There is a lot of children’s food on the shelves of our stores, but parents want to choose the best.
And how do we figure out what is best? To do this, it is good to see the process of production with your own eyes, to make sure that everything is controlled, that the raw materials are of only the highest quality.
Recently a group of journalists and bloggers were invited to see how juices and children's purees are made. They went to the Lipetsk region and visited the gardens, where apples are grown for the production of the baby food "FrutoNyanya", as well as the plant "Progress".
Juices contain natural sugars and organic acids, which aid the digestion processes. They say that apple juice is the first thing doctors recommend feeding to babies as it is considered hypoallergenic.
But what kind of apples does this juice come from exactly? As the journalists and bloggers learned, apples for FrutoNyanya juices and purees are grown in gardens in the Lipetsk region. This garden has a long history. The apples here come in a huge number of varieties, but experts selected only those that are suitable for baby food. All these raw materials undergo a thorough automated control. The apples are sorted, in the process of which only those fruits without defects and damage are selected.
But, of course, good raw materials are only half the battle. What happens to the apples next? They go to the factory, where they first pass an entrance control test in the factory’s own laboratory, where they test for the presence of extraneous chemicals. The accredited testing center of the company examines everything: the taste, the smell, and the physicochemical and microbiological indices of apples. The whole process is entirely automated; the human hand does not touch anything or interfere in any way. If there is any doubt about the quality of the products, the whole lot is disposed of.
Only after passing the quality examination are the apples sent to the plant. "We pay great attention to the whole process of juice production: from the development of the recipe to the release of the finished product lot," says Dmitri Makarkin, Director of Innovation and Change Management at Progress, JSC. "We actively cooperate with the Scientific Center for Children's Health and the Research Institute of Nutrition of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, we involve their experts in the independent testing and evaluation of our products and we conduct regular joint research."
Next, selected apples undergo five degrees of purification. The fruit is washed several times, and is sorted. Then, the fruit falls into the device for squeezing out juice with pulp, which allows for the preservation of all the useful substances of the fruit, including the dietary fiber. In the process of grinding, the skin and grains are separated. The squeezed juice is heated for a short time (this does not affect the quantity of vitamins, but it helps protect the baby's body). In the next stage, clarification, the juice becomes transparent and devoid of impurities. And then it goes to the conveyor for bottling. The entire technological cycle is fully automated and equipped with modern high-tech equipment. It is important to note that sugar, flavor enhancers and other substances that are not good for children's health are not added to the purees and juices.
The plant "Progress" in Lipetsk also produces freshly squeezed juices made from several different types of fruit, using, for example, apples and pears. All ingredients are added automatically using a special meter, according to the recipe.
Each batch of juices passes additional control in the laboratory, which is the heart of the plant. And after that the juice is poured into the packaging and packed into boxes.
Parents can rest assured that the juices and purees of "FrutoNyanya" will bring their children only benefit.