Questions & Answers

How do I use your spice and herbes range?

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On every product page on this website we try to guide you in how to use our products:

  • Go to: “our product” page
  • click on “spice discoveries” 
  • select one of our spice & herbs mixtures 
  • scroll down for the “how to use” segment

In general, our spice mixtures can be used to season your home-made purees & meals, since the first bites of your little ones. Simply add a pinch (or more if your little one is a real foodie) of the mixture during the cooking. 

The spices will help developing your babies’ palate, give a sense of adventure to all your recipes (including “boring” vegetables”) & reduce the need for super addictive salt and sugar as they infuse food with flavour.

How do I use your sauces range?

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On every product page on this website we try to guide you in how to use our products:

  • Go to: “our product” page
  • click on “sauce discoveries” 
  • select one of our sauces 
  • scroll down for the “how to use” segment

In general, our super tasty sauces are packed with only good ingredients (vegetables, spices, herbs, …) and are made to make you save time in home-cooking and make it super easy. No need to be a top chef to be able to serve your little ones a delicious, appropriate home-made meal.

Our sauces will help with the development of your babies’ palate, are adapted to your little one’s taste buds & needs and will help them to accept new foods much easier, as any new food will be more welcome if it comes with something they already love. 

What is the difference between a confiture and a preparation?

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A confiture is a preparation of fruits with lots of added sugar. As our fresh harvested, premium quality, ripe fruits are already sweet, we do not see the need to add any sugar to our fruit preparations/spreads. As the only have the natural sugars of the fruits, no added ones, we cannot call them confitures.

As we do not add any nasty sugar, our spreads glorify the pure taste of the fruits, with some spices and herbs. This makes them perfect for your little ones, and even for your whole family.

Why are your preparations only from 3 years old?

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Baby laws are very strict. Very strict in lots of quality matters but especially in sugar & salt levels. As fresh fruits naturally contain high levels of fructose, that need to be declared in the nutritional values as “natural sugar” (even though our spreads do not have any added nasty sugar) they are too high in sugar level to respect baby food legislation. 

Can I leave your smoothies, sauces, spreads and soups outside the fridge? 

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Yes. All these products have been pasteurized, so they can easily be stored outside the fridge, if direct sunlight and too hot temperatures are avoided. The expiry date printed on the jar, is the expiry date for the product, stored cool or at room temperature. 

However, we advise you to put the smoothies in the fridge several hours before drinking them, it makes them so much yummier! If your little ones cannot finish the portion at once, you can store it in the fridge for 24h. Do not forget to shake the smoothie before serving it.

The sauces, spreads and soups also need to be stored in the fridge after opening. Please follow the storing recommendations on the label of each product.

 

Can I freeze some of your products?

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We do not advice to freeze our products. First of all, most of our products have been pasteurized, dried, … so they have a very acceptable expiry date (min. 1 year, max. 3 years). After opening:

  • Our spices and herbs, porridge, pasta & olive oil can still be used according to the expiry date, if they are stored at room temperature, in a dry place and away from direct sunlight. It is important that they are correctly closed and handled to avoid any risk of cross contamination. 
  • Our sauces, spreads, soups and preparations, can be enjoyed a second time if our portions are too big for your little ones to eat at once. However, please follow the storing advice indicated on the label of each product.
  • Our snacks are single portions, normally perfect for a hungry little one. After opening, it is recommended to enjoy them within 24hours. Especially because after that they will lose their texture and crunchiness. 

If, however you do still feel the need to freeze our products, you can do it on your own responsibility, however, it might have an impact on the taste and texture of our products.

If you freeze our products (in glass jars):

From a taste point of view, we advise you to consume the products within 2 or 3 months after freezing, this process resulting in a crystallization of water molecules. To sum up, the longer you leave a product in the freezer, the less tasty it will be!

And most importantly, let us remind you that it is important not to freeze a product that has already been unfrozen!

Can I take your products on a plane?

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If the product is correctly closed, there should be no problem to take our products with you on a plane. Be aware that most of our products are packed in glass jars and can break. Of course, consult the max. volume you can take with you before packing them.

