Call for urgent action on food labelling for youngest Aussies

Babies and toddlers are being exposed to hidden nasties in some of Australia’s most widely available foods, left unregulated and failing to meet global health standards.

An alarming nine in 10 commercially available toddler foods sold in Australia fail international nutrition standards, a new study claims.

A team used data from a Cancer Council Victoria investigation of processed foods for babies and toddlers sold at three local supermarkets. For the first time the results have been compared to draft World Health Organisation Europe standards for nutritionally appropriate foods for infants and young children.

The study by Victoria’s Obesity Policy Coalition (OPC) found commercial foods for toddlers performed worst, with most failing nutrition recommendations.

The results have led to the OPC, a partnership between Cancer Council Victoria, VicHealth and the Global Centre for Preventive Health and Nutrition at Deakin University, today calling for urgent action by the Federal government to set higher standards for baby and toddler foods.

An alarming nine in 10 commercially available toddler foods sold in Australia fail international nutrition standards. Picture: David Crosling

Its executive manager Jane Martin is a co-author of the study published in the Health Promotion Journal of Australia.

She says the findings reflect that while some progress has been made in setting limits on sodium in foods for babies, no regulations exist for toddler foods. There is also no regulation in Australia for how much sugar can be in foods for either babies or toddlers, Ms Martin says.

She adds the OPC wants consumers to be able to easily identify sugars in processed baby and toddler foods and this needs to happen with transparent, clear labelling.

“We want to see limits on the use of these; it has been part of our Kids are Sweet Enough advocacy campaign for a couple of years.

“We have concerns about these foods and the impact they have on the health of babies and toddlers.”

She says Australia’s food regulator Food Standards Australia New Zealand is now looking at a proposal to mandate labelling of added sugar on all packaged foods.

“We’d like it to move more quickly; these foods are important because they set up children’s taste and diets for the rest of their life,” Ms Martin said.

“We know that if babies and toddlers eat these foods, then they tend to prefer it, it gives them that sweet preference.”

Ms Martin says first there must be an accurate definition of ‘added sugar’ to ensure it includes all sugars that consumers need to either limit or avoid in their diet.

“It’s crucial that this includes processed fruit sugars like fruit pastes, juices and concentrates, which are often added to foods for our youngest Australians,” Ms Martin says.

“Regularly eating sugary, sweet foods puts babies and toddlers at risk of tooth decay.”

Ms Martin said a recent survey of parents confirmed they would support robust food labelling standards, with 9 in 10 agreeing there should be laws to limit both salt and harmful sugars in baby and toddler foods.

Dr Sandro Demaio, the CEO of VicHealth, supports the call for clear, transparent labelling to help families better understand these products moving forward.

The report also found snack foods performed worst:

• Only around 13 per cent of snacks for toddlers and babies met recommendations for sugar and sweetness

• Only half of the snacks for children under 3 met sodium recommendations

• Overall, only 5 per cent of snacks met all seven recommendations

Natasha Cosstick with three-year-old son Miles says finding the right toddler food to buy can be challenging. Picture: David Crosling

North Fitzroy mum Natasha Cosstick, who has a background in population health with a focus on nutrition and healthy eating, still finds the labelling on processed food to be confusing.

“You go in to the toddler section in supermarkets expecting that the items you are picking out are healthy and full of nutrients,” she says.

“But there are labels that say things like no added sugar, and they actually have concentrated fruit juice instead.”

While she doesn’t have to worry yet about daughter Hazel who is only two months old and not yet on solid food, Mrs Cosstick says it is getting harder to find healthy alternatives for son Miles, 3.

“He sees colourful pictures on products, or a familiar character, and he wants it,” she said. “It is hard to keep saying no.”

Mrs Cosstick says children get exposed to food advertising very early. “And it is hard to get a three- year-old to eat a carrot when he knows processed food tastes better because it is sweet or high in salt.”