Ultra-processed foods saturate baby food market causing serious concerns

UPF are widely consumed from the first weeks and months of life, raising serious concerns about infant and young child health.

The report ‘Ultra-processed foods (UPF) in the diets of infants and young children in the UK: What they are, how they harm health, and what needs to be done to reduce intakes’, has highlighted how UPF-rich diets from infancy are likely to contribute to obesity and other negative health outcomes.

Vicky Sibson, director of First Steps Nutrition Trust, said, “It is now commonplace that many babies and young children in the UK are being fed large amounts of ultra-processed foods from the start of their lives. There is robust evidence that this will be harmful to their health in the short and long term, including promoting excess weight gain.