What is Food Chaining?

Do you have a picky eater? Give food chaining a try. This post explains what food chaining is, how to make food chains, as well as provides food chaining examples for picky eaters.

What Are Food Chains?

Food chains are lists of foods that have similar, but slightly different features. The beginning of the food chain starts with a food your child currently eats and enjoys. The next “link” in the chain is a different food, but has similarities to the one before it. It might be similar texture, taste, shape, color, consistency, temperature, etc.

Sometimes children who are selective in what they eat (picky eaters), will expand the amount and variety of foods they eat by slowly moving from one similar food to another over time. This creates a food “chain”. Then eventually they will have moved from eating only one specific food all the way to the end of the chain to another.

The aim of food chaining is to encourage your child eat a variety of foods from all the food groups.

Who Does Food Chaining Work For?

Food chaining is often used as a strategy to help picky eaters expand their palates. This is mostly used for children, but can even be used for picky adults and everyone in between.

Food chains are a good strategy to try with children with autism or sensory disorders who are selective in what they eat. If your child struggles with sensory processing or aversions to certain foods, you might consider trying food chaining to expand their selection of foods.

How Long Does Food Chaining Take?

Food chaining doesn’t happen overnight. Working on a food chain with your child may take weeks or even months. Remember, it can take 20 or more exposures of a new food before a child may begin to accept it.

To put this into perspective – if you have 4 food “links” in your food chain, it might take 4 months to get to then end of your chain – or more! So while we may wish it with all our might, don’t expect a child to go through an entire food chain in a week.

Every child is different and will move through a food chain at their own pace.

How Do I Make a Food Chain?

Below are the steps in creating a food chain:

1. Identify Accepted Foods

First you need to know what foods your child already accepts. Take some time to think about foods you know they like and will eat. If your child is able to talk, chat with them to see what they like about the foods they do eat. See if there are any common patterns among these foods.

Look for patterns in:

• Taste
• Texture
• Temperature
• Consistency
• Color
• Aroma/Scent

Keep in mind that while many picky eaters tend to only eat foods that have similar characteristics, not all do. Sometimes they have very different tastes, textures, consistencies, etc. This is just fine. But if you do notice a theme, you can use that information in creating food chains for your child.

2. Search for Similar Foods

Think of foods similar in taste, texture, smell, temperature, or color to those your child prefers. If they have more than one similarity, even better.

Try not to limit yourself here. Write down as many ideas as you can think of – including foods you think your child would never eat.

3. Create Links

Start with one chain at a time. The first food in a chain is the food your child already eats. The next food is a similar, but different food. If it has more than one similarity, it is more likely to work in your chain.

Start simple, with no more than four or five total foods in your chain. If you get to the end of a chain with your child and want to keep going, then you can always add more foods.

4. Start Serving

Introduce the new foods one at a time over time. Be patient as you serve the food in several meals, snacks, or with other foods.

I recommend serving no more than one or two new foods at a time. If your child is extremely picky, only serve one new food at a time. Always serve new foods with familiar foods – that way your child still sees and recognizes something they are comfortable with.

Depending on how selective of an eater your child is, they may start to eat a new similar food on their own. However, many children need additional strategies to encourage them to eat. This may be something simple such as strategies to help your child interact with new foods, or it could be something deeper like addressing the underlying cause of their selective eating (i.e. autism, anxiety, sensory issues, or oral motor weakness).

Regardless of any other feeding strategies used, serving a new food and getting that exposure for your child is progress. Because if you never served that new food, then they wouldn’t even have a chance to try it – and eventually come to like it.

Food Chaining Examples

Now let’s get into some examples!

French Fries to Sweet Potato:

1. French fries
2. Potato wedges
3. Baked potato
4. Baked sweet potato

Now let’s get into some examples!

French fries to sweet potato:

1. French fries
2. Potato wedges
3. Baked potato
4. Baked sweet potato

Orange juice to apple slices:

1. orange juice
2. Apple juice
3. Apple sauce
4. Apple slices

Orange Juice to Apple Slices:

1. orange juice
2. Apple juice
3. Apple sauce
4. Apple slices

Chicken Nuggets to Baked Fish:

1. Chicken nuggets
2. Chicken strips
3. Fish sticks
4. Baked breaded fish
5. Baked fish

Milk to Cottage Cheese:

1. Milk
2. Yogurt
3. Yogurt with berries
4. Cottage cheese with berries
5. Cottage cheese

Boxed Mac & Cheese to Pasta with Marinara:

1. Boxed macaroni and cheese
2. Homemade cheesy pasta
3. Pasta with marinara and cheese
4. Pasta with marinara

Pretzel Sticks to Sugar Snap Peas: 

1. Pretzel sticks
2. Veggie Straws
3. Harvest Snaps green pea crisps
4. Sugar snap peas

Oatmeal to Blueberries:

1. Oatmeal
2. Oatmeal mixed with pureed blueberries
3. Oatmeal with sliced/chopped blueberries
4. Granola with blueberries
5. Blueberries

Granola Bar to Strawberries

1. Granola bar
2. Granola bar with strawberry jam or dried strawberries
3. Granola crumbles with chopped strawberries
4. Strawberries

Baby Carrots to Cucumbers:

1. Baby carrots
2. Orange bell pepper slices
3. Green bell pepper slices
4. Cucumber sticks sliced lengthwise
5. Cucumber sliced into rounds

Cheese Pizza to Baked Ham:

1. Cheese pizza
2. Pizza topped with ham slices
3. Grilled ham and cheese sandwich
4. Bread with ham and cheese
5. Baked ham

In Summary

Expect there to be bumps along your food chaining journey. Be prepared to adapt a food chain to allow for change. If your child is really struggling with a particular food even after many exposures – don’t fret! Go back to your list of similar foods and bring one of them into your food chain.

There is no rule that says you can’t add new links to your chain if one isn’t working. This may take your food chain in another direction than originally planned, but that’s not a bad thing. Branching off to a new food link may help your child learn to enjoy new foods that you weren’t expecting.

Be consistent. Be patient. Be flexible. 

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What questions you have about food chaining? Have you seen success in trying food chains with your child? Let me know below!

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