ArticleMaternal & child nutrition2021
High sugar content of European commercial baby foods and proposed updates to existing recommendations.
Article in Maternal & child nutrition, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 36 papers.
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Who cites it
36 citing papers in PubMed.
- Comparative Analysis of Food Additives in Products with and Without Added Sugar on the Polish Market.Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Mapping and Nutrient Profiles of Commercially Produced Complementary Foods in West Africa.Maternal & child nutrition · 2026Article
- Nutrient Composition and Health Information on the Labels of Commercially Produced Complementary Foods in Nepal.Maternal & child nutrition · 2026Article
- How Does Household Food Insecurity Impact Complementary Feeding, in High Income Countries, in a Cost-of-Living Crisis? A Systematic Scoping Review.Maternal & child nutrition · 2026Article
- Commercial Baby Foods: Nutrition, Marketing and Motivations for Use-A Narrative Review.Maternal & child nutrition · 2025Review
- How labelling of commercial infant food impacts parents' beliefs about sugar content and related purchasing and feeding decisions: a scoping review.Public health nutrition · 2025Article
- How Labeling of Commercial Baby Foods Impacts Parents' Beliefs About Sugar Content and Related Purchasing and Feeding Decisions: Protocol for a Scoping Review.JMIR research protocols · 2025Article
- Nutritional content and promotional practices of foods for infants and young children on the spanish market: a cross-sectional product evaluation.European journal of pediatrics · 2025Article
- Estimating the Impact on Parents' Infant Feeding Choices of Increasing Age Guidance and Adding Sugar Warning Labels to Commercial Infant Foods: A Mixed-Methods Study.Current developments in nutrition · 2025Article
- Evaluating alignment of UK commercial baby food products with the WHO nutrient and promotion profile model.European journal of pediatrics · 2025Article
- Trends in commercial complementary food in Romanian infants-a cross-sectional study.Frontiers in nutrition · 2025Article
- Snack Confusion: Parents perceive baby, child and adult snacks as more similar than they actually are.Current research in food science · 2025Article
- Consumption frequency of ultra-processed foods and beverages among 6- to 36-month-olds in Kampala, Uganda.Maternal & child nutrition · 2025Article
- Comparison between national and PAHO criteria for assessing the nutritional profile of foods intended for children aged 0-3 years marketed in Lima, Peru.Frontiers in nutrition · 2025Article
- Use of baby food products during the complementary feeding period: What factors drive parents' choice of products?Maternal & child nutrition · 2024Article
- Bean Consumption during Childhood Is Associated with Improved Nutritional Outcomes in the First Two Years of Life.Nutrients · 2024Article
- Survey of Emotional Themes Used in Marketing of Commercial Baby Foods in the UK-Implications for Nutrition Promotion in Early Childhood.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2024Article
- Benchmarking the nutrient composition and labelling practices of commercially produced ready-to-eat purées and meals for older infants and young children across seven Southeast Asian countries.Maternal & child nutrition · 2023Article
- Baby, children, and adult biscuits. Differences in nutritional quality and naturalness.Food science & nutrition · 2023Article
- Benchmarking the nutrient composition and labelling practices of dry or instant cereals for older infants and young children across seven Southeast Asian countries.Maternal & child nutrition · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
19 authors.
Funding
Abstract
The aim was to determine whether commercial baby foods marketed within Europe (up to 36 months of age) have inappropriate formulation and high sugar content and to provide suggestions to update European regulations and recommendations as part of a nutrient profile model developed for this age group. The latter was produced following recommended World Health Organization (WHO) steps, including undertaking a rapid literature review. Packaging information from countries across the WHO European region was used to determine mean energy from total sugar by food category. The percentage of products containing added sugar and the percentage of savoury meal-type products containing pureed fruit were also calculated. A total of 2,634 baby foods from 10 countries were summarised: 768 sold in the United Kingdom, over 200 each from Denmark (319), Spain (241), Italy (430) and Malta (243) and between 99-200 from Hungary, Norway, Portugal, Estonia and Slovenia. On average, approximately a third of energy in baby foods in these European countries came from total sugar, and for most food categories, energy from sugar was higher than 10%. Use of added sugars was widespread across product categories, with concentrated fruit juice most commonly used. Savoury meal-type purees did not contain added sugars except in United Kingdom and Malta; however, fruit as an ingredient was found in 7% of savoury meals, most frequently seen in UK products. Clear proposals for reducing the high sugar content seen in commercial baby foods were produced. These suggestions, relating to both content and labelling, should be used to update regulations and promote product reformulation.
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Registered trials
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