Infant food pouches are just as sugary as Coke, warn dentists

DENTISTS have called for urgent action on popular baby food pouches that are ‘as sugary as Coke’.

The products, which are aimed at children under 12 months, are a convenient option for parents with busy lives.

But certain brands, including middleclass favourites Annabel Karmel and Ella’s Kitchen, have many items in their ranges more sugary than Coca-Cola when measured by volume, research reveals.

The British Dental Association has warned that parents may believe the pouches are a healthy choice when ‘nothing could be further from the truth’. It said the products risk ‘hooking the next generation’ on sugar before they could walk.

The association analysed 109 pouches and discovered that more than a quarter contained more sugar by volume than Coke. Some contained up to two thirds of an adult’s recommended 30g daily allowance of sugar. The worst – apple, blueberry and banana stage 1 in the Karmel range, pictured, had 17.3g sugar per 100ml. This compares with 10.6g for original Coca-Cola.

The BDA also said that the pouches were a danger to infant teeth because the contents were consumed by sucking.

Association chairman Eddie Crouch said: ‘ Disingenuous marketeers are giving parents the impression they are making a healthy choice with these pouches. Tooth decay is the number one reason for hospital admissions among young children, and sugar is driving this epidemic.’

A spokesman for Annabel Karmel said its pouches were specially designed for babies and the ‘limited sugar content comes from naturally occurring sugars found in the fruits used’. A spokesman for Ella’s Kitchen said the company had been reducing the proportion of higher sugar fruits like bananas in its recipes as well as introducing lower sugar fruits and 100 per cent vegetable pouches.