Our snacks are a perfect treat for your little ones during a flight and… will keep them busy and calm while eating them.

How can I heat up your products?

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Always follow the instructions on the packaging.

It is of course important to always avoid heating our sauces too much for your little ones. Always try whatever you are serving your baby first to check the temperature. The best way to heat our sauces is “au bain marie”, or in a small pot or pan on low heat. 

Heating whatever product in the microwave is not recommended. Several studies have shown that microwaves heat food unevenly. This results in "hot spots" that can scald a baby's mouth and throat.

 

Can I recycle your packaging?

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As you can see by the green point logo on our labels, we are a member of Fost Plus. This means that we pay a contribution to Fost Plus for every sold packaging. Fost Plus is in charge of recycling, sorting and selectively collect household packaging. 

We also try to avoid all plastic materials and choose consciously for more ecological friendly materials as glass and tin. None of our packaging contain BPA.

Mixes of herbs and spices for babies, why?

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Using herbs and spices for babies is really important for several reasons :

- To add flavour to your little one's meals. Because they too prefer tasty food ! And that's the only way to teach them that healthy meals can also be the most delicious. Only then, they will make the right choices later. And, also later in life you prefer to give flavour with spices and herbs, then with salt or sugar.

- Because your baby's palate is growing and needs some help to develop itself to be better prepared to their first exposure to very addictive mono-flavours as salt and sugar ! And, palate development is so easy when their young (4m+). It is therefore imperative to expose them, from 15 weeks, to a multitude of tastes and flavours. Herbs and spices are ideal for this. It is absolutely necessary to avoid that the first tastes that a child encounters is salt and / or sugar. This seems to have consequences for the rest of their lives.

- The period between 6 months and 2 years is called the gastronomic golden age. During this period, the children are open and curious. They want to discover the world around them. And ... they have the same curiosity about their plates: if they eat bland and boring dishes, they will find it boring ...Add spice mixes and they will be intrigued, fascinated by the multitude of tastes and flavors it will bring them.

For your information, this is not only my opinion ;-) Pediatricians and dieticians all agree on the importance of the development of the palate and strongly recommend the use of herbs and spices from an early age.

How are Sienna & Friends' spice mixtures different then those for adults found in store ?

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Before launching Sienna & Friends, I worked for 10 years in the herbs and spices industry.

So unfortunately, I know very well that almost ALL spice & herbs mixtures contain very high levels of salt (because it is not expensive and it is a flavour enhancer), and they mostly even contain added sugar, additives, gluten, etc. Again, all these ingredients are wayyyy less expensive then spices and herbs, so are used as cheap fillers, that do give taste.

Also, spices and herbs are natural products, recolted and dried, mostly in Asian and African countries in an old-school way. Meaning that, if they are not properly steam-treated, they do contain a risk in terms of food safety. This risk is ofcourse even higher for babies and can cause cases of salmonella, listeria, etc.. Not what we want ....

But another very important difference between our mixes and the "adult ones" is their taste. Adult mixes are not suitable for a baby's palate. A baby's palate is more developed than ours. It's fully developped at the age of 15 weeks and degrades with age. They therefore taste everything so much more intensely then us. So in our mixes we balance the taste and avoid all extreme tastes: too spicy, too bitter, too sour etc. We stimulate their palate gently with round flavours. The "adult" mixes all contain pepper, spicy paprika, high levels of lemon extract etc. and will so mostly not be liked by babies and young children. 

This also means that you can not really "over season" with our mixes as it will not make your plate "to salty, to spicy or too whatever", it will only be more flavourfull;-)

Our herbal and spice blends are all 100% organic, steam-treated, triple tested, salt-free, sugar-free, gluten-free, additive-free and suitable for the palate of babies and children. And I assure you, they are validated by little ones and ... their parents ! "

Sienna's mom

Where is the allergen information on your labels?

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All allergens are declared on our labels and put in evidence so that you can easily identify them. You can find them in bold in the ingredient lists. 

