Sugar Awareness Week 2021

Call for Removal of Misleading Sugar Claims on Baby & Toddler Sweet Snacks such as Biscuits and Rusks

A few months before giving birth we all start thinking about what our baby will eat, in fact, many of us start thinking about this as early as 12 weeks because we want the best for our baby and toddlers. Everyday we scour the baby magazines to see what baby advice is being offered to us for the best health of our children. However, it has been bought to our attention that the sugar content in many baby and toddler pre-made food is incorrect and the manufacturers are being urged to recall them of the shelves.

• NEW product survey reveals shocking truth about so called ‘healthy’ baby & toddler sweet snacks – with some containing an unnecessary two teaspoons of sugar per serve – despite being sold as a weaning food
• All products (73) surveyed feature healthy-sounding claims on pack, of which over a third (37%) would receive a red (high) label for sugars
• Worst offenders include Heinz Farley’s Rusks and Kiddylicious – with certain products made from nearly 60% free sugars
• Action on Sugar calls for the removal of misleading nutrition and health claims on-pack for these snacks AND for Government to publish and mandate its long-awaited commercial baby food and drink guideline      

A NEW product survey by Action on Sugar (based at Queen Mary University of London) has exposed the alarming amounts of sugars found in many baby & toddler sweet snacks such as biscuits, rusks, oat bars and puffs. With some products containing a massive two teaspoons of sugar per serve, this is of great concern considering babies and toddlers should not be eating any free sugars at all. In fact, children aged between the ages of 1.5 and 3 years are exceeding 27.9g (equivalent of 7 teaspoons) of free sugars per day, according to the National Diet and Nutrition Survey.

To mark Sugar Awareness Week (8-14 November), the group of experts is calling for misleading on-pack marketing claims to be removed – especially around ‘no added sugar/refined sugar’ when such ingredients are replaced by fruit concentrates (which are still a type of free sugars and should be limited).

Action on Sugar is also urging the Government to finally publish its long-awaited composition guidelines for baby & toddler products which will guide manufacturers on how much sugars should be used – making them mandatory in order to create a level-playing field across the sector.

The product survey, which analysed 73 baby and toddler sweet snacks sold in stores, found Heinz Farley’s Mini Rusks Original to be the worst offender with 8.7g of sugars per serve – that’s the equivalent of 2 teaspoons of sugar! Despite the health claims about added vitamins and minerals on pack, this product also contains added sugar. This was followed by Organix Banana Soft Oaty Bars at 8.1g of sugars per serve which are sweetened with apple juice concentrate (a type of free sugars).

When it comes to sugars per 100g – a third (27 of the 73) of the products surveyed would receive a red (high) label for sugars if baby and toddler foods carried traffic light labelling on front of pack.

Rather worryingly, five Kiddylicious products scored the worst for sugars per 100g:

Kiddylicious Banana Crispy Tiddlers are made up of over half sugars (59g per 100g), while Kiddylicious Pineapple, Coconut & Mango Juicy Fruit Bars are nearly a third sugars (30.7g per 100g). Only six products out of 73 (8%) would get a green (low) label for sugars.

Currently, there is a gap in legislation for labelling baby and children’s food & drink with front of pack traffic light labelling which means these products are not required to display them. Yet all the products surveyed that would be red (high) for sugars (under the current traffic light system) also featured a claim that could be distracting and possibly misleading‘Packed with vitamins and minerals’ or ‘Made with real fruit’ – despite containing added sugar, fruit juice concentrates or similar – all of which are free sugars and considered harmful to health.

High and low sugars examples are in Table 1 below.

Table 1: Baby & Toddler sweet snacks with highest and lowest from each category in sugars per 100g

*Sweetening ingredients are in bold

What’s more, a quarter of the products (36 out of 73) surveyed claim on-pack that their sweet snacks are suitable for babies under the age of 12 months even though sugar sweetened food and drink should be avoided in this age group.

Following a public opinion poll by Action on Sugar of 1,000 parents with young children (aged between 1-3 years old) to gain insights on what motivates them when choosing products for their babies:

• Over 8 out of 10 (84%) said they buy these so called ‘healthy’ baby & toddler sweet snacks for their children.
• 6 out of 10 (60%) say that a ‘no added sugar’ claim would be the reason for choosing a particular product.
• 92% said they were more inclined to buy products containing ‘natural sources’ of sugars (e.g. fruit).

The research was conducted by Censuswide, with 1000 respondents aged 16+ in the UK between 18/10/2021 – 21/10/2021. The survey was conducted from a nationally representative of UK adults. Censuswide abide by and employ members of the Market Research Society which is based on the ESOMAR principles.

Dr Kawther Hashem, Campaign Lead at Action on Sugar and Research Fellow at Queen Mary University of London says,

“It’s ludicrous that certain food companies are being allowed to promote their high sugar sweet snacks to parents with very young children, despite them being aware that babies and toddlers shouldn’t be having any free sugars.

“Babies can have a preference for sweet foods, due to milk being ever so slightly sweet, but liking sugary foods is something they only learn by eating sugary foods. Some companies choose to encourage this preference further by providing lots of very sweet products from an early age. What we need is companies to make products with minimal amount of sugars, so young children can grow up enjoying less sweet foods.”

Holly Gabriel RNutr, Nutrition Manager at Action on Sugar explains,

“Using healthy-sounding claims on sugary foods is normalising sweet snacks at a young age.  Given just a few baby & toddler sweet snacks would be considered low in sugar, the Government must release their long-awaited commercial baby food and drink guidelines and make them mandatory to hold all companies to the same standard. The Government must also investigate the best way of labelling foods for babies and toddlers to provide better and more honest packaging for parents.”

Professor Graham MacGregor, Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine at Queen Mary University of London and Chairman of Action on Sugar adds,

“Consuming too much sugar on a regular basis means we’re eating too many calories.  If we don’t use those calories as fuel, our body will store them as fat. This can lead to weight gain, and if this happens to our children, it’s likely they will carry the weight into their adolescent and adult years, potentially leading to overweight or obesity, as well as suffering from agonising tooth decay. It is therefore imperative that food companies act more responsibly and commit to reformulate sugar, salt and calorie reduction instead of foisting unhealthy products with misleading nutrition claims upon well-meaning parents.”

Organix added in reponse to our release:

“The majority of the sugar content within Organix Soft Oaty Bars comes from dried fruit which contains naturally occurring sugars. The fruit juice concentrate used is to hold all the ingredients together, provide flavour and to give a suitable texture for a child.

Organix believes in using natural ingredients such as dried fruit which has the nutritional benefits of fibre, vitamins and minerals rather than using artificial sweeteners or table sugar. We share our full recipe and nutritional content per portion and per 100g on back of pack.

As a brand we are constantly looking at natural ways to reduce sugar and are excited to share new news on this in 2022.”

Professor Claire Stevens CBE, Spokesperson, BSPD said: 

“The research by Action on Sugar of foods manufactured and promoted as baby and weaning snacks showed an alarming level of unnecessary sugar. Whilst many of these infant foods might appear “healthy”, this is not always the case and action needs to be taken to improve clear and concise on-pack messaging.  Through BSPD’s Dental Check by One campaign (DCby1), we urge all parents and care-givers to take their baby to the dentist before their first birthday for a check-up.  This will allow infants to be assessed, given good oral care advice – as well as helping babies get used to having their teeth and mouths examined.