Organix has teamed up with TV presenter, Cherry Healey, to launch a nationwide junk busting campaign to investigate what’s hiding in some of the baby finger foods and toddler snacks marketed for little ones.
Increasingly concerned about the quality and quantity of unnecessary ingredients in some baby finger foods and toddler snacks, Organix commissioned a survey to uncover parents’ attitudes to snacks for babies and toddlers, and find out what they think needs to change.
The survey found that 76 per cent of parents were shocked to discover that some baby and toddler snacks contain up to 30 separate ingredients, 85 per cent of parents were shocked to find some baby finger foods and toddler snacks contain almost the same level of salt as a regular bag of adult crisps and 82 per cent shocked that extra salt is added to some baby and toddler snacks to boost the flavour.
Furthermore, more than half of parents questioned (52 per cent) said it’s difficult to find food they can trust and a quarter of parents (27 per cent) admit to making a decision on whether to buy a food just by looking at the front of pack, despite the fact that 40 per cent say they don’t trust the healthy food claims found there. The research revealed the importance of good nutritional quality to parents, with 87 per cent saying they want to try and find healthy and nutritious snacks for their little ones. As well as unnecessary ingredients hiding in some snack foods, parents are calling for clearer labeling, with 63 per cent wanting brands to be more transparent about food labelling.
Philipp von Jagow, Managing Director at Organix, commented: “There’s been a massive explosion in the number of baby and toddler snacks available, but it’s come at a nutritional cost. As brands have rushed to launch new foods, standards have slipped and we’ve seen sales of unhealthy snacks rise by 70 per cent in the last two years. It’s unacceptable that it should take 30 different ingredients to make a tasty toddler fruit snack, or that salt should be added to corn snacks. It’s time we called for change to protect our little ones. There are existing baby food regulations governing nutrition and safety criteria but too many gaps in this regulation are allowing poorer standard foods to enter the marketplace – currently there’s a lack of integrity and enforcement and we’re calling for that to change.”
