The British Society of Paediatric Dentistry (BSPD) has echoed the call for clear and consistent labelling on baby food to avoid misleading consumers, especially regarding sugar content.

This follows a BBC Panorama episode that investigated ‘The truth about baby food pouches’.

The society has said it appreciates that for busy parents, the occasional use of a baby food pouch can help when families are on the go. However, often the contents of a baby food pouch can be low in essential vitamins and minerals, whilst containing more sugar than the NHS recommendation for daily infant consumption. According to the society, claims and visual depictions can be misleading for parents and carers of infants, who think baby food pouches are a healthy choice and are therefore opting to feed their babies these products on a regular basis.

The BSPD has called for the following actions to address the issue:

  • Clear and consistent labelling, looking at both the words and the images used. It has said brands should be declaring the sugar content in each pouch ‘loud and clear’ on the front of the pack – e.g. showing a picture of a teaspoon of sugar on the front, or ‘this pack contains the equivalent of X number of teaspoons of sugar’.
  • Stakeholders to push manufacturers to reformulate voluntarily.
  • If actions one and two are not heeded, it would look to the government to mandate product reformulation.

Shannu Bhatia, BSPD president, said, “Children’s oral health is everyone’s business, so we want to see the baby food pouch industry stepping up by ensuring clear and consistent labelling on their products. They also need to reformulate to reduce the amount of sugar in their baby food pouches. Despite the fact that many companies use processed fruit and vegetables, many can use legally-allowed, yet unclear messaging such as ‘no added sugar’ or ‘only naturally occurring sugars’ on packaging. These claims are misleading especially since guidelines are that children under two years shouldn’t consumer any added sugars, which includes free sugars from processed fruit and vegetables.

“We all need to help parents and carers of babies, who are just starting out on their oral health journey, make the best decisions for them.”

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