Parents in Australia are being misled by a “staggering number” of unregulated claims on baby and toddler food, according to a new study.
Researchers from the George Institute for Global Health compared the nutritional and promotional data of 309 infant food products sold in Australian supermarkets against standards set by the World Health Organization (WHO).
A team from the George Institute for Global Health analysed 309 infant and toddler foods sold in major supermarkets, which are marketed at children aged between six months and three years of age.
Australia’s health guidelines recommend no sugars be added to foods for children under a year old, while consumption should be “limited” in children older than that.
More than three-quarters of the products failed overall nutritional requirements, while all items flunked the promotional requirements, research led by the George Institute for Global Health found.
All products failed to meet the ‘no prohibited claims’ on labels and other marketing materials, which is a requirement of the NPPM. Prohibited claims include statements like “free from colours and flavours”,
“organic” and “no added sugar”.
“We found the average number of prohibited claims in this category was 5.6 – in one case, we saw 21 different prohibited claims on a single product,” says Dunford.
