Cleaning up the baby foods aisle: driving policy towards improved standards for commercial baby and toddler foods using the WHO Nutrient & Promotion Profile Model (NPPM)

Current UK baby food regulation is outdated, with no guidelines on added or total sugar levels. (1) Political inaction poses a threat to the nutrition and health of our children. Many products are high in sugar and are misleadingly marketed, appearing healthier than they are which confuses parents. Increased financial pressures on families has highlighted inequalities, with more healthy foods being over twice as expensive per calorie as less healthy foods. (2) We have no contemporary data on baby food quality in relation to cost. The study aimed to characterise UK commercial baby food quality and price and secondly to drive evidence-based change in UK food policy through broad and targeted dissemination and impact. All commercially available baby and toddler foods (for children under age 3) listed on websites of the 5 largest UK grocery retailers (Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, Aldi and ASDA) were included in the sample. Websites were viewed between June-August 2024 to identify unique products. Nutritional, ingredient, and packet marketing details were collected along with price. Nutritional quality and marketing practices were evaluated using the WHO Nutrient & Promotion Profile Model (NPPM). (1) A dissemination and impact plan was drafted and delivered, drawing on sector-wide support to target policy-makers, retailers and manufacturers. 632 products were analysed. All products are marketed inappropriately and many fall short of nutritional standards, in particular being very high in sugar. 28% of products were pouches with spouts, half of which had no warning not to drink via the spout. 25% of all products would require a front-of-pack ‘high-sugar’ indicator according to WHO standards and 55% of snacks contained added sugars. Of fruit-based purees sold as being suitable for early weaning (‘4+’ or ‘6+’ months) n47 (36%) were too low in energy (watery) whilst deriving an average of 71% (SD17) of their total energy from sugar. Cost analysis revealed that cheaper pouches tended to have lower energy density (higher water content) and cheaper fruit pouches derived a greater proportion of energy from sugar. Cheaper snacks were also higher in sugar. Dissemination and impact activities included targeted media and social media coverage, engaging with members of parliament, and a cross-sector webinar for stakeholders. This evidence highlights unacceptable issues with commercial baby foods. Legislative gaps have allowed poor quality products, with misleading and inappropriate marketing, to become mainstream. Understanding the role of price in product quality demonstrates how families shopping on a budget are more likely to take poorer quality products home, potentially widening social and health inequalities. Targeting all stakeholders including civil society (non-government organisations and families), baby food manufacturers/retailers and government policy makers should increase pressure for meaningful change throughout the food system and drive legislative reform to enable improved early years nutrition.