The NHS has issued an urgent warning about shop-bought baby food and is warning parents not to feed their babies ready-made food pouches.
New guidance to mothers and fathers which states that newborns should only be given processed pouches, jars, trays and pots ‘occasionally.’
‘They should not be used as an everyday food,’ the NHS stated on its Start For Life website and it is the first time the corporation has published guidance on commercial baby food.
Instead, it recommends that infants be on a diet of homemade meals and no processed snacks, after research found that six leading baby food brands failed to meet a baby’s nutritional needs.
In the updated warning, the NHS also stated: ‘Although food jars, pouches, trays and pots can be convenient, you should not rely on them as an everyday food. If you use them, only use them occasionally.’
‘Preparing food at home is often healthier and cheaper than shop-bought food. Check out the list of ingredients above for inspiration.’
It also says that parents should check food labels and choose the product with the least amount of sugar in it.
For children aged 12 months and up, the NHS says you should swap out processed meals for simple mashed or finger foods.
The NHS has issued new guidance to mothers and fathers which states that newborns should only be given processed pouches, jars, trays and pots ‘occasionally’ (stock image)
Try not to feed them shop-bought biscuits, rusks, biscotti, melty snacks and other packaged foods,’ it also stated.
‘They can contain a lot of sugar and your baby doesn’t need them in their diet.
‘Remember, your baby does not need salt or sugar added to their food or cooking water. Babies should not eat salt as it isn’t good for their kidneys and sugar can cause tooth decay.’
This comes after BBC Panorama tested brightly packaged products made by Ella’s Kitchen, Heinz, Piccolo, Little Freddie, Aldi and Lidl for their nutritional value.
As well as being low in iron, which is vital for an infant’s development, some contained more sugar than a one-year-old should consume in a day – despite being marked as containing ‘no added sugar’.
Some products – including ones sold by Ella’s Kitchen – contained more sugar than a one-year-old should have in a day.
Government guidance states infants should have as little sugar as possible, and that a one-year-old child should have no more than 10g of free sugars a day.
But laboratory testing of more than a dozen baby food pouches sold in UK supermarkets found some contained higher levels than those found in fizzy drinks.
The NHS recommends that infants be on a diet of homemade meals and no processed snacks (stock image)
The investigation also found that nearly all the vitamin C in one fruit pouch had been lost during the manufacturing process.
The alarming investigation also discovered most failed to even provide sufficient vitamin C or iron, essential nutrients infants need every day.
Experts labelled the BBC probe, which was released in April, ‘really concerning’, arguing that ‘no added sugar’ statements on packaging may make parents think the products are healthier than they are.
Doctors, dentists and other experts want ministers to ban products being sold with ‘intentionally misleading’ health claims.
There are currently more than 250 baby food pouch products available in the UK – their convenience and long shelf lives have seen them become a staple for many households with young children.
As part of the investigation, BBC Panorama commissioned a lab to independently test the nutritional value of a fruit, yogurt and savoury pouch from each of the four leading brands and two supermarkets.
The highest ‘free sugar’ level found by the BBC was Ella’s Kitchen’s Bananas and Apples, which has 19.6g of sugar – equivalent to more than four teaspoons.
Free sugars – those added to products – are released from fruit when it is pureed.
Unlike eating fresh fruit, which is much better for a child, pureeing releases sugar from inside fruit cell walls and can be absorbed much more quickly.
Yet Ella’s Kitchen, as well as Lidl, Aldi, Piccolo and Heinz, label their products as containing ‘no added sugar’ despite the tests showing otherwise.
Eating too much sugar over time can lead to weight gain and tooth decay.
Eddie Crouch, chairman of the British Dental Association (BDA), said hospitals had seen young children ‘barely out of weaning’ needing multiple tooth extractions because of tooth decay caused by their diets.
He said: ‘It’s obviously not all down to these pouches.
‘But clearly, regular use and feeding with these pouches with such high levels of sugar cause serious problems to the general health of children as they’re growing up.’
Experts say big brands surround their products with healthy-sounding words and phrases – known as ‘halo marketing’ – to trick parents.
Ella’s Kitchen, for example, describes savoury products as ‘perfectly balanced for growing babies’, while Piccolo claims many pouches are ‘packed with goodness’.
Some Little Freddie pouches are branded as ‘Good for Brains’ and Heinz claims some of its fruit products are ‘as nutritionally good as homemade’.
Dr Alison Tedstone, a former government chief nutritionist, said the nutritional claims of baby food pouches were ‘misleading’, adding: ‘You think as a parent it is a healthy product, and it just isn’t.’
Market leader Ella’s Kitchen agreed its products should be used sparingly, were not replacements for homemade meals and could cause health problems if used as children’s main source of nutrition.
The firm added that it would ‘never, ever’ put profit above the health of children.
Lidl said it welcomed clear government guidelines, Little Freddie said it actively participated in policy consultations and Piccolo said it developed ‘recipes that combine fruits with vegetables’ to reduce sugar levels.
Aldi said it would relabel its fruit pouches to reflect NHS guidance that babies should not be given solid food until the age of six months.
