All foods from A to Z

234 foods with a traffic-light colour, sorted alphabetically. Green means well suited, amber means preparation decides, red means not in the first year.

Well suited With limits Not suitable

All 234 foods

45 foods have a page of their own. Their name is a link.

Food	In short
Almond butter	Only as butter, spread thinly. Never whole almonds, a choking risk until about age 4, says the BfR.
Almond drink	Fine for cooking into purée.
Amaranth	Cook it very soft into a porridge.
Apple	Raw hard pieces of apple can break off. Steamed, finely grated or one large piece to gnaw on is safer than cubes.
Applesauce (unsweetened)	Plain from a spoon or stirred into porridge, always without added sugar.
Apricot	Ripe and stoned, mashed or as a soft half to hold.
Artichoke	Only give the soft cooked heart, puréed or mashed.
Asparagus	Boiled soft, peeled and puréed, or as a whole soft spear to hold.
Avocado	Mashed or as a wedge to hold.
Baked beans	From the tin usually sweetened and salted. Choose a low-sugar kind or rinse them, and mash them at first.
Banana	Split lengthways to hold, or mashed with a fork.
Barley	As a fine porridge from barley flakes, or purée very soft cooked pearl barley.
Beans (kidney, white)	Only well cooked through, raw beans contain phasin. Mash them at first.
Beef	Always cooked right through. Raw or pink meat is off limits for babies, says Gesund ins Leben.
Beetroot	Cooked soft and puréed, in small amounts and only now and then.
Bell pepper	Steamed soft and peeled, as finger-length strips or puréed.
Biscuits / “baby biscuits”	Even baby biscuits are often a sugar trap, so read the ingredients list. Sugar-free rusks or strips of bread are the honest choice.
Blackberries	Mashed or as a whole soft berry.
Blueberries	Small and round. Squash or halve them at first.
Bok choy	Soft-steamed and finely puréed or chopped into rice.
Bread	The soft inside or soft crust as strips to suck on.
Broccoli	A soft-steamed floret to hold.
Brussels sprouts	Cooked soft and puréed, just a small amount at first.
Buckwheat	Cook it soft and purée it into a fine porridge.
Butter	Stir a small knob into the vegetables.
Buttermilk	Stir a few spoonfuls into porridge or purée.
Butternut squash	Peeled and cooked soft, as a purée or as a finger-length wedge.
Carrot	Raw carrot is hard and snaps easily. In the first year cook it soft or grate it finely.
Cashew butter	Stir a thin layer into the purée.
Cauliflower	A soft-steamed floret on its stalk to hold, or puréed.
Celery	Cooked soft and puréed, in a small amount.
Celery stalks	Pull off the long strings and cook it soft. Raw, the stalks are hard and stringy.
Chard	Freshly cooked and finely puréed, in small amounts and only occasionally.
Cheddar	Finely grated over the purée, a small amount.
Cheese (sliced)	Only pasteurised cheese. Raw milk cheese is off limits for babies, says Gesund ins Leben. Strips, not cubes.
Cherries	Stone and quarter lengthways. Cherries are round like grapes.
Chia seeds	They swell a lot. Always soak them first, give at most about a teaspoon and plenty of liquid.
Chickpeas	Offer them cooked soft and mashed. Whole chickpeas are round and firm.
Chocolate / cocoa	Sugar plus caffeine traces, not needed in year one. The later the start, the longer it stays special.
Chocolate hazelnut spread	Mostly sugar and fat. Pure nut butter gives the nuts without the sugar trap.
Chocolate sprinkles (hagelslag)	The Dutch bread classic is pure sugar. Not needed in the first year, and happily longer than that.
Cinnamon	Sparingly and ideally Ceylon. Cheaper cassia cinnamon contains coumarin, which the BfR says toddlers tolerate only in small amounts.
Coconut (flakes/milk)	Stir coconut milk into purée or curry.
Coconut water	Not needed, water is the drink.
Coffee / cola / energy drinks	Caffeine has no place in babyhood or the toddler years. That includes cola, iced tea and energy drinks.
Cooked ham	A tiny amount of cooked ham, finely chopped into the purée.
Corn	Single kernels are small and smooth. Mash them at first or serve as polenta.
Corn cakes	As a big piece to suck on, unsalted.
Cornflakes (unsweetened)	Soaked in milk and mashed, unsweetened.
Cottage cheese	Choose a low salt kind.
Couscous / bulgur	Very soft and swollen, mixed with a little veg purée so it doesn't crumble.
Cow's milk	Drinking only towards the end of the first year, at most about 200 ml a day from a cup, says Gesund ins Leben. In porridge earlier is fine.
Cranberries	Fresh they are very sour, firm and round, so halve them. Dried ones are usually sweetened like sweets.
Cream (for cooking)	Stir a spoonful into the vegetables.
Cream cheese	Stir a little into the vegetables or spread it thinly on a strip of bread.
Cress	A few leaves finely chopped and sprinkled over the food.
Crispbread	Can break into hard splinters. Only once chewing is safe, and then thinly spread.
