Baby food pouches sold in Australia are overwhelmingly high in sugar and low in nutritional value, prompting researchers to call for a crackdown on misleading product labels.
A review of 276 squeeze pouches from 15 manufacturers by Western Sydney University researchers found just two of the products tested had an adequate level of nutrients according to infant feeding guidelines.
Baby food pouches sold in Australia are overwhelmingly high in sugar and low in nutritional value, prompting researchers to call for a crackdown on misleading product labels.Credit: iStock
Fifty-nine per cent of the pouches, sold at supermarkets, pharmacies and wholesalers, also claimed to have “no sugar added” despite researchers finding they contained free sugars (found in ingredients such as juice and syrup), which do not need to be labelled as added sugar under Australian law.
None of the pouches contained iron or iron fortification, and only 16 of the 68 products which marketed themselves as containing calcium met the recommended calcium intake of their targeted age group.
Dr Catharine Fleming, a paediatric nutrition researcher who co-authored the study, said children fed mostly from the pouches would be missing out on their nutritional needs.
“These pouches are being marketed as a whole meal – as ‘a breakfast’, as ‘great for their gut health’ – which insinuates they should be used far more regularly than we would recommend,” she warned.
In addition to being nutritionally poor, Fleming said it was problematic to market food for older infants to be sucked through a nozzle, when experts generally recommend they receive soft lumps and chunks from seven months as they develop the ability to chew.
“I understand that if you’re a parent, and you’re on the go it’s easy. But the take-home from this is that they cannot make up a child’s diet in a large way,” she said.
Fleming and her team had called for a review of standards for labelling and manufacturing baby food in Australia.