Commercial baby foods fail to meet government recommendations

The majority of commercial baby foods are ignoring the recommendations of the Department of Health's expert medical committee on weaning foods1. According to a survey undertaken by the Food Commission published today2, manufacturers including all the market leaders Heinz, Cow & Gate, Boots and supermarket own-brands, are promoting products which:-

* are marketed for babies under four months: this is explicitly condemned by government nutrition experts and it is due to be banned under forthcoming EU legislation. Yet companies are knowingly flouting the intentions of the law by launching new products sold as suitable for babies at 3 months - an age when the immature gut can be damaged by premature weaning. The Food Commission survey found the majority (69%) of first stage baby foods are sold for babies from 3 months.

* contain unnecessary sugars and fruit concentrates: this is explicitly condemned by the experts as putting emerging teeth at risk. The Food Commission found the majority (56%) of first stage baby foods to contain the condemned sugars, including savoury foods and complete meals.

* contain glutens: for babies under six months the experts advise a diet free of glutens -- the proteins in wheat and oats which can trigger coeliac disease. The Food Commission found over a quarter (26%) of first stage baby foods contain glutens.

The Food Commission also found the continuing use of low-nutrient starches and other bulking agents in the majority (64%) of baby foods, although several manufacturers (Safeway, Boots, Baby Organix) had products without these low-nutrient fillers.

'Many commercial baby foods are tinned pastes and polyfiller,' said the report's author, Dr Tim Lobstein. 'The purpose of weaning is to introduce a baby to real food, not start a habit of eating sweet, over-processed pap. Some manufacturers now offer better products and we welcome this. Meanwhile parents should look at products carefully and buy the best -- or make their own.'

The Food Commission is calling for companies to reformulate products in line with health recommendations, and for quantitative labelling showing how much real food is in each product.

1. Weaning and the Weaning Diet The COMA Working Group on the Weaning Diet, Dept of Health, 1994.

2. Tinned Paste and Polyfiller? Baby food in the 1990s, Tim Lobstein et al, The Food Commission, 1995.