Healthy Times Baby Cereals -- Puzzled

M

miao

Registered User
I used to buy Healthy Times Baby Cereals from PnS but recently just bought four packs from City Super. Today I found that the ones I bought from City Super are different from the ones from PnS. Although the package looks the same at a glance, the City Super ones are 6oz and the PnS ones are 8oz. Also the City Super ones have a plastic bag containing the cereal inside the box, whereas for the PnS ones the cereal is just in the box. And the PnS ones have the openning on the box from which you can pour the cereal out, whereas the City Super ones do not have such openning.

I checked the Healthy Times website and they only have the 8oz ones there. I'm wondering whether anyone who bought the cereal from City Super has noticed this? Guess I shouldn't worry about the authenticity of stuff bought from City Super, but just wanted to make sure.
 
Have you checked to see where the product is distributed. I buy a formula that comes in 2 different types of packaging, different scoops, different labels etc but it's because one is packaed for the Asian market in Indonesia and the other is packaged for the UK and European market in Spain.

Or it could be that one is an old style packaging and one a new style - the web would reflect current product but it's possible that old stock is still on the shelves.
 
In the USA Healthy Times comes in a box with a spout and plastic around the outside. I think it must be a regional thing.
 
hi there

i think the ones that u bought from City Super are the new packaging and the ones from PnS are the old packaging. I have a mommy in Spore that the old packaging have recd quite a lot of complains. Reason being of their flimsy packaging, (with no plastic and opening at the side of the box) there was once, my friend opened and found baby cockroaches inside! She wrote to Healthy Times in Sg, and they confirmed that they had a problem with one of the shipment (something to do with an accident and that shipment was spoiled, some cracked etc). So, they looked into it and decided to change their packaging.
 
Healthy Times Brown Rice Cereal - Warning!!!!

I am soooooo annoyed and upset and angry... Just opened up a new box of Healthy Times Organic Brown Rice Cereal that I had bought a few weeks ago and BOY was I shocked!! Instead of brown rice in the plastic bag within the box, I found BARLEY CEREAL! The difference was unmistakeable - it was definitely barley because I've bought their barley cereal before and I know what it looks like - the barley grains look totally different from rice grains.

HOW COULD THIS HAVE HAPPENED? What a flagrant, not to mention DANGEROUS packaging mistake on the part of the manufacturers?? What if my baby were allergic to barley and I were new to this and didn't know the diff between the look of barley and rice grains? I am outraged.

Has anyone else experienced anything like this wrt to the HT brand or any brand? I am dying to write to SOMEONE to complain but not sure how to do this or what to do or even if it's worth it... I think HT is the only brand in HK offering organic BROWN rice cereal - please let me know if I am wrong.

Thanks!!
 
i give this cereal - brown rice, barley, oats to my baby and he loves it....i wish they would give it in a plastic packagaing though instead of straight in the box ....but u can visit healthytimes.com ...their pack also has a phone number and address that u can use....do let know the result, all the best
 
Yes I will do that... Actually, this was my first time finding the plastic packaging in the box. All the previous times I've bought the brown rice cereal, it was straight out of the box and there were no mistakes (ie - brown rice was actually in the box saying "Brown Rice"!). So I am very skeptical now of the plastic packaging inside the box.

I wonder if I am the only one who has experienced this grave error on the part of the manufacturers/distributors/packaging companies? I hope no mother has given their baby barley thinking it was brown rice, because of such false packaging...
 
I just opened a pack of the brown rice cereal yesterday, which I haven't had before and was surprised to see that it most certainly wasn't brown rice cereal but oatmeal.. I too want to complain. Luckily I have given them this before so recognised it and can use it, but I wanted brown rice cereal! I also think that for a baby food manufacturer to package wrong is really bad, if you don't know what it looks like then you could give it to the baby as you say and get a bad reaction.

Not sure who to complain to, the number on the box is a US number so can't really call that and there's no listed distributor on the box for HK.
 
clowe77, thx for letting us know. I haven't had such problem so far, but will keep a close eye on the content.
 
Hi, I started feeding solids to my girl about 2 weeks ago and I have the brown rice and the oatmeal cereal in plastic packaging. Which one is darker in color - the rice or the oatmeal? I have been feeding her the one that is lighter in color and the box says Brown Rice cereal.
 
Wow, that is a really terrible mistake. But I think all Healthy Times cereals are not that allergic, and in my baby's experience, pretty similar in terms of taste. In the early days, there were times when there was no rice or oatmeal, and I just gave him barley or even multigrain which was fine.

