sliced breads that are vitamin enriched and have extra iron and other nutrients added to them. So to compare breads, you literally

spin the packet around, you look at the fibre per hundred grams, you look at the sodium per hundred grams and you look at the sugar per hundred grams and they do put some sugar in bread. But most of the time I would be comparing the fibre and the sodium and then also looking at the ingredients lists and just seeing what you're actually getting in there. And the more additives and preservatives you see in the ingredients list, the less likely I would be to use it on a regular basis. But again,

Making the Best of Bad Situations (18:56.13)
There's no judgment. Sometimes that's where your child's at. So you've just got to try and make the best of a bad situation and try and find the best white slice bread you can. Remember when we do buy white bread, it's always important to think about what you put with it. And if you can serve that white bread with protein or fat in the topping, so avocado or peanut butter or something that's got protein or fat in it, healthy fat, then it's going to help reduce how fast that sugar releases out of that bread. It will help slow that GI down.

that glycemic index down.

Condiments and Spreads: A Guide(19:30.83)
Alright, then, moving on to condiments. So if we start with a spread such as Vegemite, Vegemite have brought out a low -salt Vegemite and it's significantly reduced. I think it's about 40 % less salt and it's actually not that different in taste and you're getting a lot less salt. So I would always be on the lookout for reduced salt or reduced sugar options.

As long as they're not then substituting in like an artificial sweetener, for example, if it's reduced sugar, but reduced salt, generally they've just taken out the salt and they don't swap it for anything else. If they're clever, sometimes with sauces, they'll use spices or other natural things to add flavour. So they might use say some apple or pear or cumin or something in the sauce to make it taste good to substitute.

the reduction in salt. So usually when they reduce salt, they don't substitute it for a baddie. But when they reduce sugar, sometimes they do put a sweetener in and that's what I do not like. So I would definitely choose the salt reduced Vegemite. With jams, it really depends. You just do need to flip that label around and just see, look at what's in there. I would just go for just a...

a decent looking jam and just use a little bit of it. I think most of them are going to be a good 50 % sugar. I you can get the sugar reduced ones, but so perhaps have a look at those as long as there's not any sweeteners added to them. But at the end of the day, just using a little bit sparingly, think is going to be where you need to be rather than paying a lot extra for a low sugar one, especially if there's a sweetener in there. stick to the real stuff, just use a little bit of it. Peanut butter is a great spread.

Just be careful of some of those more, the bigas and the praises and whatnot. They have become better with some of their options, but some of them are still very much mixed. You've got the peanuts mixed with vegetable oils and you've got salt and sugar and different ingredients added. It's not just a hundred percent peanuts. So just be really careful within that peanut butter range. Just go for something that's a hundred percent peanuts with a little bit of salt added if needed. And you can get

Choosing Healthy Nut Butters and Yogurts (21:49.804)
completely no added salt or you can get often they just have a pinch of salt added. But just be careful with the ones that have all the vegetable oils and other additives added to them. Those ones do hold their consistency better. You know you're getting a genuine peanut butter because it will separate out. So that is the downside of getting a genuine peanut butter, but it's actually better. So yeah, just be mindful of that peanut butter range. And I think, you know, good brands are things like Mavis and Bix.

But in the macro, it's got a good organic peanut butter with no added salt. yeah, the bar and bay one is delicious. I think it's got bit of salt added, but yeah, there's a huge range of peanut butters, but just try and go for one that's more 100 % peanuts.

And then you've got all sorts of nuts spreads. Now you've got, you know, your ABCs, your almond Brazil cashew nuts. You've got seeded ones. You've got great ones that are either chickpea based or soy based that are not free that you can send to switch is good. You can also take your own nut butter and mix in other seeds to that if you want to become creative. So there's a whole new world of nut butters and non nut butters out there. I think it's called not butter or one of them, but yeah.

There's a whole, there's another one that's called school safe, I think. Anyway, there's a whole lot out there, but just read it, read the ingredients and make sure they're not added to store preservatives on that ingredients list. All right. Moving on to yogurts and custards. I would be just looking at the sugars per hundred grams. I would just keep it as simple as that. Whatever they want. I would pick it up, spin it around and look at the sugars per hundred grams.

You are going to get some that are, you know, 10 grams of sugar per hundred grams. Some will be lower and some will be a lot higher. So have a look at the sugar. That's actually going to be per a hundred meals because it's a liquid. Just compare the sugar per a hundred meals with the yogurts and custards. And I would just go for the lower sugar option as long as there was no artificial sweetener in there. So stay away from the real diet zero ones.