Croissant / pastry	As a rare exception the soft inside in strips.
Cucumber	Peeled, deseeded and as a finger-length stick to suck on.
Currants	Small and round, so mash them at first. They are quite sour and go well in cereal or compote.
Custard / pudding	Ready-made vla and pudding are sweetened. Unsweetened yoghurt with fruit purée is the baby version.
Dates	Always pit them and cut them small. And go easy, dates are almost pure sugar.
Dragon fruit	Ripe and peeled, mashed or as a soft wedge.
Dried fruit (sulphured)	Sulphured fruit contains sulphites, a major allergen that can irritate. Choose unsulphured, cut small and sparingly, it is full of sugar.
Duck	Only cooked all the way through. Remove the fatty skin for your baby.
Dumplings	Cook it soft and mash it, or hand over a piece to suck on.
Edamame	Round and smooth like peas, so shelled, cooked soft and mashed at first. Soy is a major allergen.
Egg	Only fully cooked, so hard boiled or baked through. No soft or raw egg in the first year.
Eggplant	Stewed or baked soft and puréed, with the skin removed.
Elderberries	ONLY cooked through, as juice or compote. Raw elderberries are not tolerated and cause nausea.
Fennel (vegetable)	Steamed soft as a purée or a finger-length wedge.
Feta / sheep's cheese	Very salty. Soak it in water first and only add a few crumbs. Buy pasteurised feta.
Figs	Fresh, ripe and peeled.
Fish fingers	As an exception, that works.
Flaxseed (ground)	Ground only, no more than half to one teaspoon, and with plenty of liquid. Whole seeds pass through undigested.
Fruit pouch	Not for constant sucking. Fruit sugar washes around the teeth, and nobody practises chewing. Better squeeze it onto a spoon.
Garlic	A tiny amount cooked in and finely crushed into the purée.
Ginger	A hint cooked into the food.
Gnocchi	Cook them soft and halve them for holding, or mash them.
Goat cheese (pasteurised)	Only from pasteurised milk. Raw milk kinds are off limits for babies.
Goat's milk	Like cow's milk. As a drink only towards the end of the first year, and only pasteurised. With a cow's milk allergy it is NO way out, because of cross-reactions.
Gooseberries	Round with a tough skin. Halve them or mash them.
Grapefruit	Segments without membranes, mashed and in a tiny amount.
Grapes	According to the AAP, whole grapes are one of the most common causes of choking. Always quarter lengthways, halving across is not enough.
Greek yogurt	A spoonful plain or with fruit purée, but only now and then.
Green beans	Only cooked right through. Raw green beans contain phasin, which is not tolerated.
Green spelt	As a fine green spelt porridge that you cook nice and soft.
Guacamole	Without salt from a spoon or spread thinly on a strip of bread.
Hazelnut butter	Stir a thin layer into the purée.
Herbs & mild spices	Finely chopped and cooked in, a small amount.
Herring	Only cooked through. Matjes and Bismarck herring are raw cured and off limits for babies, pickled herring is also very salty.
Honey	Honey can contain botulism spores and is off limits for the whole first year, says the BfR, even in traces and even boiled. Surprisingly many people do not know that.
Hummus	Homemade and without salt, from the spoon or spread thinly on a strip of bread.
Ice cream	Sugar, plus a germ risk with soft serve. Puréed frozen fruit is the baby version for teething.
Jam	Mostly sugar, and WHO and DGE advise none under the age of two. Use mashed fruit on bread instead.
Juice	Babies need no juice, lots of sugar, bad for coming teeth. If at all, heavily diluted with meals.
Kale	Braised soft and finely puréed, a small amount at first.
Kefir	A few spoonfuls plain or stirred with fruit purée are enough.
Kiwi	Ripe and peeled, mashed or as a soft wedge to hold.
Kohlrabi	Raw it is hard and snaps easily. In the first year only cooked soft.
Lamb	Lean meat, cooked right through and finely puréed in the vegetable purée.
Lamb's lettuce	Not raw yet.
Leaf lettuce	Raw, smooth leaves stick to the palate. Offer them only once chewing is reliable, cut into narrow strips.
Leek	Stewed soft and finely puréed, only the pale part.
Lemon / lime	A squeeze into the food is enough.
Lentils	Cook red lentils until they fall apart into a purée.
Linseed oil	Half a teaspoon cold over the finished purée.
Liver	Cooked through and finely puréed, only now and then and in small amounts.
Lupin flour / products	A small amount baked in or stirred into purée.
Lychee	Round, smooth and slippery like a grape, with a big stone. Pit it and quarter it lengthwise.
Mackerel	Cooked through, deboned and finely mashed into the purée.
Mango	Ripe and peeled, mashed or as a wedge.
Maple syrup	It is and stays sugar, and WHO and DGE say none under two. Ripe fruit sweetens porridge just as well.
Margarine	A small knob stirred into the vegetables.
May turnip	Cooked soft as purée or as a finger-length wedge.
Meatballs	Without salt and cooked well through.
