GoodGuide Ranks the Best and Worst Baby Foods

Concerns about the eating habits of American children are constantly in the headlines, whether it's the ballooning obesity epidemic among youngsters or bans on Happy Meals to encourage fast food chains to serve healthier food.

Baby food, however, rarely makes the news, so we turned to our partner, GoodGuide, to find out more about just which products hit the top -- and bottom -- of the charts. As part of its ongoing quest to help consumers find healthy, green, ethical products based on scientific ratings, the company reviewed and rated more than 800 baby food products, including baby formula, baby cereal, baby juice, toddler snacks and first-, second- and third-stage baby food.

Which products earned the coveted -- and not so coveted -- spots? Homemade Baby Piwi Baby Food was the top-ranked choice, while Beech-Nut Stage 3 Oatmeal & Pears Cereal finished last. Find out more about who made the best- and worst-ranked lists of baby food products.The experts at GoodGuide, an online source of product information, have rated more than 100,000 consumer goods -- including food, personal care and household products -- using three factors of increasing importance to shoppers: concern for the environment, personal health and social responsibility.

The health score measures a product's potential health effects on consumers. The environment score measures a product's environmental impact and the company's overall policies and practices. The society score evaluates a company's social impact, which can include treatment of workers, workplace diversity, community involvement and corporate ethics.

GoodGuide's ratings include a brief explanation for each category and allow users to drill down into each score for more detail.

For example, Homemade Baby Piwi Baby Food's 7.8 rating is based on:

• A Health score of 10: "This product is certified organic by the United States Department of Agriculture."
• An Environment score of 6.8: "The company that makes this product has one of the highest scores in biodiversity policies."
• A Society score of 6.8: "Compared to other companies, the company that makes this product has an above average rating on general corporate governance."

Conversely, Beech-Nut Stage 3 Oatmeal & Pears Cereal's 4.2 rating was based on:

• A Health score of 2.0: "This cereal does not contain the recommended amount of iron per serving."
• An Environment score of 5.5: "Compared to other companies, this company scores well on reducing air pollution."
• A Society score of 5.2: "Compared to other companies, this company's products have an average record of quality, safety and performance."

GoodGuide's scientists rated 852 baby food products from dozens of brands, which include an explanation of the methodology used to assign scores. Below are the top-five best and worst baby food products. In order to avoid repetition of a particular brand, we've skipped ahead to the next best or worst brand.

The Best Baby Food

• Homemade Baby Piwi Baby Food (7.8)
• Stonyfield Simply Plain Yobaby Organic Whole Milk Yogurt (7.8)
• Tasty Baby Bangos (7.6)
• World Baby Foods Sweetie Tahiti (7.5)
• HappyBaby Smarter Squash Baby Food (7.4)

The Worst Baby Food

• Beech-Nut Stage 3 Oatmeal & Pears Cereal (4.2)
• Nature's Goodness 2, Oatmeal Cereal with Cinnamon (4.4)
• Healthy Times Baby Sweet Peas, Organic (4.7)
• Gerber Graduates Fruit Puffs, Cherry (4.8)
• Earth's Best Pear Apple Oatmeal (4.9)

You can view all the top-rated baby food (in descending order) here and all the bottom-ranked baby food (in ascending order) here.

GoodGuide has also launched a separate and complimentary site, Baby Food Ratings, that ranks 452 baby foods according to their health scores alone. The site only rates Stage 1, 2 and 3 baby food, as well as baby cereal. Baby Food Ratings also provides full nutritional facts for each product and refers users back the GoodGuide site for more information.

Since Consumer Ally teamed up with GoodGuide, we've published ratings of dog food, household cleaners, outdoor toys, sunscreens and more.