Yogurt and Sugar Content in Food (23:58.594)
that I think that the YoPlay range has traditionally had, I mean, they've got full fat ones that don't have the sweeteners in them, but they traditionally had those real diet ones, but so have other brands. Sorry, I don't mean to name and shame YoPlay because I've got regular ones as well. But yeah, just be really mindful of anything that says low sugar because often then they will put the sweetener in.

But I would just compare like the Tamar Valley have traditionally had lower sugar content compared to some of the others, but I'm sure there's others out there now. I mean, just a traditional Greek yoghurt is going to be a lot lower in sugar. And some kids really like just Greek yoghurt. If you're going for a non -dairy yoghurt, totally fine. The Coca Bellas now have added calcium into their pouches, which is brilliant. You've got soy yogurts, you've got almond, you've got oat. Absolutely fine. It does not.

have to be a dairy yogurt. can totally be dairy free as long as you're getting your calcium source from somewhere and that's absolutely achievable. yeah, whether it's dairy or non -dairy, I still would look at the sugars per hundred grams per hundred meals, I should say, and just compare because that would be the main thing that I would look for in that yogurt custard range. Okay. Moving on to sources.

It's a little similar to what I was talking about with the jams and vegemites and whatnot. So I would always look to reduce the sugar and salt where possible. And that's where, again, I would be comparing per hundred meals with sauces. I would look at the sodium per hundred meals and the sugar per hundred meals. And as I said, some of the tomato sauces and the barbecue sauces, when they do reduce the sugar, they do substitute for

a bit of it might be apple or it might be some spices and herbs, which is great compared to some of those that use artificial sweeteners or nutritive sweeteners. might see sorbitol in there or xylitol. With a soy sauce, they tend to just reduce the salt again, which is great. So I would use a salt reduced soy sauce, salt reduced stock and stock cubes are also good. And you can get salt and sugar reduced tomato sauces that

Choosing Healthy Kids' Foods (26:06.242)
don't have the substitute sweeteners. So that's really good. So just look, just compare, just pick up the one you normally get and then just pick up one other and just compare them and have a bit of a play. And then once you find one that your family likes and you're comfortable with, then just stick with that. You don't have to read the labels every time because who has time to do that? Okay. Moving on to the cereals aisle. So with the cereals, it is a minefield. And look, I've got a whole label reading masterclass inside nourishing kids because

You know, you need time to understand exactly what to look for in a label. And I don't have time to go into all of the detail on that today. But in a nutshell, I would look to three things. Number one, I would look at the ingredients list and see what percent whole grains it was. So the higher the whole grains, the better. Number two, I would look at the fibre per hundred grams. That will tell a lot.

Number three, I would look at the sugar per 100 grams. And that's also going to indicate the quality of the product. The only caveat here is if it's a very high fruit product like Sultana brand, they put the fruit sugars in the sugars line. But aside from something like Sultana brand, which is very heavily fruit predominant, the majority of them that don't have fruit, we want to be looking for the sugars to be ideally under 15 grams of sugar per 100 grams.

Sometimes it's hard to get them under 20. mean, wheat bakes and things like that are very low. They're like three. Porridge is zero. Porridge is a brilliant option. But yeah, it's a minefield with those breakfast cereals and often the ones that our children like, like your NutriGrain's and that they're on the mid to high twenties. Coco Pops is in the thirties. Very low fiber, high salt. So yeah, I would definitely be looking at the ingredients list, the fiber and the sugar. Moving on to chips and popcorn.

Popcorn is a good one for children older than toddler age. Popcorn is a choking risk for young children, but popcorn is a high -fiber whole grain, good snack option once they get out of that choking risk age. So I definitely would be buying something that's a lower salt popcorn. Most of your popcorns will have your salt content starting at around 350. So your cob popcorn are about that. Some of them might be higher.

Healthy Kids' Food Choices (28:32.558)
Go for the ones that are lower, but popcorn is a good option, preferably just the lightly salted one, not the one with the sugar or the chocolate on it. And then with chips, you actually can get salt -reduced chips. Again, with chips, I would compare per 100 grams if you've got older kids. If you've got younger kids, I would try and move them over to things like fava beans and chickpeas and call them chips instead. Things like veggie chips, high, high salt, not really...

anything better than a potato chip. So don't be fooled by the marketing. It's just yeah, processed and it's high in salt. So veggie chips are don't right. Really for little ones, I would try as much as possible to avoid chips because again, the more we develop their taste preferences for salty foods, the more they're to carry those with them into adulthood in turn into

adults that love sitting on the couch at night eating salt and vinegar chips. And I'm not going to name someone very close to me that does enjoy that, but I'll let you look, you know, you got to have a balance, right? But no, it's just, we don't want them to be then seeking out salt all the time. Okay. The healthy toddler kids food aisle. Just be careful, especially with the sugar, because I've done a lot of looking into these products lately, especially when I did a segment on channel seven sunrise recently, a weeks ago.

