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Like any good parent, I’m concerned about what I feed my kid. I’m not a zealot, I give the boy an occasional piece of chocolate or one of Dr. O’C’s oatmeal raisin cookies when she deigns to make them. But if there is one thing that I hate it is being screwed over by big corporations. So, when I heard a throwaway line on the podcast of Bill Maher’s Real Time last week about some baby food manufacturers marketing food that contains more fat than a fast food hamburger, I decided to do a little investigating. I trust the Far Left talkers no more than I trust the Far Right talkers and The Telegraph even less, so I headed direct to the source.
UK advocacy group the Children’s Food Campaign released a report in May analyzing the nutritional information provided for 107 foods marketed toward babies and young children in Britain. They found that “several products contained levels of sugar or saturated fat higher than those in adult products considered ‘junk food’.”
The CFC used the British Food Standards Agency guidelines for healthy levels of saturated fats and sugars. For example, the FSA defines a product as ‘high’ in saturated fats if its level exceeds 5 g per 100g, for sugar the threshold is 15 g per 100 g. These are the levels are for adult foods, so for babies and young children these amounts should probably be lower.
The CFC was interested in saturated fats because they are often indicative of the presence of trans fats. The level of trans fats, which have been associated with coronary heart disease, are not required to be disclosed in the UK, so saturated fats are the best indicator for these. While children need a higher level of fat in their diets than adults, saturated fats are not necessary. Breast milk, for example, contains only 1 – 2% saturated fat.
The CFC was worried about sugar for obvious reasons. There is strong evidence that regular consumption of sugary foods makes it more likely that they will develop a taste for sweet foods. Excessive consumption of sugary foods is linked with obesity and tooth decay. Sugar levels in children’s food is tricky, because most fruits have naturally high levels of sugar. The CFC report makes a distinction between foods that have naturally high levels of sugar – banana puree for example – and those with unnecessary added sugar.
Now, to be fair, none of the foods that the CFC flagged as having worrying levels of sugar and fat were baby ‘meals’ – creamy chicken curry, for example – or pureed fruits. These products seem to be safe. The products that we should be concerned about are snack foods – biscuits (cookies), rusks, savoury snacks and desserts. The CFC found that the three major baby food manufacturers had at least one product that had high levels of sugar, saturated fat or both. Heinz was the worst offender with 25% of their products containing unhealthy levels of sugar or fat.
The CFC points out that a lot of these products make health claims that “while factually true, distract the consumers’ attention away from the less healthy attributes of the product”. In other words, baby food manufacturers are deliberately misleading consumers. What the CFC doesn’t point out is a pet peeve of mine. Some of the products that they flagged are ‘organic’. Folks, this is important – organic does not mean healthy.
After reading this report, my curiosity was piqued. Is this a UK problem or a world wide one? I decided to do a bit of research.
Because I live in Australia, I am more concerned with products marketed for children Down Under. I’m aware, however, that most of my readers are American but an exhaustive survey of the multitude of baby food brands available in the U.S. would require a significant investment of time. Nonetheless, a quick analysis of American baby foods reveals that the trends observed in the U.K. are also seen in U.S. products.
Most of the American baby food manufacturers do not publish complete nutritional information for their products online. Heinz, for example, publishes thorough information for all of their jarred food, but interestingly does not provide information for savory snacks, cookies and many dessert items. Beech Nut – didn’t Beech Nut used to be a type of chewing tobacco? – does not use a standard serving size for cookies and snacks, instead opting for providing nutritional information per cookie. This makes it difficult to determine how much sugar and saturated fat their products contain. Somehow I doubt that this 
is an accident. Gerber should be lauded for transparency if not for healthfulness of their products as they offer full and clear nutritional information on their company website. Virtually all of their Gerber Graduates line of snacks contain very high levels of sugar – up to 57g per 100g serving in their Yogurt Melts. To their credit, most of these products are low in saturated fat. However, it seems that the CFC’s findings regarding baby foods in the UK are very similar in the United States.
There are only a few major baby food manufacturers in Australia. Heinz has the major market share with Only Organic and Golden Circle fighting over the remainder. Only Organic is pretty good, with only a couple of products exceeding the recommended levels of sugar. Both of these products contained large amounts of sugars from fruit sources and thus are not likely a major concern. Only Organic does not produce a snack food line, however. The two companies that do, Heinz and Golden Circle, offer no useful nutritional information online and have not yet replied to requests for information. (I used my professional affiliation in the request thinking that association with a university and a school which includes a large Nutrition Science program would get their attention).