Melon	Ripe and seedless as a finger-length stick to suck on, or mashed.
Mild spices (curry, cumin)	A pinch of mild spice cooked into the food.
Millet	As a fine purée, soft-cooked, happily with fruit purée.
Millet rings	One at a time to suck on, they dissolve in the mouth.
Mirabelle plum	Small, round and with a stone. Pit them and quarter them.
Mozzarella	Mini balls are round and slippery like grapes, so quarter them lengthwise. Only from pasteurised milk.
Mushrooms	Only serve mushrooms cooked right through, never raw.
Mussels	Only fully cooked through and cut small, mussels are chewy. Molluscs are a major allergen. Discard any that stay closed.
Mustard	A hint of mild mustard stirred into the sauce or meatball.
Napa cabbage	Steamed soft and finely puréed, or chopped and mixed into the purée.
Nashi pear	Peeled and steamed as a purée or soft wedge.
Nectarine	Ripe, without skin or stone, mashed or as a soft wedge to hold.
Nut butter (mixed)	Stir a thin layer into the purée, that is plenty.
Oat drink	Fine for cooking into porridge.
Oats	Fine oats, soaked soft in liquid and served as porridge.
Okra	Braised soft and puréed.
Olive oil	A teaspoon stirred into the vegetables.
Olives	Always pit them and quarter them lengthwise, they are round. Soak them well, olives are very salty.
Omelette / scrambled eggs	Let it set firmly. Runny scrambled egg is still half raw and off limits in the first year.
Onion	Cooked along and finely puréed in the vegetable purée.
Orange / mandarin	Segments without membrane, mashed or as a whole segment to suck on.
Other edible mushrooms	Only cultivated mushrooms and only cooked through. Self-picked mushrooms are off limits for babies.
Pancakes	Bake it without sugar, cook it through and cut it into finger length strips.
Papaya	Ripe, peeled and deseeded, mashed or as a wedge.
Parmesan	Very salty, just a touch over the food. Classic Parmesan is a raw milk cheese, to be safe choose pasteurised hard cheese.
Parsley root	Cooked soft as a purée or as a finger-thick stick.
Parsnip	Cooked soft as a purée or a finger-thick stick.
Passion fruit	Push the pulp through a sieve and stir it, seed free, into fruit purée.
Pasta	Cooked very soft, big grippable shapes like fusilli or penne, whole.
Peach	Ripe, without skin and stone.
Peanut butter	Only spread thinly or stirred into purée, thick blobs stick to the palate, warns the AAP. With eczema, check with a doctor first, advises the S3 guideline.
Peanut puffs (e.g. Bamba)	Unsalted, softened in breast milk or water and mashed.
Pear	Ripe and soft as a wedge to hold.
Peas	Small and round. Boil them soft and mash them lightly at the start.
Persimmon	Only fully ripe and jelly soft.
Pesto	Shop-bought is very salty, with raw-milk parmesan. Home-made without salt and with ground nuts is the baby version.
Physalis	Small and round. Always quarter it.
Pineapple	Ripe and without the core, finely puréed or as a large piece to suck on.
Plain yogurt	Plain whole milk yoghurt from the spoon or stirred with fruit purée.
Plum	Ripe and stoned, mashed or as a soft half.
Pointed cabbage	Braised soft and finely puréed, a small amount at first.
Polenta	Cooked creamy as porridge or cooled as a finger-length stick to hold.
Pollock	Cook it through and mash it finely into the purée.
Pomegranate	Small, round and firm. At first only the squeezed juice in cereal, whole seeds only once chewing is safe.
Popcorn	A choking risk, warns the AAP. The hard, light pieces are easily inhaled. Unsuitable for babies and toddlers.
Pork	Only cooked right through. No raw mince and no raw pork spread, says Gesund ins Leben.
Porridge / muesli (unsweetened)	Cook it fine and soft, with some fruit purée if you like.
Potato	Boiled soft as the base of the purée or as a large soft wedge to hold.
Poultry	Always cooked right through. Raw poultry can contain salmonella.
Pretzel	Rub off the coarse salt, lye pastry is salty. Soft pretzel arms are the most baby friendly form.
Pumpkin	Cooked soft as a purée or a finger-length wedge.
Pumpkin seed butter	Stir a thin layer into the purée, that is plenty.
Quark	A spoonful of whole milk quark stirred with fruit purée, only now and then.
Quince	Raw, it is rock hard. Only offer it cooked soft as a compote or purée.
Quinoa	Rinsed thoroughly, cooked very soft and stirred into veg purée.
Rabbit	Cook it through, carefully pick out every bone splinter and purée it finely.
Radishes	Hard, round and peppery. In the first year only finely grated or not at all.
Raisins	Soak them and purée them, and only now and then.
Rapeseed oil	Stir a teaspoon of rapeseed oil into every vegetable purée, it belongs there.
Raspberries	Mashed or as a whole soft berry.
Raw-milk cheese	Raw milk and its cheese are off limits for babies. They can carry listeria, says Gesund ins Leben.
Rhubarb	Only cooked, and because of the oxalic acid only occasionally. Raw rhubarb is not suitable for babies.