For other organic cereal, there is also Earth's Best which comes in a similar sized box.
 
yes but Earth's Best is not brown rice, or is it?

gosh, this is terrible... how do we know what we are feeding our babies now??

noc, there are quite a number of babies who are allergic to barley and even have negative reactions from oatmeal, which is why RICE cereal is highly recommended as baby's first food. this is totally inexusable on the part of the distributor, or whoever is in charge of the packaging. honestly, how infuriating.

rani, thanks for contacting them - please let me know what happens...

diylim, gosh i don't know the answer to our question, as i haven't fed my baby oatmeal yet so i don't know how it looks in comparison to rice... this is awful that we cannot trust the packaging on such a "reputable" brand product to reflect what is truly inside! awful!!!
 
Healthy Times Premium Organic Baby Cereal

Dear Mums,
Healthy Times has made some changes to our baby cereal so that the cereal can now dissolve in any temperature of liquid. This is a great improvement for mums who cannot heat up the liquid for the baby cereal if they are out. The grains are steamed as usual and then cut into flakes. Because the product is cut into flakes, the appearance could be a little different. I assure you that you are getting the grain that the box states. We produce all rice on one day. We produce all oat on one day. And then all barley on one day and all mixed grain on one day. The products never have gotten switched. Our plant has a large quality assurance team that watches and tests the product before and after production. There is no chance of getting a different grain in the box. The new cereals appear a little different because of the above. You are getting the only organic whole grain baby cereal that is fully supplemented for your babies healthy growth and development. There is no dairy, no soy, no nuts, no eggs in any of our product line, including the cereals. Rondi
 
Healthy Times New Packaging

In reply to the packaging, I just wanted to let you know that we have changed the packaging in the last few months to a bag inside a box. We decided that since mums pour the cereal in an airtight container, the bag in box would be the best option. Also, concerning storing any grain products. Our products are manufactured under very strict organic and FDA regulations. The grains are tested before and after production. We call out the specifications and do not accept any ingredient that does not meet the specifications. If a distributor or store does not store the cereals correctly, grain weevils can infest the cereal. You may have seen this in other grain products. The cereal must be stored in an airtight container and not in a hot enviroment with no moisture. All grain products when stored incorrectly can become infested. Healthy Times is a trusted brand with over 28 years on the market. My passion is to provide mums with clean, healthy, non-allergen, organic products that are consistant in quality and flavor. Rondi (Founder)
 
Dear Mums,
My Hong Kong agent is below for any questions or concerns you may have. Thank you for sharing in my committment to giving your baby a healthy start. Rondi, Healthy Times Founder
HK agent can be contacted at 852 2522 1198
 
fennho said:
hi there

i think the ones that u bought from City Super are the new packaging and the ones from PnS are the old packaging. I have a mommy in Spore that the old packaging have recd quite a lot of complains. Reason being of their flimsy packaging, (with no plastic and opening at the side of the box) there was once, my friend opened and found baby cockroaches inside! She wrote to Healthy Times in Sg, and they confirmed that they had a problem with one of the shipment (something to do with an accident and that shipment was spoiled, some cracked etc). So, they looked into it and decided to change their packaging.
Click to expand...

Hi Fennho, this is Yuin Pin, the distributor for HealthyTimes in Singapore. We would like to clarify that no baby cockroaches were found. Instead, some insects, similar to rice weevils known as biscuits beetles or weevils were found. Upon investigation with my warehouse supervisor after a few feedbacks, we discovered some crushed cartons in one of the pallet. The freight forwarder in US did not load the cartons into the container properly as they were stacked right to the brim and thus inevitably causing some cartons at the bottom to be crushed. This is the first time that this had happened. The crushed cartons probably allow for infestation of the weevils. some surrounding cartons may have been infected through this manner. This has absolutely nothing got to do with the quality of the grains or manufacturing process. We have apologised and explained to the mummies who feedback to us.
As a safety precaution, we have done the following:
1) Throw away all the remaining cereals on this pallet.
2) Exchange those from this pallet that had been sent out to organic outlets, as well as supermarkets,
with those from the unaffected pallets.
3) Change our freight forwarding company and gave instructions to the new one not to overstack the
cartons on the pallets.
4) Clean up the entire warehouse.

Once again, we would like to apologise for this unfortunate episode. We would like to assure all mummies in Singapore that we have taken all necessary precautions to prevent any re-occurrence.
 
I have also found and bought Earth's Best Organic Cereals in Hong Kong--at City Super. They have rice, oats and mixed grain.


Earth's Best
 
HTBaby / YuinpinLee - Thanks for stopping by. Good to see that the principals involved in the business can share info with the readers.
 
HTBaby - thanks for the clarification, I do think though that it may be helpful to let parents know when products change. As you can see we're all very concerned about what we're feeding our babies and when a product changes in looks it can be really daunting, especially if it looks (and tastes) the same as another product you sell. I think everyone is more nervous these days after the melamine issue in China to ensure their babies are getting all natural and guaranteed products.

I love healthy times for my twins, just wish it wasn't out of stock everywhere so often!!
 
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