At Kekoa Foods, we believe that just like sleep and potty training, Taste Training should be a fundamental part of raising and caring for your little one. Taste Training is about introducing diverse flavors early on to help shape a healthy and adventurous eater. By doing this, you can prevent fussiness about new foods and encourage your child to enjoy meals beyond the unhealthy options often found on children's menus at many restaurants.

Taste Training is the process of systematically introducing your baby to a variety of flavors and textures. This approach encourages them to embrace different foods, reducing the likelihood of picky eating as they grow. It’s akin to sleep or potty training in that it requires patience, consistency, and repetition to establish lasting habits.

The idea behind Taste Training is rooted in the concept of flavor acceptance through repeated exposure. Research from the National Institutes of Health highlights that early and varied flavor exposure can significantly impact a child’s willingness to try and enjoy a broader range of foods later in life. The study found that infants exposed to a variety of flavors were more likely to accept those flavors later on. By making diverse foods a regular part of your child’s diet from an early age, you’re setting the stage for a lifetime of healthy eating habits.

Humans have an in-born, evolutionary propensity to like sweet tasting foods. This is because our brains are wired to connect sweet things with safety. If you think back to when our ancestors had to forage for food, sweet fruits were safe, whereas sour fruit was probably spoiled and not safe to eat. Also, breastmilk and baby formula are sweet.  Since liking sweets is pretty much automatic, with Taste Training, we aim to start with less sweet flavors overall, to get your baby’s taste preference varied. By introducing sweet flavors towards the end of training, and pairing them with complex flavors and spices, babies grow to accept new foods as they’re offered later in development and tend to have a lower tolerance for sweet-tasting foods.

Similar to the other training parents provide to their children, Taste Training is all about teaching and coaching your children to adopt routines that lead to better habits. The repetitive nature of introducing new flavors helps to build greater familiarity and eventually acceptance. Here’s why this is so important to your child’s development:

Like any other type of training, Taste Training is not a one-and done moment in time. It’s a continuous process that exercises your baby’s palate, creating a kind of taste muscle memory. This process helps transition your little one from a picky eater to one who routinely enjoys a wide range of flavors from vegetables, spices, and eclectic recipes from around the world. Here’s how you can embark on this flavorful journey with your child: