Nutritional analysis of infant food carried out by the Aberdeen Scientific Services Laboratory for BBC Panorama has found low levels of certain nutrients and high sugar content.
Laboratory testing of 18 pouches made by Ella’s Kitchen, Heinz, Piccolo, Little Freddie, Aldi and Lidl found many to be low in vitamin C and iron, while some contained more sugar in a single pouch than a one-year-old should have in a day.
Aberdeen Scientific Services Laboratory approved by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service was commissioned by Panorama to independently test the nutritional value of a fruit, yoghurt and savoury pouch from each of the six leading brands.
Key findings included:
• Savoury pouches, used by some families as replacements for main meals, containing less than 5% of the key nutrient, iron, that an infant needs each day
• A fruit pouch in which virtually all the vitamin C had been lost during the manufacturing process
• Fruit pouches marketed as having “no added sugar” containing about four teaspoons of “free sugars” (created when fruit is blended); something that was deemed “intentionally misleading”
Many of the biggest brands use “halo-marketing” – surrounding products with healthy words or phrases – according to Dr Tedstone.
Ella’s Kitchen, for example, describes savoury products as “perfectly balanced for growing babies”, while Piccolo claims many pouches are “packed with goodness”. Some Little Freddie pouches come branded as “Good for Brains” and Heinz claims some of its fruit products are “as nutritionally good as homemade”.
Piccolo and Little Freddie told BBC their packaging accurately represented the key ingredients and flavours contained in their products, while Ella’s Kitchen said it “would never use” misleading claims. Heinz did not address our questions on marketing.
To watch the Panorama: The Truth about Baby Food Pouches episode see here – BBC – welcome back