Rice	According to the BfR, rice can contain traces of arsenic. Alternate with other grains, no rice porridge every day.
Rice cakes	Handy, but the BfR advises restraint because of possible arsenic levels. Only now and then, not as a daily snack.
Rice drink	Unsuitable for babies and toddlers, the BfR warns of arsenic. No substitute for breast milk or formula.
Rice noodles	Cooked very soft, cut small and mashed.
Rice pudding (unsweetened)	Cook it without sugar, fruit purée instead of cinnamon sugar. Like all rice, alternate it and not daily, the BfR warns of arsenic.
Ricotta	Pasteurised, a spoonful stirred into vegetables or with fruit purée.
Rusk	Softens quickly in the mouth, which is why babies love it. Many kinds contain sugar though, so choose a sugar free one.
Rye	As a fine porridge from rye flakes, well soaked.
Salmon	Only cooked through. Raw fish is off limits for babies, smoked salmon too. Remove every bone.
Salt / very salty foods	Baby purée stays unsalted, says Gesund ins Leben, the kidneys are not ready yet. Leave out salty snacks and stock cubes too.
Salt sticks	Pure salt, just as the name says. Unsuitable in the first year, the kidneys are not ready for it yet.
Sardines	From the tin in oil and finely mashed into purée.
Sausage	Always halve or quarter round sausages lengthwise, the AAP advises. Sausage is salty, offer it only rarely.
Savoy cabbage	Braised soft and finely puréed, a small amount at first.
Seitan	Pure wheat protein, meaning gluten, and shop-bought often heavily seasoned and salty. Offer it unseasoned and cut soft.
Shrimp	Only fully cooked and cut small, shrimp are rubbery. Shellfish are a main allergen.
Skyr	A spoonful stirred with fruit purée, and only now and then.
Smoothie	Home-blended from fruit and veg from a spoon is fine. As an all-day drink too much fruit sugar, and shop-bought ones are often sweetened.
Sour cherries	Just like cherries. Pit them and quarter them lengthwise.
Soy drink	Fine for cooking into purée.
Soy yogurt (unsweetened)	Unsweetened from a spoon or with fruit purée, just a small amount at first.
Spaetzle	Cooked soft and mashed, or hand over single soft spaetzle to hold.
Spanish tortilla	Only when fully set. A runny centre is raw egg and must not be liquid for a baby.
Spelt	As a fine porridge from spelt semolina or flakes, soaked soft.
Spelt sticks	One stick to suck and gnaw on, without sugar and without salt.
Spinach	Freshly cooked and finely puréed, in small amounts and only now and then.
Sprouts	Raw off limits for babies, the BfR warns of germs up to EHEC. Heated through in the pan they are fine.
Squid	Rubbery and chewy, so hard to chew. Only braised very soft and cut fine. Molluscs are a major allergen.
Strawberries	Mashed or cut into thin slices.
Sugar & sweets	No added sugar under age 2, say the WHO and DGE, and no sweetened pouches or biscuits either. Hard sweets are a choking risk on top.
Sugar snap peas	Steamed soft and with the strings removed, as a whole pod to hold or puréed.
Sunflower seed butter	Stir a thin layer into the purée.
Swede / rutabaga	Cooked soft as a purée or as a finger-length wedge to hold.
Sweet potato	Cooked soft as a purée or a finger-length wedge.
Tahini (sesame paste)	Stirred thinly into the purée, a small amount at first.
Tempeh	Steamed and finely mashed, or as a soft strip to hold.
Toast	Lightly toasted in finger length strips.
Tofu	Soft tofu mashed, or as a finger-length strip to hold.
Tomato	Cherry tomatoes are round like grapes. Always quarter them lengthways.
Tomato sauce (passata)	Stirred without salt into purée or pasta sauce.
Tortilla / wrap	Soft and cut into finger-length strips, thinly spread with purée.
Trout	Only cooked through, and debone it very carefully. Trout have lots of fine bones.
Tuna	Big predatory fish like tuna accumulate mercury, so only rarely for babies. Better choose salmon, pollock or trout.
Unsweetened tea	Unsweetened and lukewarm from a cup, only now and then.
Vanilla	A little real vanilla seed stirred into porridge.
Veggie mash (stamppot)	Without salt and mashed fine, then it is a purée.
Venison	Cook it through and purée it finely into the vegetable mash.
Waffles (unsweetened)	Unsweetened, baked soft and cooked through.
Water	A few sips from an open cup with meals.
Watermelon	Remove the seeds. At first cut out the small white ones as well.
Wheat / semolina	As a fine semolina porridge, cooked soft.
White / red cabbage	Braised soft for a long time and finely puréed, a small amount at first.
White bean spread	Without salt from a spoon or spread thinly on a strip of bread.
White fish (e.g. cod)	Only cooked through, and remove every bone first.
Whole nuts	Whole nuts are THE classic choking cause, off limits until about age 4, say the BfR and AAP. As butter or finely ground they are absolutely fine.
Zucchini	Steamed soft as a purée or a finger-length stick.