And the deception that goes on from these food companies with the no added sugar label that they can still apply, even though they have used a fruit juice concentrate or an apple paste, which is concentrated, nothing like the apple it came from, they can get away with using these products and not declaring no added sugar. So literally the front of the pack of one of these strawberry

chocolate drops, they're actually just chocolate. They're actually worse than chocolate. So it's the Rafferty's Garden yogurt drops on the front of the packet. It's a 97 % yogurt and fruit. One of them says 96%, one of them says 97 % yogurt and fruit is what it says. You turn that pack around, the first ingredient, yogurt, bracket. So what's actually in the yogurt, milk, sugar. Okay. So that's, that's not yogurt, milk and sugar.

Understanding the Differences in Toddler Foods (30:49.038)
That's like chocolate. So second ingredient sugar. So when you go to Cadbury milk chocolate and you look at the ingredients, first ingredient milk, second ingredient sugar. So it's actually identical to chocolate. And when you look at the sugars per hundred grams of the Rafferty's buds, they are, I think 62%. And I looked at Cadbury chocolate and it was 58 % or it's actually more, was like 7 % difference. So maybe it was 63 and 50.

I have to do some maths now, 56. But basically the chocolate buds, well, I shouldn't call them chocolate buds, they, well, I should call them chocolate buds. The Rafferty's Garden strawberry yogurt buds were higher in added sugar than Cadbury milk chocolate. So effectively they should be called children's chocolate buds. But I don't think they're going to sell as many of those being labeled as that. And then the marketing is

I cannot believe that they can market and say on the front 97 % yogurt and fruit because that is just so misleading. So very frustrating, but be very careful with the muesli bars and things like that. If you see concentrated fruit paste or fruit juice concentrate, that is added sugar. That is not good for your child. So be very careful. So with those, would definitely, the recommendation for toddler foods,

is to keep the sugars under 10 grams per hundred grams, even with a fruit in the product and to keep the sodium less than 50 milligrams. So not the 350 I was talking about, it's less than 50 in your little one. So like a 12 month old, 15 month old per hundred grams. So yeah, just start to flip the labels and have a look and really try to avoid those that are too loaded with salt and sugar because

Otherwise, we're just training our little ones taste buds to prefer them. And that's going to actually create Bussy Eaters because they're going to want that taste preference and that taste profile all the way through. And when we're giving them broccoli and they're like, well, my taste buds are trained for chocolate, then no wonder we're having dramas. Okay. Moving on to crackers. Crackers again, salty, salty, salty. So crackers are highly processed.

Choosing Healthy Crackers (33:07.49)
There's only a few that are really high in fibre and those ones are often high in salt. So crackers are a bit of a disaster. know, your vital eats and your Rive Eaters are high in fibre or higher in fibre and higher in whole grain. So they're the ones to go for. So if you're going to go for some crackers, I would go for something like a vital eat or a Rive Eater or something that's got grains in it.

But most of the time our kids like the rice crackers or the cruskets or, know, as babies they have the baby mum mums, which I did a food review on one of those the other day. was a carrot, baby mum mum, and the sugar was 13%. I was like, my goodness, that's crazy. Anyway, I digress, but it's all important to know. So with crackers, again, I would just be looking at the sodium per hundred grams and the fibre.

per hundred grams. And I don't think you're going to get much out of the fiber unless it's one of those grainy ones, but I definitely would be looking at sodium per hundred grams. And I would also look at the ingredients list because some of them have a very short ingredients list, like your cicadas, or sacatars, I should say, almost sounded like an animal, then cicadas, your sacatars, they I think have three ingredients in their plain rice crackers. Whereas I think the fantastic had, I don't know, about seven and they had additives and preservatives. did a reel on it on my Instagram.

recently. So for the same product, two different brands, you're going to get two very different nutritional profiles. And one's got additives and preservatives and the other one doesn't. So I would look at the ingredients list and I would look at the sodium per hundred grams. And I mean, the fiber, I don't think it's really worth looking at unless it's going to have grains in it. So that's what I would look for in the crackers aisle. And remember trying to put those crackers with something that's rich in healthy fats or protein is also going to be valuable.

