Baby food brand Organix has launched a nationwide Junk Busting Campaign to expose what’s hiding in some of the UK’s baby finger foods and toddler snacks.
TV personality Cherry Healey (pictured) has teamed with the brand to launch the campaign with two films exploring what’s in baby finger foods and toddler snacks and taking a look at the toddler and baby food isle.
A survey, commissioned by Organix, has found that 76% of parents were shocked to discover that some baby and toddler snacks contain up to 30 separate ingredients and 85% of parents were shocked to find some contain almost the same level of salt as a regular bag of adult crisps.
When it comes to regulation, 88% were surprised that some of the foods sold in the baby aisle are not protected by regulations.
The research reveals the importance of good nutritional quality to parents, with 87% saying they want to try and find healthy and nutritious snacks for their little ones. In addition, 68% of parents wish there were healthier options in the supermarket and 72% said there is a lack of savoury snack choices compared to sweet.
More than half of the parents questioned (52%) said it is difficult to find food they can trust and a quarter (27%) admit to making a decision on whether to buy a food just by looking at the front of pack, despite the fact that 40% said they don’t trust the healthy food claims found there.
Parents highlighted five key areas where they’d like to see change: food brands need to be more transparent and honest about what’s in their foods (64%); the food industry needs to reduce levels of salt, fat and sugar in food targeted at babies/toddlers (63%) and take responsibility to provide quality healthy snack foods for little ones (60%); manufacturers need to put children’s health before profit (61%); and more regulation is needed to ensure food targeted at children is healthy and nutritious (60%).
The research reveals the importance of good nutritional quality to parents, with 87% saying they want to try and find healthy and nutritious snacks for their little ones. In addition, 68% of parents wish there were healthier options in the supermarket and 72% said there is a lack of savoury snack choices compared to sweet.
As well as unnecessary ingredients hiding in some snack foods, parents are calling for clearer labelling. 63% want brands to be more transparent about food labelling and 31% say it’s not always clear from labels what ingredients are included in the food.
There’s been a massive explosion in the number of baby and toddler snacks available, but it’s come at a nutritional cost. As brands have rushed to launch new foods, standards have slipped and we’ve seen sales of unhealthy snacks rise by 70% in the last 2 years.
“As a mum, I feel passionately about the quality of children’s food,” says Healey. “There are some great snack foods on supermarket shelves but there’s also some misleading labelling, and I’ve found unnecessary ingredients hiding in baby and toddler snacks, like added flavourings and salt. It’s time we did something about it.”
Organix MD Philipp von Jagow adds: “There’s been a massive explosion in the number of baby and toddler snacks available, but it’s come at a nutritional cost. As brands have rushed to launch new foods, standards have slipped and we’ve seen sales of unhealthy snacks rise by 70% in the last 2 years.
“It’s unacceptable that it should take 30 different ingredients to make a tasty toddler fruit snack, or that salt should be added to corn snacks. It’s time we called for change to protect our little ones. There are existing baby food regulations governing nutrition and safety criteria but too many gaps in this regulation are allowing poorer standard foods to enter the marketplace – currently there’s a lack of integrity and enforcement and we’re calling for that to change.”
As a result of its survey and as part of its Junk Busting Campaign, Organix has embarked on a major study analysing the nutritional standards and practices of 150 snacks sold on the baby aisle – the results of which are expected in July 2018. The aim is to expose the reduction in the quality of snacks on the baby aisle and the detrimental impact this is having on our children’s health.