A quick trip to the closest Woolies, however, answered my questions in a disturbing way. As in the U.K. study, most of the baby food ‘meals’ and fruit purees were fine with very few additives and fat and sugar levels well within acceptable boundaries. But almost every snack or dessert food on the baby food shelves contained well over the acceptable levels of sugar and saturated fat. Every item in the Heinz Little Kids line exceeds these recommendations with levels of saturated fat from 2.5 to 8.1 g per 100 g and sugar from 40 to 52 g per 100 g. These products make claims like 35% Less Sugar than the leading brand (Heinz is the leading brand of biscuits targeted to infants and toddlers), No Added Colours or Preservatives or my favorite – All Natural. Folks, lard is natural but you wouldn’t feed it to your infant, would you?
CHOICE Food for Kids, an excellent consumer website, has thorough information on a number of other foods targeted at the toddler market and provides more information about the unfortunate state . Some of the worst offenders are products that imply healthiness. Mother Earth Fruit Crumble Muesli Bars, for example, contain 6.7 g per 100 g saturated fat and 30 g per 100 g sugar. Go Natural Berry Pieces in Yoghurt are one of the worst products on the market, containing a whopping 18.2 g fat per 100 g and 58.1 g sugar per 100 g. While they are more than half sugar, these tasty treats contain neither real fruit nor real yogurt. Yummy, dig in kids!
Another insidious trend is using well known children’s entertainment characters. The cloyingly sweet, yet remarkably slender Wiggles are probably not eating a lot of their ABC Letter Biscuits (7.6 g of saturated fat per 100 g).
It isn’t just sweet treats. Heinz Little Kids Cheesymite Bread Sticks have an unacceptable level of saturated fat. Every kid’s favorite ‘cheese’ food, Kraft Singles, pack a whopping 13.9 g of saturated fat per 100 g and 1.4 g of sodium per 100 g.
In short, Australia is in the same boat as the UK. If we buy baby and toddler food off the shelf, with the assumption that they are safe and healthy products – as advertised – we’re feeding our kids crap.
The CFC report offers a number of recommendations, most of which are directed towards the companies and government regulators. I’ve got a few suggestions as a parent.
- No matter what country you live in, Heinz kid’s snacks are junk. Don’t buy them.
- Don’t believe anything you read on a box. The health claims are marketing tools and are often deceptive. Look at the nutritional information. The UK Food Standards Agency recommends healthy levels of no more than 5 g per 100g saturated fat, 15 g per 100 g sugar and 1.5 g per 100 g sodium in any food products. Bear in mind that these recommended levels are for adults, kids probably need less. If the nutritional information is incomplete, they are trying to hide something. Don’t buy those products.
- Don’t give kids cookies as a snack. The CFC recommends raw fruit or vegetables or natural yogurt. I know it is easier said than done. I’m guilty of taking the path of least resistance. Boy Z lived on those Heinz Little Kids ‘fruit bars’ for a while. I won’t be making the same mistake for baby #2. There are reasonably healthy packaged snack foods available. The CHOICE Food For Kids site is a good resource in Australia. If anyone knows of similar sites in the UK or US, let me know and I’ll link to them.
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Ooh. Here’s how hippy dippy I was: I made all of the baby food. I would cook and puree the acceptable baby veggies etc. without salt daily. I even baked soy crackers and muffins.
I had more time then.
heathers last blog post..To pull a MacGyver.
Do little kids really eat those biscuits? It seems like all I remember my little sisters doing with them is gnawing on the outside until it got a little soft, then leaving the majority of the biscuit stuck to the furniture.
Not to make you paranoid, but you didn’t even address what happens when the kids are out of your sight. My friends’ 14 month old just recently started going to day care, and they fed her beef taquitos at snack time. She ate two of them. She’d never had beef before. She had diarrhea for two days. My friend had to have a talk about introducing things in moderation…
Theresa Bs last blog post..School’s out…
You know, I wasn’t even allowed sugar cereal when I was a kid, or pop, or anything like that…ever. I still view it all as a treat, that I consume with guilt:/
suzers last blog post..SAPOL, you’re an A-hole
What about Caramello Koalas? Are they bad for kids? Zach loves them. This post almost made me want to go out and buy him a good old fashioned chocolate treat, but then I figured his Dad would kick my pregnant butt.
I was certainly never one of those people who had the time to make everything, but I absolutely never bought the kid/toddler snacks or finger foods. I will admit one of the biggest reasons was the price. However, I noticed, more than once, that the ingredients in the kid version was no healthier than the adult versions of similar snacks.
