Lil-Crunchies - Ingredient Breakdown

I don't know about you, but my baby is ADDICTED to Lil' Crunchies.  He will easily stuff his mouth with 3 or more at a time.  They can settle him down and change his attitude in a second- very helpful when at restaurants or church!  But what exactly is in these puffs?  Is it bad for my baby?

Here I will provide an ingredient breakdown of the ranch flavored puff, one of his favorites.

• Whole Grain Yellow Corn Meal - simply corn meal
• Corn Oil - good ole corn oil
• Ranch Seasoning
• sour cream powder - a powdered form of sour cream
• salt 
• dextrose - a form of sugar that is commonly used in the food industry.  It is about 20% less sweet than sugar.  Made when starchy plants are broken down by enzymes.  
• tomato powder - a powdered form of tomato
• nonfat dry milk - a powdered form of milk
• dried cheddar cheese - a powdered form of cheese via spray drying
• sugar
• natural onion
• garlic
• cream and mustard flavors
• distilled vinegar 
• spice
• Tricalcium phosphate - source of added calcium
• Mixed tocopherols - forms of vitamin E that help with freshness and preservation.  Despite its chemical sounding name, it is actually considered a natural preservative
• alpha tocopheryl acetate - source of vitamin E supplementation
• Zinc Oxide - added for white color
• Electrolyte Iron - added iron fortification

Quite a list for a simple baby snack!  Overall, there are way more ingredients that I'd like to give to my baby.  Many of the names sound scary and I'd prefer for him not to eat these.  My advice would be to use in moderation.  Will I stop feeding these to my baby?... probably not, but are there better alternative out there?... likely.  More to come as I search the market for more natural options and compare their labels.