Study – Sweet and Salty: Nutritional Content and Analysis of Baby and Toddler Foods

Posted By elissa on Jul 10, 2010 | 2 comments

A recent study published in the Journal of Public Health should raise a few eyebrows:

Background  To critically examine baby and toddler food products sold in Canada for their sugar and sodium content, and to assess these in light of current recommendations.

Methods  Baby and toddler foods (n = 186) were coded for various attributes, including ‘Nutrition Facts’ label data. Four ‘categories’ of baby/toddler foods were analyzed against their ‘adult’ counterparts for sugar and salt to reveal whether a ‘halo effect’ attributed to baby/toddler food is warranted.

Results  63% of products have either high levels of sodium or an excessive proportion of calories coming from sugar. Over 12% of products had moderate or high levels of sodium; over 53% of products derive >20% of their calories from sugar. Baby and toddler foods were not found to be nutritionally superior—in terms of sodium or sugar—to their adult counterparts.

Conclusions  Baby and toddler foods are currently overlooked in the public, and public policy, discussions pertaining to dietary sodium and sugar. Yet these products are clearly of concern and should be closely monitored, since they promote a taste for ‘sweet’ and ‘salty’ in our youngest consumers.

For the record, “pure” foods (strained veggies, fruits and juices) were excluded from the analysis, which focused on prepared foods/products: “pureed ‘dinners’ and ‘desserts’, toddler ‘entrées’ and ‘dinners’, ‘snacks’ (including biscuits, cookies, fruit snacks, ‘snack bars’ and yogurts) and some cereals.” 

The worrisome points made in this study are that a) on average, baby/toddler foods are not nutritionally superior to their adult counterparts; and b) such products may be getting kids “hooked” on sweet and/or salty tastes at a very early age.