REVIEW - Rafferty's Baby Chicken, Vegetables and Rice

Rafferty's Garden - Chicken, Vegetables and Rice

What's in it:

Water, Potato (19%), Carrot (14%), Dried Apricot ( 5%), Chicken (5%), Onion (4%), White Rice (3%), Rice Flour, Canola Oil, Olive Oil, Oregano.

Allergens:  

None present.

May contain (allergen label): 

None present.

Cost: $1.92 per 100g 

The cost doesn't seem overly bad until you think about the fact that almost 50% of the pouch is water. So double the cost to get what you're actually paying for food. Given the bulk of this pouch is potato and carrots I think we can do better than almost $40 per Kg.

Age / who it is suitable for:  

The product packaging states not recommended for babies under the age of 6 months. We can't see any reason why this wouldn't be suitable for younger babies who have shown all the signs of readiness and started solids.

Texture / Flavour:

This pouch has a very runny texture that somehow feels smooth and grainy in the mouth at the same time. I didn't dislike the taste of this one most likely because it resembles a watery mash potato taste. Did not detect and flavours of chicken.

What we like:

• Convenient
• Great texture for babies starting out on smooth puree
• Shelf Stable makes it an easy option for on the go - although one could argue that this particular flavour combination would be better heated.
• No added sugars or sodium.

What we like less: 

• As seems to be the case with a lot of these pouch purees the ingredient balance is less than ideal. 5% chicken isn't going to add a whole lot in terms of nutrition especially in a pouch that is almost 50% water content.
• Very low iron content 
• Basically water, vegetables and a pinch of chicken.

Packaging Claims:

As is the case most of the time, the name seems a little misleading. 5% Chicken doesn't really justify calling it Chicken and Veggie. This is one of the lowest percentages we've seen for chicken.

Overall energy intake of this pouch is still low but not as low as some - providing only 276kJ per 100g which is a good indication there isn't a lot of nutrient dense ingredients inside. 

No Added Sugar or Salt, No artificial colours, No artificial flavours - All seem to stack up. The product also states No Preservatives. Whilst there are no chemical preservatives present it's worth nothing that products with these ingredients can't be shelf stable without some sort of preserving method. Most commercial baby food pouches have undergone heat treating as a method of preserving which can reduce the content heat sensitive nutrients. 

The Take Home:  

Nutrition wise this pouch is essentially a packet of water, potato and carrots that you're paying 10x the cost for. The 6g of chicken is doing diddly squat to contribute to bubs nutrient intake.  

You could use this pouch as a dipping sauce for finger foods like lamb cutlets, shredded chicken, steak fingers etc. 

Better yet - try our Pouch Project recipe where we recreate these popular commercial pouch recipes into cost effective nutrient dense meals.