On the other hand, in order to guarantee the total absence of traces, the regulation imposes to indicate if potentially allergenic products are used in the same factory for other products. The risk of cross contamination is then not 0% but remains very low and is limited in the worst cases to traces. For your safety, we also indicate this risk of cross contamination on our labels as “may contain”.

Are some of your products gluten-free?

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All our products, with exception of the following ones are gluten free:

Mini Conchigliette  Gluten
Mini Ditalini with Veggies Gluten
Mini GrissiniGluten& Lactose

In our porridge and raw snacks, we use gluten free oats. Oats are naturally a gluten free grain. However, often they are processed in a factory that also treats grains with gluten, which includes a risk of cross contamination of the allergen. To avoid this risk, we only source 100% gluten free oats that are processed in a gluten free factory.

 

If your little ones are intolerant or sensible to gluten, you might be interested in our gluten free pasta options. These are made with white or brown rice or with chickpeas. Your kids will love them, and probably you too…

What is your view on allergen?

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Most of our products do not have any allergens. BUT on advice of our pediatric dietitian, we decided to include some products with allergens. As you can read in her blog article on this subject, Gisèle and all of her colleagues agree that it is not a good idea to avoid allergens, IF (and only if) your little ones do not have a food allergy. Keeping them from trying some allergens could possibly have the opposite effect and make your little ones more susceptible to become intolerant or sensible to certain foods. 

Do you have some vegan products?

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We want to propose flavoursome products for ALL home-cooking parents; vegetarian, vegan, flexitarian,and those who cannot live without their piece of meat. Our dream is to develop the palates of your little ones and to make their plates yummy. The decision of yes or no to educate your sweethearts with animal products is a personal one.

That is why all our recipes exclude animal products, with two exceptions:

Mini Grissini They contain a bit of cheese
Zucchini & Basil PestoContains some Parmesan cheese

These products are vegetarian but not vegan.

Why not use pouches?

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We believe that eating is more than just being fed… Learning your little one good and healthy eating habits starts in the grocery store, continues in the kitchen and ends around the family dinner table. It is so important to learn your kids what ingredients look like, how they smell, how they change during cooking, what colours and textures they have. All that is taken away by putting their meal in a pouch… Ok, they are convenient and useful for traveling, but they put a big aluminum wall between the ingredients and your kid’s mouth. This makes it so much harder for them to, after 3 years, to start eating “as an adult” and manage different colours, textures, flavours… 

We also believe that an important factor in learning your little one healthy eating habits is to eat, as much as possible with your kids, around the dinner table. Not only because it is a precious moment for your little ones to spent with you, but also because they learn so much from you, from your eating habits, your table manners… So, don’t forget to set a good example! On the contrary the pouch makes mealtimes blur into all-day, everywhere snacking habits.

Last but not least… Pouches are not an ecological packaging option AND eating from pouch seems to be bad for the teeth of our darling little ones.

Do you add salt to your products?

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Never for babyfood products! 

 

We only add a pinch of salt in our ketchup (3years +) because we need some to make the taste acceptable for kids and because it helps conservation. But we reduced the level to a strict minimum, compared to all other options in the market.

Who is responsible for Sienna’s recipes?

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Sienna’s mummy.

Most of our recipes are based on recipes that I love making for my kids. Of course, I adapted them to respect the very strict baby food laws, so that they can be produced on a large scale and so that they can have an acceptable expiry date.

 

All recipes have been talked through and are approved by our pediatric dietician Gisèle Gual. 

Several products have been added on her demand or on the demand of the mums that we surveyed during the launch of our company.

 

Do you add any additives, conservatives or other things in your products?

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Never! 

All our products are 100% natural without any nasties. If our products have a good shelf life it is simply because they have been pasteurized. As they do not have any additives though, they need to be kept in the refrigerator and consumed quickly after opening. More detailed information for every product is available on the labels. 

How come your products have a long shelf life?

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Most of our products are pasteurized, which makes it possible to store them at room temperature for several months without any microbiological risk. We try to keep the temperature during our pasteurization as low as possible to minimize the impact this has on flavour, texture and food quality. We always try to find the perfect balance between keeping as much as healthy nutrients and savours in our recipes and offering you a microbiological food safe product.

