Hidden sugars: Do you really know what you’re feeding your baby?
Top baby foods marketed as healthy for infants are misleading parents, according to a new study — with a main ingredient putting babies and young children at risk of tooth decay and sugar addiction.
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Baby foods are hiding nasty sugars and misleading parents who think they’re healthy, according to a study.
Research by the Cancer Council Victoria has found baby foods are using packaging and health-focused names to spruik products that are full of processed sugars and fruit concentrates.
This includes popular puree and custard products marketed as good for infants and young children.
The study looked at 181 products for babies 12 months and under — all sold at leading supermarket chains — and found added sugar in one in five items.
This was mostly from fruit concentrates, which put babies and young children at risk of tooth decay and sugar addiction.
Mamia’s Apple Banana and Blueberry Smooth Puree and Heinz’s Summer Fruits Gel were among those with the highest amounts, with 4.1 and 3.6 teaspoons of sugar per serving respectively.
A total of 13 products were found to contain cane sugar along with other added sugars, including coconut syrup.
They also found manufacturers used pictures of fruit and vegetables on their packaging and included “healthy” words, such as “organic”, in their title.
In Victoria, it is not mandatory for manufacturers to disclose a breakdown of sugars.
The Cancer Council, along with the Obesity Policy Coalition and VicHealth, are now calling for government to force manufacturers to be more transparent and put a cap on sugar in baby foods.
Dietitian Alison McAleese, who led the study, said the amount of added sugar being hidden in products sold as healthy for babies was “alarming”.
“It’s particularly worrying because we’re looking at the youngest group of children that you can possibly get,” she said.
“It was really disappointing that there were so many that had such high sugar and that a lot of the sugar is coming from concentrated products.”
Ms McAleese said the best thing for parents to do was avoid baby-specific snacks and go for the “adult” version — such as normal yoghurt, biscuits and fresh fruit.
“It’s much healthier,” she said.
Brooke Brazill and wife Ashleigh — who plays AFLW and netball for Collingwood — made the decision to feed eight-month-old son Louis only foods that they would eat.
“We introduced solids at four and a half months and my thought on it was I’m just doing to feed Louis like I would myself,” Ms Brazill said. “We started off with vegetables — we made a point of starting with veggies, not fruit so he wouldn’t get that sweet tooth.”
Ms Brazill said while she could understand the appeal of pre-packaged baby food, she felt it was best to know exactly what she was feeding her child.
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