How long has baby food been around?
Sarah Martinez
Updated on April 14, 2026
Similarly, you may ask, how long has Gerber baby food been around?
Gerber was founded in 1927 in Fremont, Michigan, by Daniel Frank Gerber, owner of the Fremont Canning Company, which produced canned fruit and vegetables. At the suggestion of a pediatrician, Gerber's wife, Dorothy, began making hand-strained food for their seven-month-old daughter, Sally.
Likewise, when did baby formula get invented? In 1865, chemist Justus von Liebig developed, patented, and marketed an infant food, first in a liquid form and then in a powdered form for better preservation. Liebig's formula—consisting of cow's milk, wheat and malt flour, and potassium bicarbonate—was considered the perfect infant food (Radbill, 1981).
In respect to this, what did they feed babies in the old days?
Infants in ancient Greece were fed wine and honey, while Indian children in the second Century AD were given "diluted wine, soups and eggs" at six months of age. In the US, donkey's milk was often seen as a suitable alternative to breast milk.
What did babies drink before formula was invented?
Dippy bread and cereal. Between the 16th and 18th century some babies were fed via bread soaked in water, sugared water or cow's milk. Others were fed cereal cooked in bone broth.