There’s a thin line to walk with this issue. In today’s society, if you make a child feel like junk food is the forbidden fruit, they’re going to grow up to crave it. The trick is to convince them, “Yeah, you could eat that… but you don’t WANT to eat that!”
Angels last blog post..I Chose the Moonbow
Christ, this is sobering. Thank heavens Mrs. Wife takes care of The Daughter’s nutritional needs. If it were up to me…well, frankly I shudder to think what would happen to them. Snacking is a battle of wills and I am no match for their persistence. Using children’s entertainment characters so sell food/products is as old at television.
The Unbearable Banishments last blog post..a brief walk in manhattan
Wow! Very nice post! You must have spent awhile on this one for all that information.
I’m sort of…ok I’m completely obsessive about my kids’ foods. They’ll probably have all sorts of food issues because of me. But what the heck – I do the best I can.
I don’t stock the pantry (occasional splurges are a different thing altogether) with any food unless I know what ALL the ingredients are. I tell the kids that if I’m not with them, if they can’t pronounce ALL the ingredients, don’t even eat it. It’s not food.
I remember my aunt complaining one time that she felt she was duped by Hi-C drink when my cousin and I were young. Because it advertised 100% daily allowance of vitamin C, she felt it was healthy & bought it for my cousin. I readily drank it up at her house, because my mom was not so easily fooled!
You might enjoy reading Our Stolen Future (Colborn). It’s a really great read if you want to increase your food paranoia. The forward is by Al Gore, for whatever that’s worth. The thing about the book is that the amazon.com blurb focuses on the reproductive health issues, but in reality what I took away from the book was that in the past we’ve focused so much energy on whether or not various additives cause cancer that we were completely blind for a time on what other problems newly invented foods, chemicals, additives, etc. could be causing.
As far as organic vs. non-organic, Diet for a Poison Planet (Steinman) is a good book. Helps you figure out when it’s worth spending the extra money on organic foods – which have the most pesticides. I have a bag of organic sugar in my pantry, so organic is definitely not synonymous with low-fat or low in sugar. (sugar is not something I’d normally spend the money to buy organic, it just happened to be on sale).
Jill/Twipply Skwoods last blog post..It’s All Fun and Games Until Someone’s Covered in Barf
Well du-h!
I’m with Heather. I made many things for the BA until she was at preschool and then let her off the leash a bit as she approached school age. I did not however bake soy muffins!!! One of her fave snacks was apple and cheese chopped up together. It’s surprisingly easy to give your kid fresh, relatively healthy snacks. It’s also cheap. Eventually they are going to run into processed crap food as a part of everyday life in the 21stC but keep it at bay as long as you can parents
arizaphales last blog post..The Evolution of Maths Teaching
Ella ate a ton of Goldfish and string cheese (she still eats them) as a snack foods, with the occasional banana to satisfy her sugar cravings…she never really developed the sweet tooth her father has.
I’m with Angel and the others, I made lots of my own baby food and almost never bought the prepackaged snacks (except for the puffs, which were a godsend). I have never bought a toddler “meal”, I liken them to those evil Lunchables. My kids are going to be the ones all the other kids feel sorry for. You mom won’t buy you “XYZcrap?” I guess they’ll be trading for a taste of the bad stuff.
Our only downfall right now is Oreos. The kids get an Oreo if they poop on the toilet. Then again, I have a two and a half year old boy who nearly potty-trained. Somehow, I justify that in my head.
NATUIs last blog post..Band of Gold
I have generally avoided food marketed for babies. I made a lot of baby food. And as soon as our kids were able, switched to table food. Grapes cut up are a staple. Peas. Simple things cut up so that a small baby can eat them. With the 2nd child it was harder to make stuff, but I have tried to just feed her real food, not processed stuff, as much as possible. We have graham crackers as a treat. I think the real thing tastes better than the other stuff.
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If I am ever lucky enough to produce a child, I hope that I am also lucky enough to have the time and resources to make my child’s food fresh.
My sister and I were never allowed sweet treats growing up, but these things aren’t even marketed as such. Thanks for the reminder to read labels! Even for us adults, it’s true that we are lured by all the flashy labels: Nutritious, Fat free, Low sodium… but what does that REALLY mean?
The Ambiguous Blobs last blog post..Sometimes, a picture really does say it all
It’s not just kids — we’re all eating crap. I especially like your point that organic doesn’t mean healthy. Just because it’s natural doesn’t mean it’s good for you, and just because it says “organic” doesn’t even mean it’s really organic. At least in the U.S., I believe it has to have the Certified Organic label in order to have been regulated by the FDA. Otherwise, anyone can throw the word “organic” on any food product, whether it really is or not, and no one will do anything about it.
