Experts are calling for the government to take action and “confront the babyfood industry”, following today’s release of the BBC Panorama documentary ‘The truth about baby food pouches’.
The hour-long show, which is airing tonight on BBC One at 8pm but can already be seen on iPlayer, takes viewers behind the scenes of what really goes into making long-life babyfood pouches.
The report outlines how some babyfood being sold in plastic pouches is worryingly low in essential vitamins and minerals, while others contain more sugar than the recommended levels or have inaccurate nutrition labelling.
The Grocer reported on the latter issue late last year, revealing that some Little Freddie babyfood pouches were misleading customers over sugar levels and contained almost double the amount of sugar listed in the nutritional information.
Following the investigation, Little Freddie is changing the nutritional labels on three of its 29 babyfood pouches after tests confirmed they contained more sugar than was stated on the packaging.
Babyfood in crisis
The Panorama documentary coincides with the release of a new report, ‘Commercial baby food in crisis’, which assessed 632 baby food products marketed towards babies and toddlers under three years old, evaluating their nutrition and on-pack marketing.
It found 41% of main meals analysed were too sweet and had high sugar levels, while 89% of fruit products analysed should carry a ‘high sugar’ warning label according to international recommendations.
Many early weaning foods were sold as suitable from four months-plus, against NHS and WHO guidance to introduce foods at around six months. Meanwhile, 21% of ready-to-eat fruit products, cereals, and meals were too watery, not providing adequate nutrition, the research found.
The year-long research project, funded by the Which? Fund, was carried out by Dr Diane Threapleton, Ali Morpeth and Professor Janet Cade of the University of Leeds’ School of Food Science and Nutrition.
They gathered views from over 1,000 parents via a nationally representative survey and focus groups, and found that 47% used commercial baby and toddler foods “always” or ”most of the time”. Of those surveyed, 56% reported difficulty in identifying healthier products using packet information, and seven in 10 parents agreed that front-of-pack warning labels for high-sugar babyfoods should be introduced.
“Commercial babyfoods are often highly puréed,” said Dr Threapleton.
“When the main ingredients are fruit, this poses a particular problem because the sugar that would be contained within the food matrix, and therefore slowly digested, becomes readily available in the mouth.
“This means puréed babyfoods taste very sweet, strengthening preferences for sugary foods throughout the life, and teeth are being exposed to high levels of sugar.
“We know many parents and carers rely on these commercial babyfoods, and in the UK they are so widely available as to be almost unavoidable.”
More sugar than Coke: dentists press for action on babyfood
Meanwhile, The British Dental Association has published its own analysis of the sugar content in over 200 babyfood pouches, which found over a quarter contained more sugar by volume than Coca-Cola.
While ‘natural’ levels of sugar were described by manufacturers as inevitable with fruit-based pouches, some brands offered products based on similar ingredients that contain a fraction of the sugar levels of the worst offenders, it found. Aldi Mamia Organic’s Apple & Banana Porridge, for instance, contains just 5.5g per 100g, a third of the levels of similar recipes from the worst offenders.
What’s more, all high-sugar products adopted ‘halo labelling’ principles. By focusing on claims including ‘organic’, ‘high in fibre’ or ‘containing one of your 5 a day’, they were “misleading parents into thinking they are making healthy choices for their children”, it said.
Ella’s Kitchen, Piccolo and Aldi had recently confirmed cosmetic changes to their labelling, to bring them in line with NHS guidance on not marketing products to infants under six months, over recent weeks.
“While technically a win, dentists’ leaders stress these changes do nothing to reduce grotesque levels of sugar or reign in ‘halo labelling’ claims,” said the BDA.
Government action
BDA chair Eddie Crouch said: “It shouldn’t take dentists naming and shaming the worst offenders to bring about needed change.
“Voluntary action has failed. We need government to step up and force industry to do the right thing.”
Meanwhile, Professor Cade, along with Dr Threapleton and Morpeth, have developed a Nutrient & Promotion Profile Model (NPPM) which sets out nutritional and marketing standards for babyfoods for the World Health Organization.
The NPPM recommends the introduction of a high-sugar indicator for front of pack, a ban on marketing for babies under the age of six months, and maximum sugar and fat levels, along with minimum protein levels. They are now urging the UK government to adopt it.
“We need to help parents protect young children because we know that diet in early life sets the scene for later health outcomes,” said Cade.
“Poor diet in the first years of life has been linked with higher rates of chronic disease, including diabetes and obesity.
“Our research clearly shows the current situation needs to change. Existing regulations are insufficient and out-dated.”
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