Is it good to introduce herbs & spices at a young age?

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I even dare to say: the earlier the better! Pediatricians and pediatric dieticians agree that we can and should broaden babies’ palates with the use of herbs and spices as early as 6 months, or even before.

 

It is during their gastronomic golden age (before they turn 1) that little ones are most open for new flavours. This goes hand in hand with their natural curiosity at that early age. Everything they learn to eat before the age of neophobia is a win, as most likely they will not see this as new and continue to eat it during their childhood, when most children are afraid of all new foods. It even seems that our food habits when we were two are a pretty accurate gauge of how we will eat when we are twenty, thirty, forty, …

 

So, it is super important that we learn our little one’s good eating habits since the start. That we learn them to love healthy food and to make good food choices, so that they can grow up avoiding diseases linked to bad eating. But for that, it is necessary that your little ones, enjoy, love what they are eating. That is why professional advices changed the last years. While before advices were to feed babies’ bland foods, now it is “the more flavourful and colourful the better”. The sky is the limit!

 

Spices and herbs are the best partners to give a sense of adventure to all your recipes and to jazz up “boring” ingredients for your little foodies. They also reduce the need for super addictive salt and sugar as they infuse food with flavour. Offering only bland food to your babies, has the risk that the first time they come in contact with addictive flavours (salt/sugar), they will only want that…

Do you add sugar to your products?

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Never for babyfood products! 

 

We only add a pinch of sugar in our ketchup (3years +) because we need some to make the taste acceptable for kids and because it helps conservation. But we reduced the level to a minimum, compared to all other options in the market.

 

We also use a pinch of agave syrup in our coconut cacao raw snack and a pinch of Maple syrup in our apple cinnamon raw snack. We need it for the texture and to very slightly compensate the bitter taste of the raw cacao. Again, the level used is reduced to a maximum.

Which of your products contain allergen?

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Most of our products do not have any allergens.

BUT on advice of our pediatric dietitian, we decided to include some products with allergens. As you can read in her blog article on this subject, Gisèle and all of her colleagues agree that it is not a good idea to completely avoid allergens, IF (and only if) your little ones do not have a food allergy. Keeping them from trying some allergens could possibly have the opposite effect and make your little ones more susceptible to become intolerant or sensible to certain foods. 

The following recipes do contain an allergen:

My 1st CurryMuster seeds
Chestnut & Vanilla SpreadChestnut (even if chestnut is not actually seen as an allergen)
Zucchini & Basil Pesto Lactose (Parmesan cheese)
Mini Cochigliette  Gluten
Mini Ditalini with Veggies Gluten
Mini Grissini Gluten & Lactose
Coco Cacao Raw Snack Tree nuts (Cashew)
Apple Cinnamon Raw SnackTree nuts (Almonds)

Of course, all allergens are declared on our labels and put in evidence so that you can easily identify them.

On the other hand, in order to guarantee the total absence of traces, the regulation imposes to indicate if potentially allergenic products are used in the same factory for other products. The risk of cross contamination is then not 0% but remains very low and is limited in the worst cases to traces. For your safety, we also indicate this risk of cross contamination on our labels as “may contain”.

 

I mainly cook at home. Why would I use Sienna’s products?

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Our products are especially designed to help parents like you!

To help you:

  • Save time in your home cooking. By using our vegetable sauces, spice mixtures, spreads, delicious healthy snacks, … to create flavoursome meals for your little foodies.
  • Jazz up your recipes. With our spice mixtures, spreads and sauces. So that your kids too can have tasty food, that they will love.
  • Eliminate your concerns about ingredient suitability. Because it is not always easy to know what you can and cannot use in your recipes, what will be liked, what is suitable, …
  • Introduce new tastes and flavours to your little ones. All our products are designed to tickle the taste buds & develop an adventurous palate. We flavour all our recipes with some spices and herbs, because these are the best ingredients to expose little ones to new tastes and to develop their palates. They give a sense of adventure to all her recipes. 

But most importantly, we hope our products will teach your children to love healthy food forever!

And don’t forget, our recipes are made as you would make it at home!

