UK GOVT CALLS FOR REDUCTION IN SUGAR FOR INFANT FOODS-Baby food manufacturers have been given 18 months to improve their quality
Baby food manufacturers have been given 18 months to improve the quality of their products in England, amid mounting concerns that leading brands are nutritionally poor.
The new voluntary guidance from the government calls for a reduction in sugar and salt levels in food for infants and toddlers. It also requests clearer labelling of products to address misleading marketing claims that make baby foods seem healthier than they are.
This will cover products with labels such as “contains no nasties”, which are high in sugar. Others are labelled as snacks for babies, which goes against government recommendations that children aged six to 12 months do not need snacks between meals, only milk.
It comes after researchers found that leading brands, such as Ella’s Kitchen and Heinz, were high sugar level and nutritionally poor baby food that failed to meet the needs of infants
According to the latest official statistics, high levels of sugar in children’s diets is a significant factor contributing to high rates of childhood obesity in the UK, which is among the highest in western Europe. At the start of primary school, more than 22% of children in England are obese or overweight.
The public health minister, Ashley Dalton, said the guidelines would help parents who were often “bombarded with confusing labels, disguising unhealthy foods packed with hidden sugars and salt.