This stuff scares me. I’m worried enough about what goes into my own body, but if I ever have a kid, I know I’ll be researching the hell out of all this stuff to make sure I’m not feeding him/her poison.
courtneys last blog post..It’s Easy To Be Green When There’s Free Stuff Involved
Loved the article… Yes its crazy how the big companies trick tactics work, but I got sick of nagging at mothers about looking into the food they feed their babies, but at the end of the day Heinz and the big boys make things that sell… So unless educated people stand up for what they want, the big boys keep making money out of this crap… I started Green Monkey to offer a healthy honest choice, but it is expensive due to NEVER cutting corners… Best thing is make your own and have Green Monkey for the days its too hard…
Great post! The food manufacturers cannot be trusted– on top of all the sugar and crap– who knows what genetically modified shit they are using. For anyone who has a baby and is ready for solid foods, I highly recommend a book called Super Baby Food– it is fantastic. It shows easy food you can make with a mini food processor– or a large one — and then you can freeze the purees into ice cube trays, then transfer to ziplocs in the freezer. They can even be brought to daycare then microwaved when it’s eating time.
Also, often the adult versions of the “cereal bars” and whatnot, often have far less sugar- there’s no reason to buy the more expensive baby versions. And I think if you buy organic you probably also have a greater chance of buying a product from a company that cares– but that’s just a guess.
Cheers.
Florida Girl in Sydney´s last blog ..Chapter Three
Heather – We made baby food for a while, but Zach wouldn’t eat it. He loved the jar stuff.
Theresa – I’m not actually that paranoid. I’m pretty relaxed about what the boy eats generally, what pisses me off is corporations marketing their food as healthy and appropriate for children when it is absolutely not.
Suzer – I’m guilty when I eat McDonalds.
Ariza – I’m going to try apple and cheese today. He loves both individually and would probably like the combination.
Nathan – What is string cheese actually made of do you think?
Dr O’C – You’re part of the problem!
NATUI – I’m a realist. I know that the kid is going to eat crap. All kids do. What pisses me off is the deception by kids food manufacturers.
Angel – You’re right about that, but I don’t think it’s going to be easy. These bastards are clever marketers!
TUB – I know and it’s been working ever since. It’s heavily regulated in the UK, I’d like to see better regulation in Oz.
Jill – I did spend a lot of time, probably too much really. Now, organic. I’ve got no problem with organic. I just think it can be used to deceive consumers. Horse shit is organic, but I wouldn’t feed it to my kid.
Teri – Zach’s tastes change on a daily basis. Some days he’s all over grapes, the next day – won’t touch them.
Blob – You’re right, it isn’t just kids food. It’s all packaged foods. Advertising is a clever science.
Courtney – I reckon that food manufacturers start young – get kids addicted to sugar, salt and fat and they’ll keep eating it as adults. And we do.
I think some people feel bad if they dont give their kids sweets as nowadays it seems that that makes you a harsh parent. Why? When I was wee sweets were a treat we got on Fridays after having fish for dinner. Now I see people having them everyday, having sweets for lunch, it’s just too easy to buy them- vending machines, snack sizes… just like it was too easy to buy dohnuts in NYC.
Anyways, I saw a kid on the tube in New York at midnight, he shoulda been in bed. His parents were feeding him some sugar snacks and full-fat coke. And then shouting at him for being boisterous. Really, you want your kid to calm down and go to bed? Don’t feed him that shit then. And lots of little fat kids that were walking evidence of child abuse. Dude, when your child is obese, it;s not their fault, it’s yours. (That’s in general and not directed at the AFM family). Over n oot
SSG´s last blog ..Back from blighty
Outstanding post and research. I’m past the “baby food” stage (thank god), but my feeling on feeding the little ones has always been..(K.I.B.S)…or “Keep it Balanced Stupid.” Like adult eating…not ever meal can be a winner or in other words complete with veggies, fruit, high in fiber, low in sugar and calories, etc. Sometimes, we do have McD’s, but other nights it’s tuna casserole or spaghetti w/turkey meat. Snacks are sometimes crackers, but most of the time carrots or apples. You get the idea. I try to “mix it up” and not allow the kids to have the same things over and over….and most important, get them outside and get them some exercise!
