Reusable food pouches are a convenient and relatively mess-free way to store food and feed young children. They're particularly handy when you're on the go with constantly hungry kids, whether that's out shopping, camping, in the car or on a plane.
You can fill them with ingredients of your choosing, such as natural yoghurt or homemade purées. And they're better for both the environment and your hip pocket than the single-use supermarket versions.
So how easy are they to use? How long do they last? And how much money can they save you? Our triallists (and their kids) put seven reusable food pouches through their paces to find out. See how we test for details.
Which is the best reusable food pouch?
Here are the products we trialled, ranked from the highest score to the lowest.
ChooMee
choomee.com
Score: 4.7 out of 5
Size: 148mL
Price: $27.95 for eight-pack ($3.49 per pouch)
Good to know:
- Rated well for ease to fill, ease to eat from, ease of removing and replacing lid, ease to clean and ease to dry
- Comes with child-safe (anti-choke) lids
- Freezer and dishwasher (top rack) safe
- Free from BPA, phthalates, lead and PVC.
Triallist comments:
"The picture is very cute, which would make it appealing to kids. The pouch felt like it was decent quality (i.e. plastic was thick)." "Easiest of the bunch to fill, had a wider opening.""Very easy to eat from. Ergonomically designed for little hands. Didn't require much squeeze for yoghurt to come up and out through the lip." "Large lid, easy to use and not lose!" "Rounded edges means no corners food can get stuck in – it's easy to pop in the dishwasher and dries well on the drying rack."
Little Mashies
littlemashies.com
Score: 4.3 out of 5
Size: 130mL
Price: $35.95 for 10-pack ($3.60 per pouch)
Good to know:
- Rated well for ease to fill, ease to seal, ease to eat from, ease of removing and replacing lid, ease to clean and ease to dry
- Most expensive pouch in our trial
- Comes with child-safe lids
- Freezer and dishwasher safe
- Free from BPA, phthalates and PVC.
Triallist comments:
"The packaging was very cute with the little monster picture – kiddo loved it. It looked much more appealing than some of the plainer pouches, which might make it easier to get your kid to eat." "Opening allowed me to fill up with very little mess." "I found this seal quite easy to use/rigid" "No crevices/corners for food to get stuck into – easy to pop in the dishwasher" "Easy to air dry."
Squooshi
squooshi.com
Score: 4.1 out of 5
Size: 147mL
Price: $23.49 for 12-pack ($1.96 per pouch)
Good to know:
- Rated well for ease to seal, ease to eat from, ease of removing and replacing lids, ease to clean and ease to dry
- Cheaper than average
- Comes with child-safe lids
- Freezer and dishwasher safe
- Free from BPA, phthalates, lead and PVC.
Triallist comments:
"Fun looking packet – attractive to kids""Easy enough to seal and didn't require a second push to lock in. Noticed the lock seal was the most secure and firm." "The kid found it easy to eat from and liked it." "Easy to open and close without any assistance. The large lid is great for little hands to do themselves." "Easy to dry with or without a towel."
Sinchies (top spout)
sinchies.com.au
Score: 3.7 out of 5
Size: 150mL
Price: $25.50 for 10-pack ($2.55 per pouch)
Good to know:
- Rated well for ease to fill, ease to eat from, ease to clean and ease to dry
- Equal lowest rating for ease of removing and replacing lids
- Pouches come with a standard lid but you can buy child-safe lids separately
- Freezer safe, not recommended for use in a dishwasher
- Free from BPA, phthalate and PVC.
Triallist comments:
"Great big size, great packaging design" "It's a bit wider than others so easy to fill and it has a 'max fill line' so you know where to fill it to" "Super easy to clean as there were no nooks or hard to reach places in the pouch." "The shape of the pouch made it easy to dry with either a towel or air drying." "Hard to undo the lid and seal."
