Written by: Regina Tran

Imagine that you’re thirsty. You take a sip from a squeezable pouch expecting your thirst to be fulfilled. Instead, your tongue is met with a soggy, gritty texture similar to that of baby food. Sound appetizing?

In 2008, squeezable pouches with gooey berries, apples and various fruit mixed together became available at local grocery stores. These popular drinks were originally designed for babies, whose lack of teeth are best suited to the mushy texture of the squeezable pouch, and the founders created this product in order to avoid the mess that accompanies traditional canned baby food.

Another benefit that has contributed to their popularity the fact that this product allows the baby or toddler to become more independent by giving them more control, allowing them to feed themselves.

I wouldn’t say that these pouches are entirely useless. After all, as teenagers, high school students are extremely lazy at times. For that reason it’s understandable that they are attracted to these food pouches  because they don’t need to use utensils and the packs are a quick and disposable source of much needed nutrition.

In my opinion, these products are great

for babies, and I think that it’s an effective way for mothers to feed their children without having to worry about the mess. When used for its original purpose, squeezable pouches are extremely effective because the product only comes out when you purposely use force to bring out the contents. However, what concerns me is that these baby meals are now becoming a staple in some teenagers’ and adults’ diets.

If a person walks across campus today, he or she would be surprised to see some students drinking these squeezable pouches. It stuns me because they were originally created for those who are too young to hold a spoon or to keep from making a mess when eating, yet I see capable teenagers drinking them. There’s a reason why we are taught how to hold various utensils and why humans have teeth­­—so they can use them. If this continues to spread, humans may not have teeth a century from now.

Because these products were originally designed for children, they make teenagers who drink them look awkward and strange. Not only do the drinks make the consumer look ridiculous, but they don’t even taste good. I don’t understand how mushy bananas mixed with mushy strawberries taste remotely good, so why would people choose this barf-like selection over the actual fruits?