Damon´s last blog ..Random Tuesday and 3/4
I wanted to comment on here yesterday and for some reason I couldn’t. This was a great, eye-opening post. It’s scary to think I could be feeding my child such terrible foods without even realizing it. I definitely try to encourage her to eat whole, healthy foods. She has a sweet tooth and also a salt tooth. She actually eats salt right out of the shaker. Obviously, I only give her one little shake of it, but it’s really weird to me. She also loves salads and fruit, so she does enjoy healthy foods as well. I just want her to grow up with a balanced view of food (unlike her mama who’s struggled with an eating disorder most of her life. sigh). Thanks for pointing out that organic does not equal healthy. It drives me crazy when people assume that everything they buy at Whole Foods is healthy. (I don’t know if you have Whole Foods down under but it’s basically an over-priced organic grocery store.)
Gwen´s last blog ..Stabbing and Stones
Oh and one more thing (because I’m the Queen of One More Thing) – I have to say that some parents go a little overboard with the sugar control. I know some one who is like the sugar and fat Nazi with her kids and they are basically afraid of food. These kids aren’t even a little bit fat. I think it’s important to be moderate when it comes to food. No food is bad if we don’t eat too much of it.
Gwen´s last blog ..Stabbing and Stones
SSG – I agree that fat kids are the fault of the parents. But I’m now seeing how easy it is to just say ‘Fuck it’ and feed them crap. Getting kids to eat healthy food is a full time damn job.
Damon – The exercise is a good point, that’s the other reason kids get fat. I don’t think that’s going to be a problem for us because of the climate and the fact that I’m kicking them outside just to get some peace.
Gwen – Zach eats butter out of the tub. Of course, I do that as well. That’s the hardest thing – I have to change my eating habits as well. And you’re right about the balance, if I’m a food fascist, the kid is going to have food issues.
If I only knew then what I know now…..
my kids are waaaay past diapers. I wish I started them as babies eating properly. I just started
changing our diets. It’s a full time job let me tell you.
here’s what I’ve learned so far
“Omnivore’s Dilemma” Author Michael Pollan’s New Advice on Buying Food: “Don’t Buy Any Food You’ve Ever Seen Advertised”
sugar is poison – avoid as much as possible. use Stevia if you have to sweeten something. NO ASPARTAME (good luck on that one – it seems to be in everything now)
WHOLE FOODS only. and if you must buy something out of a box, a plastic bag, or a plastic bottle — no more than 5 ingredients on the box!!
we really shouldn’t be eating meat
lots of fruits and veggies (uncooked)
keep your body’s Ph between 7 -8. you’ll never get sick. Cancer can’t live in an alkaline state.
use buckwheat flour
no corn syrup. (LOL!!!)
No GMO’s
no teflon or aluminum – cast iron for cooking
btw,
I really enjoy your music and your posts. Thanks.
AFM, I’m pretty sure that string cheese is made from pixie dust and awesomeness.
Jersey Cynic – Thanks for your comments, I agree with most of them. Especially Pollan’s advice!
Nathan –
I know Tyler’s only 11 months old, but I’m proud to say that 99% of his snacks have been either breastmilk, grapes, or bananas. He’s currently eating the lot of the same foods that Sarah and I eat, so I have no desire to buy these snack foods that are aimed at the tykes. BUT, if wife ever comes home with something like this “because it was on sale, and I had a coupon” (this is why I have THREE bottles of shampoo, for the head of hair that I keep less than a half inch long), I’ll have some data to throw at her.
Joe´s last blog ..How do I get this car out of second gear?
I don’t have a lot of thoughts about baby food, but I do have some about Nina Simone: she’s freaking amazing.
Gypsy´s last blog ..Knowing hope
I learned a long time ago to always, always read labels! When Grayson was a baby, we had a friend who always bought the little Gerber fruit snacks. I read the label on them at the store, and they were TERRIBLE!! Gray-man got dried pineapple and papaya instead! A funny thing I’ve noticed, too, is that sometimes when the brand name product is terrible, the store brand will not be half as bad. I dunno why.
Jessica K´s last blog ..Hummingbirds
Yes, these companies are pulling the wool over a LOT of people’s eyes. That’s why there’s an “obesity epidemic”. I hope Drew and I aren’t being too harsh with the healthy food, but the kids get cake when there’s a party… and damn, but aren’t there an awful lot of parties?! Anyway, I get what you’re saying. The deception in marketing is worse than the product sometimes.
I often think how much easier my life would be if I could just waltz into the grocery store and pick up pre-packaged crappy foods, like Little Debbies and Lunchables (for example). The girls would eat them up and I wouldn’t have to think. But the consequence of doing so would NOT be worth it.
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