Poor nutritional quality in popular baby foods
Community Practitioner, June, 2009
The Children’s Food Campaign has found that popular baby foods such as Farley’s Original Rusks, often used as a weaning food, have poor nutritional quality.
Unite/CPHVA lead professional officer Obi Amadi stated: ‘We need to be more conscious about infant nutrition especially with the increase in childhood obesity. This research highlights foods that should be avoided.’
She added: ‘Some advertisers are marketing foods as being “healthy” because they are low in fat, but many of these products are also high in salt and sugar. Health visitors need to be aware of this and be able to advise on appropriate products.’
The Children’s Food Campaign survey of 107 products that were targeted for babies and children found them to be high in sugar, salt and saturated fats. This was despite manufacturers being urged to reduce the amount of sugar in baby biscuits after a Food Commission investigation in 2000.
Children’s Food Campaign joint coordinator Christine Haigh stated: ‘Nearly a decade on, the new survey demonstrates that some companies have taken virtually no action to improve the healthiness of products marketed for babies and young people.’
Nestle, which produces breakfast cereals and snacks that are marketed toward young people, stated that it will continue to make more ‘taste-focused’ and sweet products, but that it also had policies on reducing salt and sugar, and that it is committed to balancing consumer health and taste.
Comments
No comments yet, be the first to add one!