 

What makes Sienna & Friends different from other baby food brands?

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We believe to be one of the first brands that propose solutions to help parents who cook at home or who wants to cook home-cooked meals for their little ones. We do not propose whole made meals, but only facilitate home cooking and offer healthy snack options. 

 

Our products are designed to tickle and wake up the palate of babies and toddlers, to help parents to save time in home cooking, to jazz up their recipes and eliminate their concerns about ingredient suitability.

What is your biggest dream?

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It saddens us to see that so many babies, toddlers and kids are in poor health; growing up with obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, etc. 

We believe that over-processed, over-sweetened, over-salted, empty calories & all-day-long snacking have something to do with that. As our taste buds naturally steer us towards sweet and salty foods, it is only natural that once they are used to these flavours, children come to prefer them & even feel that they need them. But these foods, which make them smile for a while, have lasting consequences for their health.

Our dream is that “nutritional intelligence”, the ability to recognize, choose and enjoy healthy & nutritious foods, can be given as a precious gift from parents to all their little ones. So that hopefully, all of them grow up as healthy as possible, and will educate their kids in the same way later, when they are all grown up.

What is our contribution in helping to achieve our biggest dream? 

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We want to help little ones to develop healthy eating habits that will last a lifetime. To achieve that we want to motivate, educate & facilitate parents to serve their little ones tasty home-made meals. 

Our organics products are designed to tickle taste buds and wake up the palate of babies and toddlers, to help parents to save time in home cooking, to jazz up their recipes and eliminate their concerns about ingredient suitability. 

What other good do you do as a company?

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Sienna & Friends decided that, for each product sold, they will put some money aside and use it to purchase products from Nutriset. 

Since its foundation in 1986, Nutriset has set itself the goal of feeding vulnerable populations in developing countries and providing humanitarian workers with innovative and effective nutritional solutions. In cooperation with its partners, Nutriset has been able to implement radical changes in the treatment and prevention of the different forms of malnutrition. 

To fulfil its mission, "nutritional autonomy for all", the company has massively invested in research, developed a range of products to reach different target populations, and encouraged local production as close as possible to the recipients.

Sienna & Friends hopes to make a small contribution to this amazing project and to help some kids to wake up and fall asleep without an empty little belly. Because with an empty belly, it is even so much harder to learn and grow in live.  

You can consult their website for more information on their marvelous project. https://www.nutriset.fr 

We also support the “Sapere Movement”, which shares a lot of our beliefs. 

This Movement shows that it is possible to educate little ones to the pleasure of food and that doing so will set the children up for a lifetime of healthy eating. Eating healthy is first and foremost learning; learning by senses, learning by playing. Based on the belief that teaching children about good food provides the essentials for a long-term balanced diet, the movement gives “taste courses” which already convinced Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland, the Netherlands and France! The method is based on learning using the senses… From taste to touch, they are the ones we need to learn to stimulate! 

 

Where can I buy your products?

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You will find all our points of sale in the section "Our points of sale" on the home page of our e-shop.

You can also order on our e-shop for home delivery. All our products are in the section "Our products".

Do you sell your products online?

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Yes, absolutely !

All you have to do is to click on the section "Our products" on our home page. Then, choose "All Products" to arrive on our e-shop.

You can also buy our products on our partners' e-shops.

Do not hesitate to sign up for our newsletter to stay informed.

What do I have to do if my order is not validated but I have been debited ?

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Don't worry, if you have been debited and you did not receive the order confirmation e-mail, you will be refunded automatically in the next 2 working days. If not, contact us and we will personally refund you. 

There are two main reasons : 

1) Sometimes, when you stay too long on the payment page, the order is canceled but the payment is "temporarily" made.

2) The banksystem is doing an "payment" update. That may take a few hours to update and that explains why the order is not taken into account during this time.

We are so sorry for this inconvenience, unfortunately it's out of our hands!

We suggest you to order again if you can, or to wait until the money is back on your account (within 2 days). To show good faith, you can send us your order by e-mail and we can prepare it. You can pay us when you are refunded.

Feel free to contact us if you have any question or problem, we will happy to answer you quickly !