Proximate analysis of low-cost locally produced weaning foods and its safety aspects, in comparison to imported weaning foods

Malnutrition is a persistent health problem among children in Bangladesh, especially under 2 year’s children due to the lack of proper weaning foods both diverse and balanced. Highly nutritive locally produced weaning foods were prepared using locally available food resources to ensure the availability of low-cost weaning food in Bangladesh. The developed foods were evaluated for their nutritional characteristics and microbiological quality. The food (L-1) contained the major nutrients like moisture, ash, fat, protein, fiber, carbohydrate, and energy respectively 2.96%, 3.13%, 9.45%, 15.56%, 0.07%, 59.12%, and 394.1 kcal/ 100 g, and (L-2) 2.08%, 3.09%, 9.3%, 16.09%, 0.08%, 59.74%, and 397.5 kcal/ 100 g, respectively which were comparable to those of the three good quality imported commercial weaning foods F-1, F-2, and F-3. The vitamin A, iron, and calcium contents were significantly different (p<0.05) than the commercial foods. The overall bacteriological status of the prepared and imported commercial weaning foods was observed to be satisfactory. The costs of the locally prepared weaning foods are considerably cheaper than the three imported commercial weaning foods of the same quality and suitable for low-income people of Bangladesh.