Cherub Baby (top spout)
cherubbaby.com.au
Score: 3.5 out of 5
Size: 180mL
Price: $14.99 for 10-pack ($1.50 per pouch)
Good to know:
- Rated well for ease to seal, ease to eat from and ease of removing and replacing lid
- Lowest rating for ease to fill
- Cheaper than average
- Comes with child-safe lids
- Freezer and dishwasher safe
- Free from BPA, BPS, phthalate and PVC.
Triallist comments:
"Cute pineapple design and you can see the contents of the pouch. Slim design that looks easy to hold. Large lid is easy to remove." "As the seal is shorter than some of the other pouches (the pouch is slimmer) I felt it was quite easy to seal." "It was hard to fill without spilling because it was narrow."
Sinchies (side spout)
sinchies.com.au
Score: 2.7 out of 5
Size: 140mL
Price: $23 for 10-pack ($2.30 per pouch)
Good to know:
- Rated well for ease to eat from
- Lowest rating for ease to seal and equal lowest rating for ease of removing and replacing lids
- Pouches come with a standard lid but you can buy child-safe lids separately
- Freezer safe, not recommended for use in a dishwasher
- Free from BPA, phthalate and PVC.
Triallist comments:
"It looks small and very plain""Different to others with spout on the side""Took me multiple attempts to seal it properly. However, it didn't leak even when I squeezed it.""Gets a little harder the more you wash it, the plastic is less flexible." "Hard to grip the small lid and tight to open".
Cherub Baby (side spout)
cherubbaby.com.au
Score: 2.1 out of 5
Size: 150mL
Price: $19.99 for 20-pack ($1.00 per pouch)
Good to know:
- Rated well for ease of removing and replacing lid
- Lowest rating for ease to eat from, ease to clean and ease to dry
- Cheapest pouch in our trial
- Comes with child-safe lids, name labels and measuring guide
- Freezer and dishwasher safe
- Free from BPA, BPS, phthalate and PVC.
Triallist comments:
"The pouch was very basic compared to the other designs." "Love that it has measurements (mL and oz) on the packaging, but it's odd to see a pouch with the spout on the side.""Given the angle of the lip it was very awkward to squeeze the contents out. It required a rolling effort. The pouch was not ergonomically friendly for little hands given its shape and location of lip." "It's easy enough to rinse out but I found yoghurt residue around the base of the pouch which wasn't easy to remove." "Longest of all pouches to dry."
How long do they last?
According to the manufacturers, you can expect a reusable pouch to last anything from six months to more than a year – although it does depend on what you use them for and how you care for them.
For example, the Sinchies website says: "We have had some customers using the same batch for years and some only for six months as they've constantly been heating the pouches, freezing them and washing them in the dishwasher (please note, we do not recommend putting pouches through the dishwasher). Generally we say six months is a good life, due to the low price point of the pouches ranging from $1 to a few dollars."
You can expect a reusable pouch to last anything from six months to more than a year – although it does depend on what you use them for and how you care for them
The Cherub Baby website states: "Our pouches are built strong and designed to last. Cleaning the pouches in the dishwasher will wear them out faster, so we recommend hand washing them using a bottle brush and drying on a rack. This way you'll find the pouches bounce back really well after each use. Most customers find they get at least six months use out of the pouches with many using them for years from the infant stage through to yoghurt pouches as bub grows through to a toddler and beyond."
The Squooshi website even specifies a one-year guarantee. "Our pouch is leak proof and made to last. If you find your pouch has a fault within a year of purchase, we'll happily replace it.
The way your child eats from it can also affect a pouch's lifespan, as one triallist found: "One thing I noted about all of the pouches [we trialled] is that kids can chew on the spout and flatten it, so the lids don't fit. Therefore while these are definitely reusable many times, I see them not lasting years as the spout will deteriorate over time."
How much money and plastic waste could you save?
If your child prefers to eat their food purées and yoghurts from a pouch, ditching the single-use supermarket versions for reusable ones can cut food costs and reduce plastic waste.
We crunched the numbers and found that if your child takes a squeezy yoghurt to daycare or school every day, switching to a reusable pouch could save you nearly $160 a year, not to mention a mountain of landfill.
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Stock images: Getty, unless otherwise stated.