Okay. Moving on to meat, protein and eggs in the meat world. Look, I choose to eat more of a plant based diet and that's from animal welfare, ethical perspective. I do eat a bit of, you know, organic chicken and sometimes fish. And I do try and buy the best quality meat I can for my family. And the reason I do that is because I think we are, we have

The Impact of Modern Farming on Meat Quality (35:24.568)
gone so far away from traditional farming methods years and years ago, and that has compromised the quality of the meat that we eat. The effectively factory farming that goes on now in the agricultural industry, the food that they are fed, the living standards, the whole agricultural industry now.

I believe is so different to how mother nature intended it. And I think that that affects our meat quality, which then affects us. I have no idea what medications these animals are given, what food they are fed. And therefore, you know, that then affects the quality of the meat that then we are eating when we're buying it in the supermarket. So for me, if I was buying food for my meat, for my family, I would be buying

Again, organic where possible, because I think you're going to get a much cleaner, nutritious product, but it's expensive. You're not always going to be able to do that. So really, think limiting meat and choosing legumes and other proteins is going to be more nutritious. And then it's just making sure that you're getting enough iron through pairing with vitamin C rich foods and whatnot, but definitely organic or free range eggs and

nuts and seeds and legumes are brilliant protein options, especially if meat's expensive. But if you were going to buy meat, I would try and buy the best quality meat that you could for your family. And the same goes for fish. I would always try and buy as fresh fish as possible. But often our kids like the crumb fish. When you are buying those crumb fish products, I would be looking at percentage of fish and where it's caught and trying to keep it local if possible.

looking at the ingredients list and just trying to make the best choice for your family with that in mind, because yeah, often they do like those crumb fish products. So I always look for the MSC means it's sustainably sourced and, and look for the high percentage of fish and where it's caught. If you can't get that, then I would try and buy one that was sourced more locally. Okay. If we end in the ice cream aisle, so we'll wrap it up with dessert.

Dessert Options for Familiesa (37:51.074)
Dessert, again, can be whatever you make it. It can be nothing in some families. It can be fruit and yoghurt in some families. It can be ice cream and pudding in some families. I think for kids, ideally, if they are going to have some dessert, then fruit and yoghurt is a good option or maybe something you've made, like a little blissful or a little bit of brownie that you know is healthy or some fruit. Fruit is a great dessert.

Some kids like hot chocolates, or some kids that are struggling to gain weight will have like a smoothie or something for dessert. But in the ice cream aisle, again, I would look at portion size. If your kids love dessert, I would get the mini versions. A really good option is the frozen yogurts. They're often a really good substitute for ice creams and a lower sugar option. So if you are trying to reduce sugar, I would consider going the frozen yogurt option rather than the ice cream option.

But again, you can just pick up that ice cream tub and look at the sugars per hundred meals. And that will tell you exactly how much sugar you're going to get. Yes, they do put the natural milk sugars in the sugars line as well, but really they're going to be comparable in terms of the natural milk sugar in a product. So you could just compare the added sugar per hundred, per hundred meals, I should say. And again, you'll be able to see which one's higher and which one's lower. But I would go the mini options or you buy it in the tub and then just serve it up.

in smaller quantities with some fruit or go the frozen yogurt, or don't have any ice cream and have other options instead. But if you were to do the ice cream and you were looking for a healthy option, then I would consider the frozen yogurt option or buying the mini versions of the ice cream. Like the mini magnums, for example, you can also get fruit sorbets as another option. And that could be, yeah, another good option, especially if you need to be dairy free. The fruit sorbets can be a, nice little change.

Okie dokie, we will wrap it up there. I hope that's been a nice walk through the supermarket for you. Thanks for hanging with me and walking through the supermarket with me. Please feel free to ask me any questions you have. You can reach out to me on Instagram. You can send me an email by my website nourishwithkarina.com.

Food Reviews and Membership Overview (40:01.038)
I do have over 70 kids food reviews currently available to you all at this stage. It's not a member only hidden website yet. A lot of my recipes are just member only, but the food reviews are still available to everybody. So if you're listening, I would go and check out my food reviews. If you had to nourishwithkarina.com forward slash learn, and then you will see my food reviews section there.

You can check out my Nourishing Kids membership. Again, that is currently open for people to join at this stage. I'm potentially going to be closing that down and just making it a wait list, but at this stage you can join. So you can head to nourishwithkarina.com forward slash membership to find out more about my nourishing kids membership. And inside that I do have my flagship Fussy Eating program, the three week feeding kids reset.

And a bucket load of other useful information in there. We've got label reading, master classes, and a whole lot of goodness in there for you. feel free to check that out. Feel free to reach out to me, leave me a review and I will chat to you very soon. I hope you have a great week and I can't wait to chat next time. Bye for now.