Babies’ taste preferences are influenced even before birth.
Flavours in their mums’ diets such as garlic, curry, anise, banana and vanilla are carried into the placenta and through to the amniotic fluid so babies are exposed to various flavours while still in the womb.
Similarly, flavours in the diet of breastfeeding mums find their way into their breastmilk. These flavours may even influence babies’ future food preferences. As a result of this early exposure to a variety of tastes, breastfed infants get a taste for family foods as opposed to formula-fed infants.