News

Study finds over half of infant and toddler food products fall short of nutritional recommendations

Two-thirds of US baby food formulations are unhealthy, according to research from the George Institute for Global Health, presenting an opportunity for food companies to provide convenient and healthier solutions.

The research, which was published in the scientific journal, Nutrients, analysed baby food products available in retail stores across the US to determine whether or not the products meet the nutritional and promotional requirements outlined by the World Health Organization’s (WHO) guidelines.

The study assessed 651 infant and toddler food products sold in the top ten retailers across the US. The researchers found that none of the formulations met WHO promotional requirements and over half (60%) failed to meet the nutritional recommendations.

Not enough protein, too much sugar

The baby foods were compared using the George Institute’s FoodSwitch database, which made it possible to make a comparison against the international benchmark.

On top of the overall shortfall for nutrition, the researchers found that 70% fell short of protein requirements and 44% exceeded total sugar requirements. Additionally, a quarter of products did not meet calorie requirements and a fifth exceeded sodium content recommendations.

Lead researcher, Dr Elizabeth Dunford, research fellow at The George Institute, and adjunct assistant professor, Department of Nutrition at the University of North Carolina, believes the research points to a particular problem with formulations for the popular and convenient squeezy pouch format.

Pouches are the fastest-growing baby food format

The research showed that pouches are the fastest-growing format for baby foods, having shown a 900% increase in the space over the last 13 years. But while pouches represent a particularly convenient solution, they also ranked amongst the unhealthiest group of products in the study.

“The huge increases in the sales of squeeze pouches prove that convenience is a key driver for shoppers in this sector,” said Dunford. “I would like to see brands be more honest about the types of ingredients in their products, and not put ‘no added sugar’ on the label if the product contains pear or apple juice concentrate. In addition, to stop using promotional characters on pack for any product that contains added sugar, salt, or industrial additives.”

Dunford believes that babies and toddlers must be fed the healthiest possible food choices. This is a pivotal time of development when a young child’s preferences and dietary habits are formed. Unhealthy choices early in life may pave the way to chronic diseases such as obesity, diabetes, and even cancer later in life.

“Time-poor parents are increasingly choosing convenience foods, unaware that many of these products lack key nutrients needed for their child’s development, often being tricked into believing they are healthier than they really are,” Dunford explained.

Promotional and marketing tactics under scrutiny

Misleading marketing and promotional practices were also called out by the study, with 99.4% of products featuring at least one prohibited claim on the packaging. Most products included four prohibited claims, including ‘non-GM’ (70%), ‘no BPA’ (37%) and ‘no artificial colors/flavors’ (25%).

Dunford believes that better regulation is required to set boundaries for US baby food manufacturers, pointing to the WHO regulations, as well as other markets where protocols are in place, as good examples.

“In an ideal world, in my opinion, a limit to the number and types of claims products can make on the package would be a good start,” said Dunford. “Also limits on total sugar for pouches, and even better if the definition of added sugars for baby foods could be expanded to include free sugars - as is done in other countries.

“Most countries have some type of regulation in relation to infant formula. In Australia the Federal Government has just this month released a public consultation on infant and toddler foods, aiming to see which areas need improvement. So that is a good start! The WHO NPPM [Nutrient and promotion profile model] is the only model that we are aware of that specifically profiles infant and toddler foods.”