Nutritionist shares how to ensure your baby gets vital nutrients following alarming study

With time-pressed parents busier than ever before, many have long trusted in convenient baby food pouches to keep their little ones full.

Now, an alarming new study has determined that well-meaning parents have been “misled” by the marketing of six leading UK brands, which are currently failing to meet babies' and toddlers' key nutritional needs.

This Panorama investigation, which will air this evening (April 28), saw researchers from an Aberdeen laboratory test the nutritional value of fruit, yoghurt and savoury pouches from four leading brands and two that offer a full range of baby food pouches - Ella's Kitchen, Heinz, Piccolo, Little Freddie, and .

Out of the 18 pouches tested, many were found to be low in vitamin C and iron, while savoury pouches, sometimes used as full main meals replacements, contained less than five per cent of the vital nutrient iron, required every day for infants' development.

Meanwhile, fruit pouches marketed as containing "no added sugar" were in fact found to include approximately four teaspoons of 'free sugar', which is made through blending fruit. Experts have criticised this marketing as “intentionally misleading”.

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Commenting on this Panorama report, registered nutritionist and mindset coach Monica Kranner described the findings as "deeply concerning".

She told the : "Babies and toddlers are at such a delicate, critical stage of development, every bite they take is building the foundation for their future health, growth, and brain development. Brands have a responsibility to uphold the highest standards, not just meet the minimum requirements or dress up their products with clever marketing.

"I would love to see more transparency, stricter regulations on health claims, and a real commitment to using whole, minimally processed ingredients in baby and toddler foods."

As explained by Monica, babies and toddlers require a number of key nutrients at this stage in their development. This includes iron and zinc, healthy fats, high-quality protein, and calcium, as well as vitamins such as A, D, C, and B-complex.

According to Monica, parents also need to be wary of foods with high levels of added sugars, including "excessive salt, cheap fillers, and unnecessary additives, which not only displace essential nutrients but can also set unhealthy preferences early in life".

With this in mind, Monica has shared her go-to recipe for homemade bone broth. which she says is "incredibly rich in collagen, minerals, and amino acids that nourish gut health, strengthen immunity, and support overall development".

A mother herself, Monica feeds this to her own toddler "every single day". She's advised: "I prepare a big batch of bone broth and freeze it in small portions (ice cube trays are perfect!).

"Each day, I warm up a cube or two and add it into my toddler’s meals, whether stirred into purees, tiny pastas, or even just offered warm in a baby bottle.

"I genuinely believe this habit has contributed massively to my little one’s amazing health, he’s only been sick twice in 22 months our mistake because both times were after flights!)"

Simple Nourishing Beef Bone Broth Recipe:

Ingredients:

• • 1 kg grass-fed beef bones (preferably marrow and knuckle bones)

  • 2 celery sticks, chopped

  • 2 carrots

  • 2 parsnip

  • some fresh parsley (added toward the end)

  • ½ og a fennel

  • A tiny pinch of pure stone salt (unprocessed, rich in minerals)

  • Fresh cold water to cover

Instructions:

• • Place the bones, celery, parsnip, and fennel in a large pot or slow cooker.

  • Cover with cold water and bring to a gentle boil.

  • Skim off any foam that rises to the top.

  • Reduce to a low simmer and cook gently for at least 6 hours.

  • In the last 30 minutes, add the fresh parsley and the tiny pinch of stone salt.

  • Strain the broth, cool, and freeze in small baby-friendly portions.

Other recipes Monica swears by include soft scrambled organic egg with spinach, avocado mash, blueberry and banana oat pancakes, and mashed baked pumpkin with a drizzle of olive oil.

The Mirror also heard from Professor Emma Haycraft, Professor of Psychology and Public Health at Loughborough University, about her thoughts on incorporating cooking for little ones into a busy lifestyle.

Professor Haycraft told us, "Commercial baby foods are very convenient, but they can be expensive. Offering children foods that the family is eating is a cost-effective way to introduce new foods to babies and toddlers.

"For example, if you’re cooking potatoes for your family, these can be pureed or mashed or cut into sticks/wedges (if age appropriate and remove the skin for young children). Or if you’re cooking Spaghetti Bolognese, before adding salt or stock, set some aside for your child. This can be blended or cut into age-appropriate sizes and offered to your child."

As explained by Professor Haycraft, batch cooking can be "very helpful" when there's a baby in the family, while preparing and storing foods in ice cube trays is another "handy" trick, allowing parents to defrost a frozen cube of pureed or mashed food with ease ahead of their child's mealtimes.

She continued: "Offering a variety of foods is the way to go, and these can be foods that your family is eating, but prepared so that your baby or toddler can consume them.

"This might mean cooking foods to soften them and then either mashing them with a fork or blitzing the food so that it’s a suitable texture, or offering foods as finger foods. It might also mean adding salt, stock, or flavourings after taking out a portion for your child.

"Babies and toddlers should be offered vegetables, fruit, starchy foods (like bread, toast, chapatti, pasta, potato), protein-rich foods (such as meat, fish (no bones), eggs (British Lion stamped), beans and pulses) and dairy foods (natural unflavoured yoghurts don’t have added sugars)."

An Aldi spokesperson told the Mirror: "Our range of products can help parents and carers to support a child’s weaning journey by introducing a wide variety of food and flavours as part of a varied diet. Any sugar in them is naturally occurring and would be the same in a fruit puree made at home."

A spokesperson at Little Freddie said: "At Little Freddie, we take nutrition seriously and continually evolve and improve our recipes and products, working closely with a Paediatric Dietitian to give parents a supportive option should they need it. Our pouches are designed for children six months and older, serving as a complementary food source that helps parents introduce new flavours during the weaning process."

A spokesperson for Ella's Kitchen stated: "Nothing is more important to us than the safety of little ones. Our products go above and beyond all legal requirements and we work with nutritionists and child development experts to ensure our products are safe, with the right textures and nutrients to support little ones as they grow.

"For our weaning pouches, we take the whole fruit and vegetables and gently puree them to create a smooth texture, which is necessary to reduce the risk of choking. While this releases natural free sugars, the sugar content of our products is exactly the same as if you pureed the ingredients yourself at home. We never add sugar, additives, or artificial flavourings to any of our products.

"We trust parents and carers to understand that fruit and vegetables - especially when pureed - contain natural sugars, but are also sources of fibre, vitamins, and essential nutrients. Comparing pureed fruit and veg to nutritionally empty products like fizzy drinks is misleading and only serves to alarm parents, potentially leading them to restrict fruit at a time when little ones should be eating more, not less.

"That said, we know we can always do more to improve nutrition in the early years, and we’re committed to doing everything we can to drive change across the whole category. To that end, our continuous programme of reformulation and nutritional improvement has already seen us reduce sugar across our whole range by 20% between 2016 and 2019, followed by a further 13% reduction in our best-selling range in 2023.

"This year, we also announced changes to our age of weaning guidance in line with trusted UK advice, alongside a dedicated project that will see us not only further reduce sugar content, but also introduce a greater variety of vegetables and a wider range of textures into our products. We believe that we can – and should – always strive to be better."

The Mirror has reached out to Ella's Kitchen, Heinz, Piccolo, Little Freddie, Aldi and Lidl for comment.

Panorama: The Truth about Baby Food Pouches, presented by Catrin Nye, will air on BBC One at 8pm tonight (Monday, April 28) and on iPlayer from 6am

Do you have a story to share? Email me at julia.banim@reachplc.com

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