Be confident baby food You may want to double-check the nutritional information on the foods you buy.
A new study published in the journal Nutrients It found that about 60% of infant foods sold at major U.S. retailers do not meet international nutritional guidelines set by the World Health Organization. In addition, nearly 100% of the products contain “at least [one] “There are labelling on packaging that is prohibited under WHO guidelines, with some products carrying up to 11 prohibited labels.”
“Of all the products studied, the researchers found that 70 percent did not meet WHO guidelines for protein content and 25 percent did not meet calorie recommendations. One in five foods for infants and toddlers contained more salt than the organization recommends,” Sandy LaMotte writes. CNN
Additionally, about 25 percent of the products “contained added or hidden sweeteners and 44 percent of foods for infants and young children exceeded WHO’s total sugars recommendations.”
Dr. Elizabeth Dunford, adjunct assistant professor of nutrition at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, told CNN, “Studies have shown that 50 percent of the sugar consumed in baby foods comes from the pouches, making them some of the foods with the highest sugar content.”
Sales of baby food pouches have increased 900% in the past 13 years, according to Lamott.
“These findings indicate the need for urgent efforts to improve the nutritional value of commercially available infant and toddler foods in the United States,” the researchers wrote. “The high frequency of prohibited claims also suggests the need to regulate the types and number of claims that can appear on packaging.”
