New Beech-Nut Baby Foods Offer Improved Nutrition for Baby, Less Mess for Mom

14/11/07 Beech-Nut Nutrition Corporation, a leader in infant nutrition, has launched an innovation that will help meet the developmental and digestive needs of babies, while providing more convenient, less-mess packaging for parents. The company is introducing DHA plus+ baby foods, the first full line of jar baby foods, including fruit, vegetable and dinner varieties to contain DHA with prebiotics, and the first dry cereals to be offered in Easy Pour packaging.

Beech-Nut DHA plus+ jar and dry cereal foods contain DHA (docosahexaenoic acid), an omega-3 fatty acid found naturally in breast milk that has been shown to support baby's mental and visual development. DHA is recognized by nutrition experts worldwide as an important building block of the central nervous system. DHA Plus+ foods also contain a prebiotic called inulin, found naturally in some foods, like chicory root. Prebiotics help digestion by stimulating the growth of "good" bacteria in a baby's digestive system while aiding in calcium absorption.

Beech-Nut DHA plus+ dry cereal foods also feature Easy Pour, a packaging innovation with a twist-off spout to make opening, closing, pouring and storing baby's dry cereal easier and less messy for parents. Easy Pour's unique carton design offers Mom improved portability and reduces dry cereal "snow" often left behind by traditional  packaging. Beech-Nut Rice, Barley and Oatmeal dry cereals can also now be found in new Easy Pour packaging.

"Our goal has always been to provide the best possible products for infants and parents," said Christoph Rudolf, President and CEO of Beech-Nut Nutrition Corporation. "DHA plus+ with Easy Pour is a product of this thinking, offering a full line of foods that combine the benefits of DHA and prebiotics for baby and innovative new packaging to make Mom's life easier."

The new line includes two 7 oz. dry cereals featuring Easy Pour packaging, and seven 4 oz. jarred foods, including fruit, vegetable and dinner varieties. Dry cereal flavors include DHA plus+ Brown Rice with Bananas & Raspberries and Multigrain with Apples & Yogurt. DHA plus+ jar food varieties include Sweet Potatoes, Apple Delight, Macaroni & Cheese, Bananas Supreme, Carrots, Garden Vegetables and Pasta Vegetable Medley.

Beech-Nut DHA plus+ is the first and only major line of baby foods in the United States to include sustainable and vegetarian DHA from Martek's life'sDHA. Life'sDHA is free of oceanic contaminants that may be present in other non-vegetarian derivatives of DHA omega-3, such as fish oils.

Beech-Nut DHA plus+ products will be on store shelves in late fall of 2007. For a list of retailers carrying Beech-Nut products, go to http://www.beechnut.com and click on the "Where to Buy" link. Prices may vary by retailer.

Beech-Nut DHA plus+ with Easy Pour foods follow Beech-Nut's rich history of dedication to infant nutrition. Beech-Nut introduced the first ever line of baby food with DHA and ARA (arachidonic acid) in the United States in 2002. Beech-Nut baby foods were also first to offer developmental stage-specific varieties and ingredients designed to help parents follow the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) feeding guidelines. Earlier this year, Beech-Nut also introduced Good Morning and Good Evening, the first ever line of foods specially formulated to offer key nutrients to infants, based on the time of day that they are fed and their nutritional needs during specific day-parts.

Beech-Nut is still the only major baby food brand free of added refined sugar as part of its commitment to babies and their healthy development. All of Beech-Nut's cereal and jarred foods are all-natural with added vitamins and minerals and its jarred baby foods contain no added salt, starches, or refined sugars. DHA plus+ cereal foods are made with whole grain and are free of soy.