Either too much sugar or too much salt or too much fat - more than 85% of baby food is unhealthy. I study.
Don't store avocado like this: it's dangerousToo much sugar, fat, or too much salt: More than 85% of foods advertised for babies are unhealthy. This is what emerges from an analysis by a German NGO that examined more than 200 foods advertised for babies and came to a conclusion: the voluntary self-regulation of the food industry for more responsible marketing has failed.
Rattling off impressive data is foodwatch, which, after reviewing 283 foods advertised for babies, confirmed that 242 of these - or 85,5% - are unhealthy and contain too much sugar, fat or too much salt. According to WHO criteria, these foods should not even be intended for children.
Read also: Food for children, a concentrate of sugars: WHO analyzes
The nutritional composition of all products intended directly for children in marketing or advertising was in fact compared with the requirements of the World Health Organization for balanced foods. This shows that neither politics nor business have delivered on promises of better protection of children and young people from junk food advertising. Even compared to a 2015 foodwatch study, not much has changed: at the time, 89,1% of products were unhealthy by WHO standards.
A systematic review
The analysis touched on the products of a total of 16 food companies that signed a voluntary commitment to responsible marketing for children (“EU Pledge”) in 2007 - including Nestlé, Danone and Unilever. With it, all the companies had stated that they would be putting in place a more responsible type of marketing. The reality is quite different: 10 of the 16 companies surveyed now only advertise unhealthy products, including Ferrero, Pepsico, Mars, Unilever and Coca-Cola. The largest number of unbalanced products advertise Nestlé (44 products), Kellogg's (24 products) and Ferrero (23 products).
The products advertised for children are mainly sugar bombs and greasy snacks. Voluntary commitments from the food industry have also changed nothing, says foodwatch campaign director Oliver Huizinga.
Here are the rejected products:
©foodwatch
As you can see, the only company that is significantly different from 2015 is Danone. The yogurt maker reduced the percentage of unhealthy baby products from 96,8% (2015) to 58,6% (2021). Since then, 13 unhealthy products have either been withdrawn from the market or reformulated. But even for Danone there is no full okay: most baby products do not meet WHO recommendations.
©foodwatch
The three sugary yogurts examined in the test are all from Nestlé. Even though the manufacturer reduced the sugar content in previous years, Smarties contain 50% more sugar than WHO recommended.
©foodwatch
The three sweetened breakfast cereals in the test are all from Kellog's - the sugar here is more than double what the WHO recommends for children's breakfast cereals.
A look at the food categories shows that mostly chocolate and confectionery are advertised for children, as well as breakfast cereals, ice cream and savory snacks. In other words, those products that promise particularly high returns on sales.
The foodwatch market study shows once again that purely voluntary measures of the food industry are not enough but, on the contrary, the food industry continues to contribute to child malnutrition with its marketing methods. Laws are needed to induce food companies to cut back on sugar. Direct marketing to children should be allowed but only for healthy foods.
HERE you can find the complete report.
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Fonte: foodwatch
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- 95% of baby food contains toxic metals. I study