Sources: WHO and UNICEF on texture stages, ESPGHAN 2017 on the lumpy-food window in months 8 to 10.

This page gives general information and does not replace medical or dietetic advice. Every child develops differently. When in doubt, talk to your paediatrician or a registered dietitian.

The ages are rough guides. What counts is not the calendar but what your child can already do with mouth and hands.

The five safety rules

Quarter round food lengthwise. Grapes, cherries and cherry tomatoes never go on the plate whole.
Cook hard food soft or grate it finely. Raw carrot and raw apple break into hard pieces otherwise.
Nuts are never whole, only as a butter or finely ground.
Eating happens sitting upright, never lying down and never on the move.
Stay with your baby while they eat. Choking happens silently.

⚠️ If your child chokes or can't breathe, call the emergency number straight away: 112 in the EU, 999 in the UK, 911 in the US.

Sources: AAP, the German BfR and Netzwerk Gesund ins Leben. All dangerous foods at a glance

All 234 foods in the app

HeyFini shows the preparation that fits your own child's age, plus the food passport and the allergen companion for all 14 main allergens.

Download on the App Store

Scan with your iPhone

apps.apple.com/app/id6782487896

Common questions

How many foods are in this list?

234, all from the checked catalogue inside the HeyFini app. Each one carries its traffic-light colour and the core in one sentence.

What do the colours mean?

Green means well suited and fine from the start of solids. Amber means allowed, but the shape or the amount decides. Red means not in the first year.

Why doesn't every food have its own page?

45 foods have a full page with the preparation for 6, 9 and 12 months. For all the others the core is here in the list, and the full preparation by age lives in the app.

Where do these statements come from?

From the app's food catalogue. It leans on the German BfR, Netzwerk Gesund ins Leben, the AAP, WHO, UNICEF, ESPGHAN and the S3 guideline on allergy prevention.

By Felix & Merle · Josefine's parents

We built HeyFini out of our own days with a baby. What you read here comes from the app's food catalogue, which leans on the German BfR, Netzwerk Gesund ins Leben, the AAP, WHO, UNICEF, ESPGHAN and the S3 guideline on allergy prevention. More in our story. Last updated: 3 September 2026.

Read on

Bell pepper Grapes Egg Peanut butter Honey Avocado Banana Broccoli Carrot Potato Sweet potato Cucumber

General guidance, not medical advice. For questions about your child, talk to your paediatrician or midwife. In an emergency call your local emergency number (112 in the EU, 999 in the UK, 911 in the US).