As part of their ‘Our Kids are Sweet Enough’ campaign the Food for Health Alliance has recently released a report, Beyond the label: seeing past marketing on baby and toddler foods in Australia. The Beyond the label report highlights the use of misleading marketing tactics on food packaging to lead parents and caregivers to believe that the food is healthier than it is, creating a “health halo”.
From the Kids are Sweet Enough campaign:
“With Food Ministers set to decide in the coming weeks whether to regulate the composition and marketing of these foods in Australia, this report gives us a platform to highlight one of the key issues with these foods and to continue our advocacy for comprehensive changes to this market.
“Baby and toddler products carry up to 20 different on-pack marketing claims and use a range of fruit and vegetable imagery. Many of these claims are misleading – giving parents and caregivers the false impression that these foods are healthy options for young children, when in reality these snacks are highly processed, high in sugar and salt and don’t support children’s health and development.
“For example, our report shows that more than half, (56%) of Australian baby and toddler food products feature fruit imagery on the packaging, but the reality is 94% of baby and toddler foods with images of fruit on the packaging contain sugary ingredients extracted from fruit rather than whole fruit.
“With two out of five Australian kids under three eating packaged baby and toddler foods for at least half their diet, this has significant implications for the health and development of young children.”
The Food Health Alliance is calling on Australian governments to institute comprehensive changes to ensure that babby and toddler foods:
- Meet international standards for nutrition, including limits on sugar and sweetness, sodium and energy density
- Have accurate names that reflect ingredients
- Meet international standards for marketing on packaging, which means no marketing claims and deceptive imagery
- Are age appropriate
More information on the proposed changes, as well as examples of four of the key misleading tactics used by companies, is available in Beyond the label: seeing past marketing on baby and toddler foods in Australia.
Consumers’ Federation of Australia ultimately believes and works for the the protection and wellbeing of all consumers, especially vulnerable consumers such as infants and toddlers. Access to clear and accurate product information is an important cornerstone of consumer protection.